Posted by sent0eb372vt on July 17, 2008 at 12:42pm
So there is a local coffee tour that goes around sampling different brews from shops in the downtown to Pioneer Square 'hood - got a pretty sweet shot of my tamp in there, and even a shout-out to espressoparts.com!make with the clickin' here - http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/143440.aspawesome!!!link opens in new window so you won't have to leave bX. ;)
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Photographer Dorie Hagler has done a number of projects for Coffee Kids. After returning from the Peace Corps in Guatemala in the 1995, the photographer got in touch with Bill Fishbein and Coffee Kids to inquire about creating photos at origin.
Coffee Kids began working with Hagler and she created an amazing body of work documenting the life of coffee-farming families, the conditions in which they live, and the joy that they carry with them.
Visit the Web site, Behind Every Cup, a photo-documentary of the coffee harvest and coffee-farming families. Hagler sells prints of the work and donates 10% of all proceeds to Coffee Kids. If interested, contact her at dorie@doriehagler.com or 505-770-7157
Below is an excerpt from a recent interview done for Coffee Kids 20th Anniversary:
"I took several trips for Coffee Kids and it was an amazing opportunity for a young photographer, that's why I call Bill (Fishbein) my fairy godfather. There are photographers salivating over an assignment like Coffee Kids, but he said yes to me.
"The reason I think he sent me was because he know about my experience in Peace Corps, he knew my relationship with women's groups in Guatemala and that I wasn't going to exploit anyone. Bill always wants to emphasize the strength and dignity of the people Coffee Kids works with and he didn't want some photographer who would jeopardize that.
"I remember one assignment in Mexico where I was sent to photograph the harvest and I lived with a family for two weeks. But the harvest was delayed. We had made all of these arrangements and it didn't look like I would see any of the coffee harvest.
"So I'm waiting and waiting and I called a friend who said I should just keep shooting and I left my head and realized the gift I was given. I was able to live through what these people deal with every year. When is the harvest coming? Is it even coming? What if there is no harvest?
"But I saw the optimism, their confidence that every thing was going to work out and that you just live from day-to-day. I realized that that's how these people have lived all their lives, but through Coffee Kids work, it makes that waiting a little less stressful. Their entire income is not dependent on the coffee harvest.
"I treasure the pictures from that collection, from that town where I spent those two weeks waiting for the harvest."
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West Java, bringing in the beans!In the blue, hazy hills of West Java, the coffee harvest coincides with harvesting of rice and cloves. Several weeks earlier the daily rainstorms, a constant during the wet season, abruptly eased- giving way to hot, dry sultry days that crackle with heat from mid morning onwards. The showers still arrive, but late in afternoon, as the heat becomes almost unbearable. As stillness descends on the villages that dot the hills, thunder storms begin their inevitable roll down from the slopes above. The sawah (the rice fields) that were green and lush a month before are golden and rustling with a brisk crackle as the rain storms arrive. Before the rain arrives the air in the mountain towns is dry and fragrant, punctuated with the pungent scent of drying cloves, fermenting coffee and the dusty, baking volcanic soils. The mixture of these contrasting aromas is reinvigorating for visitors from the cities on the plains below.The harvest season is one of the most important times for the villagers- gathering, drying and processing their crops for the months ahead is a much anticipated annual event. The effort required to successfully harvest rice, coffee and cloves simultaneously involves the collective efforts of the entire village- young and old. The harvesting often begins before dawn, going on well into the dusk as coffee is picked and carried into the village centres for processing.Most of the coffee is grown along the steep slopes of the river valleys that carry clean water tumbling down from the mountains shrouded in constant cloud. Narrow, single tracks lead up to the coffee trees, predominantly growing as sub canopy below taller remnants of the rain forest that used to cover most of mountainous Java. The climb up to the coffee can be difficult. Steps are cut into the crumbly volcanic soils, but as quickly as these are made, the rains wash them away. For a fit European, the climb several kilometres up can be very hard, exhausting work. The villagers climb these paths daily- not only to tend the coffee trees, but also to cut 70kg bundles of mountain grass to bring down for livestock feed. Barefoot, for added grip and stability, is the best way to go both up- and down these tracks.The coffee is a mixture of Robusta with a very little Arabica grown on the higher slopes. The Robusta is preferred, as it is easier to grown and maintain, and the yields in this part of Indonesia are generally higher. Picking is also apparently easier, with the Robusta cherries growing ripe in handy bunches along the branches of the coffee trees.Climbing up at dawn the villages, with me in tow, work in earnest on picking coffee from a group of trees growing precariously over a river gorge, bubbling with rain from the night before. In the early morning the temperature is still cool, and the shade from the trees overhead and from the ridge above means the mornings work is pleasant. The baskets being filled are made from rattan, and slung on with local, colourfully decorated batik sarongs. The harvesters are all female- mostly in their late 30’s or older. The men are on the lower slopes, harvesting rice without the shade we are getting up on the slopes. The picking is down in a jovial atmosphere. Songs are sung in the local Sundanese dialect, as well as a few spicy “dangdut” tunes in the Indonesian language. Gossip, invariably about husbands or single men, is also common place. The women’s fingers move nimbly and quickly over the branches of the trees, picking mostly the ripe cherries- burgundy in color and bulging with sugar. The sweet smell of some of the cherries that are crushed into the baskets is intoxicating- almost like the aroma of ripe blackcurrants mixed with blackberries. Hands stained with coffee juice occasionally pop a ripe cherry or two into the pickers’ mouth. Delicious and refreshing.By late morning the baskets are mostly full, and we head back down the track towards the road that leads back into the village. We have been picking on a slope that has a road about halfway up it. The road generally follows the forest line, below the road, hundreds of metres down, are the rice paddies- golden and brown, teaming with villagers bringing in the harvest. We meet the road and make our way back into the small hilltop town. By now the heat of the sun is almost at its peak.The first thing one sees when entering the town is the matting laid out, for hundreds of meters, by the side of the road. This is still the way the coffee is dried in this part of West Java- under the hot sun for several days before the fermenting flesh is stripped off the cherry by hand cranked machinery. Coffee has been harvested, and milled this way for literally hundreds of years.Before World War 2, many parts of West Java were home to Dutch owned Colonial plantations- growing coffee, rubber, pepper, cloves and tea. After the war was over, many of the Colonists di not return to Indonesia- their plantations were either turned over to the new nations government (where they became part of the Pekebunan/or nationally run plantation system) , or villages by default took over the trees. Indeed some of the best coffee growing in West Java originates from trees the Dutch planted over 100 years ago.The drying of the coffee is critical to producing a green bean that will roast well and translate into a good cup of coffee. To this end the coffee is raked using wooden grading rakes all through the day. The sweet, fermenting aroma drifting off the steaming bed of drying cherries is intoxicating and surprisingly pleasant. The women raking the coffee walk barefooted over the fruit, allowing them to literally feel how advanced the drying process is.Towards mid afternoon, the villages are quiet. The heat drives those doing all but the essential work into the shade of the town hall or the roadside warung (teak stalls with huge tarpaulin verandas). The stillness is punctuates by the approaching rumble of thunderstorms, literally tumbling down from the mountain tops. The coffee workers hurriedly collect up the matting and bring the coffee into the safety of cover. Any direct moisture onto the drying fruit at this stage will introduce either mould or rot into the process, ruining the cup later on. The rain arrives with startling quickness- the hazy blueness of the sky and hilltops is darkened by cloud and a curtain of heavy rain within minutes. In May the rain falls for only an hour, after which the countryside begins to dry out again very quickly. Steam rises wistfully off the slick surface of the roads, and a late afternoon shimmering haze covers the entire valley, right down to the river at its stony bottom.The coffee is hauled out again from under tiled roofs for drying. Many of the children who have come back from school early give a hand, while the men of the village go back to the rice harvesting on the terraces below the villages.By the end of June most coffee trees in this part of West Java will have flowered, flooding the villages and valleys with sweet Jasmine floral aromas. The cycle will begin again, as it has done for hundreds of years. In this part of the world change is pleasantly slow in arriving; the smiles and the happy attitude of the villagers is testament that it is just a myth that living in the small towns of Indonesia is indeed tougher than trying to survive in the heat and crowded suburbs of Jakarta or Bandung.
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I have been seeing this since we have been going to Coffee Fest 4 years ago and I was thinking about 'getting certified' in September. I do not know much about it, however, and wanted your thoughts..1. Is it worth it?2. What is expected?3. Other thoughts?It seems that every certification you can get is just more education so it seems that it would be worth at least giving it a go but I don't want to waste $89.00 for nothing!Thanks for your help.Jason
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I had been talking about coffee quite a lot, and for many years. I thought that those so many cafes should care of their business, including those coffee roasters and so they might be really interested in some new things which can help their business. Now, I recognize that they do not.In the Chinese market, I know that there are chances for those low qualified cafes to exist if no qualified cafes exist. Like, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and many other cities. While in Beijing, due to the existance of Kaffa Cafe and its clients, it is really hard for other cafes to be survived.For our low investment, our business is going very slowly, and there should be no more than ten cafes opened last year. For this year, it seems that it can be around ten, but still not many, for the whole China. It is expected to have around twenty cafes to be opened next year, and probably more, I hope. Such a slow developement may not be a big success, but better than waiting for nothing.After years, what will it happened? Anyway, it is what we have to do, and maybe the best to do. One day, the situation may change dramatically.If anyone would have a business based on our coffee theory for any part of the world, we can transfer it to them in a good way. It is not mainly for the business for us, but mostly for the spreading of our coffee theory and improvement of the quality for the baristas' espresso brewing skills and cafes' coffee drinks.Nobody want it? That is the most thing to confuse me.Take one month and more to have a rest, and get ready for the hard work in September.
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Sunday, I watched, I listened, I absorbed. I was also taken a bit by surprise when Boss Man said, "Now, you make (this much money). When I make you shift supervisor, you'll make (this much much more money)." Then he walked away. Supervisor? Huh? Sweet! Guess he really was in desperate need of rock star staff.Today, I became the master of the cash register, keeping the various coffee pots fresh and full, keeping pastries and bakeries stocked and making sure everything else is clean while maintaining cheerfulness and sanity during rushes. It's not as hard as I thought it would be and was actually rather fun!Boss Man says to keep the fresh coffee carafe open with the grounds & basket sitting on top, and to set it on the counter for a few minutes. "It makes the place smell like a coffee shop". Now that he mentions it, yeah, when I walked in to the cafe I normally haunt, nary a whiff to be smelled. When I went into work, I was bathed in the nearly intoxicating aroma within 5 steps of walking in. Customers kept mentioning that, part of what they love about Escape, is the smell.Tomorrow, Drink Mixology! It doesn't look to hard... I plan on trying my hand at making a bit of latte art too, if I get the chance. It should be an interesting day!Read more…
So my trip was awesome and it was great to see the new coffee works spot (barefoot) and see that the cafe is still there going strong. It was so nice to finally see ritual and meet up with baca and talk about married life, debt and commuting. ... .. . .. . Oh wait!!!!!! Thats right;! None of that happened because after Ride On At Temple i got home and started throwing up. By 2am every hole in my body was leaking or squirting and then the chills and heavy fever.This crazyness continued for two days.Sorry bay area, and all who may have been wondering why i didn't show. Soon my babies, soon.your now recovered :luckyps: Everyone in my house went through this. big f'in bummer.
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I used to be an office monkey. It was...a paying gig, that I slowly grew to hate. I went through 8 years of thankless, meaningless paper pushing for neurotic monkey bosses. It was soul crushing, spirit killing, muse destroying toil. So, when a friend of a friend mentioned his coffee house staff was somewhat lacking in awesomeness, I leaped at the chance to do something...well, at least different that involved something I enjoyed - drinking coffee and hanging out at coffee shops.My husband and I have batted around the notion of owning a coffee shop for some time now. We realized there was probably a fair bit about owning a business in general, and a coffee shop in particular, that we didn't know about. So, getting behind the counter and learning the ropes from the bottom of the ladder upward seemed like a logical first step. I'm amazed by how much I didn't know. The shear amount of chemistry knowledge needed to make an awesome espresso drink, and the science of coffee in general, is simply amazing. Maybe it's because my trainer moonlights as a biologist or maybe it's just the way the business is, but either way, I have more scientific terms running around my head now then ever before.My first day as a barista was last night; I went home tired and a little overwhelmed, but with a tingling sense of satisfaction I haven't felt in an age.Read more…
I recently traveled to Brazil to visit several coffee producer organizations and friends. I went to Poco Fundo and Nova Resende in Southern Minas, to Lajinha in Eastern Minas and to Venda Nova do Imigrante in Espitito Santo (a lovely town founded by Italian immigrants, many of whom arrived to Brazil to work in coffee in the 1800’s).Poco Fundo grows one of my favorite coffees from Brazil. I visited COOPFAM http://www.coopfam.com.br/ and spent time with Luis Adauto, president of the co-op. COOPFAM is a good example of how Fair Trade helps coffee producers around the world. Small-farmers members of Poco Fundo have significantly improved their livelihoods in the last 3 years thanks to the improved prices they are receiving for their coffee (Poco Fundo sells most of its coffee as Fair Trade Certified). COOPFAM invests a good portion of their Fair Trade premium in environmental projects. Several U.S. roasters and importers are part of this successful story that is still being written.In Nova Resende, I visited Coopervitae, a relatively recent coffee co-op formed by small producers and growing in membership every year. Geraldo, from Coopervitae, is one of the nicest persons I have met in Brazil. He is working very hard to improve the livelihoods of small producers in his region and his organization is attracting several new members. I was interviewed in the local radio where I had the chance to talk about Fair Trade and the work we are doing to support small farmers in Nova Resende.In Lajinha, I visited Coocafe, the biggest Fair Trade Certified co-op in Brazil. Fernando, president of Coocafe, has been actively participating in improving the work that we do in the U.S. to promote Fair Trade Certified coffee. He is part of our coffee advisory council formed by around 10 producer representatives from all over the world. Coocafe is investing in training their members in order to improve coffee quality and in technically assisting their members with improved agricultural techniques. In addition, Coocafe is heavily involved in a financial co-op that provides credit to thousands of coffee producers in the region.The trip to Espirito Santo and Eastern Minas was very long. Traveling in Brazil can take forever when moving around coffee regions. In Espirito Santo, there is a producer organization called Pronova, that is doing a remarkable work in improving the quality of the coffee produced in the region in order to improve the lives of hundreds of producers. Since this region is not as high as other coffee regions in Brazil, Pronova members semi-wash their coffees in order to improve the cup characteristics (most of the small coffee farmers I visited in Southern Minas process their coffee using the natural method). Pronova is implementing great projects trying to empower women in the region and to improve coffee quality and the environmental practices of their members. Every year, working with the local government and some industry partners, they implement a quality competition that takes into accounts social and environmental aspects (the coffees and the farms are evaluated not only on the characteristics of the cup but also on how the producers implement a set of environmental standards such as the Fair Trade standards). I have not heard of other competitions like this one but I think it is a great example for other regions. Jackie , Pedro and Evair at Pronova are doing an amazing job to improve the lives of coffee producers in their region.This trip was a great chance to keep learning from several producers about the challenges and opportunities they are facing and to share with some amazing people from one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
While consumers in the United States fret over gas prices, a food crisis threatens millions around the world. Coffee Kids staff visited with families in the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, Mexico and learned about the effects of the international food crisis and how they are confronting the problem.According to women working with Coffee Kids partner organization FomCafé in Oaxaca, they have seen prices for basic products such as corn, oil and rice more than double since October of 2007. The price of many vegetables has increased 50% or more.“Before 2008, families spent about 60% of their income on food, but today families are spending almost all of their income on food. Salaries have not risen, money being sent home is lower, and work is scarce in many rural communities,” said José Luis Zárate, international program director at Coffee Kids. Families in the United States spend about 10% of income on food.Prices for common goods:Cooking Oil (liter), which cost US$1 in October, is now US$2Corn (kilogram), which cost US$0.28 in October, is now US$0.47Rice (kilogram), which cost US$0.70 in October, is now US$2Coffee Kids partners, the Association for Research and Training of Southern Mexico (ICSUR) in Chiapas and FomCafé in Oaxaca are working in rural coffee-growing communities to build capacity and reduce reliance on the annual coffee crop, which does not provide enough income for families. Many of their efforts are also helping families deal with the food crisis.Women and men working with ICSUR in Chiapas are learning to raise and sell mushrooms and chickens to diversify their income and bolster family diets. Women working with FomCafé are learning about organic gardening, cultivating food for their families and selling the surplus locally.“Many of the women commented that thanks to these projects they have access to fresh, organic foods for their families, something they couldn’t afford otherwise,” Zárate said. “The same is happening with the women working with ICSUR in Chiapas. Without these productive projects, it would be difficult to afford meat or eggs.”While food security is the major issue families in Mexico are confronting, ICSUR and FomCafé also promote projects in health care, education and economic diversification.Check out photos from our latest visit on our Flickr page.
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Now that our 7.50 version is being released, we have finalized some re-vamping of the gift card system as well. Those of you who have looked at POS systems before probably realize that most gift card systems only allow you to take one card at a time or load one card at a time. In the real world, it's common to have a customer want to use three $.50 gift cards and cash to pay for a $3.50 drink.We have taken some serious time and re-vamped the system to make it work as smoothly as possible. You can now sell as many gift cards in one transaction as you would like, redeem up to five gift cards at a time and check the balance on the screen with one button. This is available in our 7.50 update and, of course, to anyone that purchases a new SP-1 For Coffee POS system!Loading a Gift Card:
The Coffee Brewing Equipment Company is on the verge of a major coffee extraction breakthough. Their new device is called the Milkthistle Non-Automated Coffee Brewing Device. Developed in a "Cosmic" rocket ship circling the globe, this device allows the barista to brew single servings of coffee in an environment where he/she has total control of all variables of the brewing process. Here is a photo of how it works:
P.S.- Any similarities to Zander Nosler and the Clover device are purely coincidental.P.S.S.- Please do not contact me today, I'll be in meetings with Dunkin Donuts to try and unload this thing! :-)
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I have posted a semi-detailed blog post on my wordpress site in regards to "Changing Espresso Technique." Be sure and check it out and please give me some input, that is why I put it up there.Thanks and have a good espresso!
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In the school of traditional thought concerning espresso, there seems to be a consistent focus on primary characteristics that attribute to the quality of espresso extraction. Undoubtedly, two primary factors in espresso quality are the equipment and the the person using the equipment. Needless to say, a high caliber machine only produces quality espresso when used by a well-trained, well skilled, and knowledgeable barista and vice versa. This seems to be common sense in our line of work. We see it mimicked in many other lines of work. Tiger Woods doesn't use cheap clubs when he's playing the masters, and a brand new Taylor Presenter acoustic guitar in the hands of an amateur musician does little to cover up their lack of mastery as they fumble around the fret board. While it seems to be a common understanding that the tools and the hands play an equally critical role in coffee, I can't help but wonder if there is a slight imbalance these days.We all know about the "demise" of Clover as a prevalent way to advance brewing methods. It was met with speculation from the beginning, yet it was relatively quickly established as a premier way to brew coffees. I even found myself tripping over my gaping jaw the first time I saw one of these sleek, sexy little machines in action at Intelligentsia a few years ago. The extraction characteristics were unique and fresh to the palate, and there was a certain amount of mystique to the cup. I often pondered after that interaction what coffees familiar to me might taste if they were "Clovered". I really don't find anything wrong with this, except that my perception of the coffee was based more on the novelty of the brewing method rather than the merit of the coffee independent of the hype that a 10,000 dollar, cutting edge brewing machine it was prepared on. I was far more enamored with the technology than the coffee quality. And I don't think that I stood alone in jumping on the wagon. Most of the magazines that I have been reading prior to this spring have been plastered with pictures of high end coffee bars sporting these expensive little brewers, sitting center stage on the front counter right next to the espresso machine. And I don't believe the equipment obsession is confined to Clover.We are all familiar with names like Synesso and La Marzocco. I would say that, of all the machines I have worked on preparing coffee, they are clearly the most consistent at producing the highest caliber of espresso that I have prepared. They are great machines with a wild amount of technology and thought to the barista's work infused into their design and general usability. However, I have encountered a certain level unwillingness to wander outside these machines when preparing espresso. In competing the GLRBC and USBC, I found many people completely unfamiliar with anything other than dual boiler machines. Many people had no concept of or ability to make adjustments for equipment that is less than ideal to create quality extractions. People marveled that, while I was competing, I was also not using a Robur as my primary grinder for competition. It was then that I began to wonder what, by definition, is a "skilled barista".Taking into account that there are many people who have less opportunity to play with all types of equipment than I do, I understand some of the wariness of people working on only top, cutting edge equipment to prepare their coffee on other equipment. But how much should we rely on a machine to define our coffee? Is it fair to say that we can only experience it correctly when we have the next greatest brewing/espresso machine? In no way do I want to undermine the pursuit of clarity and quality in our craft, but I do want to question what our primary focus is when assessing what we are doing as a coffee community to affect the overall quality of our craft. In reading "A Code" last week on Barista Exchange, the question was raised, "Should we give input to shops we visit who need help?" The most consistent answer was focused on growing the industry through teaching people the craft of the barista. Right now, Starbucks is communicating to our culture that coffee is only exclusive when it's brewed on a special machine. They are trying to quiet a whole culture of quality by communicating to people that the machine always wins. This is part of why super automatics have become so prevalent in chains; there is a false hope in machines that does not factor in the very artistic component of our culinary world. We could have machines make our coffee, our music, and our art, but without the heart and soul behind these things there is no emotional connection.Forgive me if I am nearsighted, but I appreciate the changes beginning in shops like Stumptown and Zoka who are going back to pour over stations and French presses. I appreciate hearing about people like Aaron Duckworth that require all their baristas in training pull fifty shots at 14 grams exact dose from sight and feel before getting on the bar. I really appreciate the wisdom of my coffee mentor who simply says, "A good barista is one who understand their equipment and can use whatever equipment is laid before them to create quality coffee extractions." Let's continue to grow in emphasizing the the high standards of skill in preparation so that people who are not in this enclave of culinary world will take note of our abilities as masters of an art form. And, most of all, let our effort be toward using both our hands and equipment in a way that the coffee speaks for itself.
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Digging two new single origin coffees as both press and espresso:Guatemala “La Virgen”Acid: 6Body: 7Texture: Carbonated, milk chocolate.Flavor: Spicy sweet seed fruits like cherry, strawberry and blackberry reminiscent of Harrar coffee from Ethiopia. Tinder box spices, with a milky cocoa body. Sparkly start with smooth sweet finish. Fairly simple and direct in flavor and presence, not huge but not small either. Intriguing departure from the normal Guatemalan profile of Huehuetenango or Antigua.La Virgen is grown at an elevation of 1200 meters in San Marcos, a municipality of Tajumulco.Kenya AA TassiaAcid: 6Body: 9Texture: Buttery and juicy.Flavor: When hot tomato soup and fresh (thai) basil pop out, followed by coconut and beef stew. The acid is citrus, lime and orange. A cinnamon flavor comes out as well giving it an almost cola like vibe. Lots of layers, very complex and deep.The Tassia Estate is located in a tropical savanna climate, with red loam (acidic) soil. The coffee is wet processed and sun dried on raised beds. Grown at an elevation of 1500 meters using shade grown Sysbania and Gravellia trees of which 80% were planted in the 1940’s. Tassia Estate registered as a private limited company in 1950 and operates the farm on a 5 year crop rotation cycle.
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That's right.This past holiday weekend saw the closing of a Starbucks right around the corner from us at Temple. We've heard reports this is in part of their 600 shop closings, but lets face the fact: Temple is the reason. Superior drinks, service, and levels of barista hotness. The Green Goddess aint got shit on us.
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We purchased the Bodum Santos Electric from my friend Shannon at Coffee and Crema of Greenville, SC.We took this with us along with our Kitchenaid ProLine Grinder and we have just had a ball with this Bodum. It makes a clean cup, but I do miss the body of a French Press. We have really enjoyed the Ethiopian Yirg Shannon sold us, it just wreaks of blue berries.Our little vacation to the mountains of South West Virginia (Jonesville, VA) has been fruitful. We have educated the masses on extremely fantastic coffees. Everybody just stares at our Bodum Santos!
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has done a number of projects for Coffee Kids. After returning from the Peace Corps in Guatemala in the 1995, the photographer got in touch with Bill Fishbein and Coffee Kids to inquire about creating photos at origin. 
Coffee Kids partners, the Association for Research and Training of Southern Mexico (ICSUR) in Chiapas and FomCafé in Oaxaca are working in rural coffee-growing communities to build capacity and reduce reliance on the annual coffee crop, which does not provide enough income for families. Many of their efforts are also helping families deal with the food crisis.Women and men working with ICSUR in Chiapas are learning to raise and sell mushrooms and chickens to diversify their income and bolster family diets. Women working with FomCafé are learning about organic gardening, cultivating food for their families and selling the surplus locally.“Many of the women commented that thanks to these projects they have access to fresh, organic foods for their families, something they couldn’t afford otherwise,” Zárate said. “The same is happening with the women working with ICSUR in Chiapas. Without these productive projects, it would be difficult to afford meat or eggs.”While food security is the major issue families in Mexico are confronting, ICSUR and FomCafé also promote projects in health care, education and economic diversification.Check out photos from our latest visit on our Flickr page.
