By rachels522
The next step in our agriculture unit was learning about the production of coffee. I have been very interested in learning about this topic since discussing it in Professor Benton-Short’s Human Geography class. In my opinion coffee is thought of as a necessity on the GW campus. It is no different in Costa Rica, where I have seen children as young as three years old drinking sugary coffee. Despite the amount that this drink is consumed, little thought is gone into the production. One of the scariest and saddest parts about this worldwide addiction is that the farmers who are working in the fields to produce it are often not getting paid a living wage. Most farmers are currently only making 35 cents per pound, while retailers are making $1.75 per cup.
Coffee is extremely important to Costa Rica. The rich, volcanic soil in the country makes it the ideal growing location for coffee. In the early 1990s coffee was 90% of Costa Rican exports. Coffee is absolutely everywhere in this country. When I first arrived in the country I barely drank coffee. It has now become three cup a day habit. My host father says that this is because the coffee in Costa Rica is much better than the “sock water” that we drink in the United States.
Our first stop on coffee day was to a local farm owned by a farmer named Eugenio. Eugenio was part of the fourth generation of farmers on this farm. He showed us the most beautiful farm that I have ever seen. While the farm used to be primarily a coffee farm they now produce many other crops including sugarcane, bananas, maize, and various other crops. For the most part, the crops that Eugenio produces are utilized by his extended family. Some of the coffee is sold directly to visitors of the farm. Eugenio stressed to our group that he does not see his farm as a profitable practice. Eugenio is extremely well educated and made much of his money is from working as an accountant. Eugenio sees his farm as maintaining a way of life where the environment and family are the most valued things. Eugenio’s children are grown and at school (one studies in the United States!), but they return to the farm when possible to help their father. My group was fortunate to meet Eugenio’s son who was home from University in San Jose for the Easter vacation. In un-accented English he explained to my group that he loved his family’s way of life and valued his unique style of growing up. Visiting Eugenio’s farm was amazing. In many ways I think that he is living his life in the “right way,” valuing nature and family as the most important parts of life.
The next stop in our day of coffee tours was to a local coffee shop. Here we spoke to Alejandro, a local barista, coffee farmer, and businessman. Alejandro is the partner of a new organization known as THRIVE Coffee. THRIVE is working to improve the lives of coffee farmers throughout the world. Alejandro grew up on a coffee farm in Costa Rica. Therefore, he understands the struggles of coffee farmers. Much of the problems with the coffee industry have to do with the long value chain and use of middlemen in between farmers and consumers. While Fairtrade programs try to deal with this, Alejandro feels that Fairtrade is not always successful. After two masters degrees, Alejandro developed a new business model in which the value chain is compressed and lets farmers sell directly to consumers. From this concept, Alejandro worked with two partners to develop THRIVE Coffee which now operates in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras. THRIVE allows farmers to gain as much as 10 times more for their product as the traditional market method. While still a fairly new program, THRIVE seems to be extremely promising. It was amazing to have a chance to meet a person whom I consider a true visionary. People like Alejandro are working to re-conceptualize what society considers “normal” business practices and making massive improvements in the lives of many.
Coffee day was one of my favorite days so far in Costa Rica. It helped me truly conceptualize the complexities of our consumer society. It was also extremely uplifting to meet two men who I felt are living their lives in truly inspiring ways.
Here is the link to THRIVE coffee! I just did a brief overview of the THRIVE business model, but I suggest that anybody with interest check out the website (and maybe order coffee…it actually is super delicious… I drink it too much!) http://www.thrivefarmers.com/thrive-farmers/the-thrive-story/
Also here is a link to a New York Times article about THRIVE.