Chiapas, Mexico, cooperative leadership council
cooperative family with a coffee tree seedling
cooperative member with "cherries," the bean directly from the treeChurch Vends Mexican Coffee Because It's Just and It's Good
Cafe Justo and the Episcopal Church of Good Shepherd, Silver City, celebrate the first anniversary of their partnership, according to Tom Hester, coffee coordinator for the church.
"We're proud that we can be associated with Mexican coffee grower cooperatives that work to improve the lives of growers' families," says the Rev. Paul Moore, rector of Good Shepherd.
Cafe Justo, which captures the double meaning of "just," began as a project uniting people who lived in Agua Prieta, Sonora, and Presbyterian missioners serving the border region. Farmers from Chiapas, far south in Mexico, were in Agua Prieta to look for work because they could not earn enough to feed their families by tending their coffee trees. The Presbyterians funded a roaster and provided cooperatives an effective way to sell their coffee in the United States, relying primarily on congregations of many different denominations.
"Cafe Justo is more than fair trade coffee and more than green tree coffee, because Cafe Justo members, who are ecologically aware, also roast and market their own coffee," says Hester. Fair trade coffee promises producers a higher price than the market for the green bean; green tree growers plant their coffee bushes in the shade of larger trees, not removing the rain forest in the style of gigantic coffee plantations.
"We've had a highly successful first year. First Presbyterian Church, which has been a major partner with Cafe Justo for years, and Good Shepherd are giving Silver City an opportunity to enjoy first-class coffee while doing good. Is that not a real bargain?" asks the Rev. Moore.
The history of coffee production until the late 20th century was one of exploitation, with big plantation owners taking the best land and reducing most of the small farmers to peonage or even starvation, according to Hester. "It's heartening to see sons and daughters returning to their parents' farms because now they can make enough to send their own children to college, to save for retirement, and to afford medical care and conveniences like indoor plumbing and refrigerators."
The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd offers both ground and bean, dark roast and regular roast, decaffeinated and original in half-pound, pound and five-pound bags. Contact the church office, Monday through Thursday morning, 538-2015, for more information.