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 Peace
Coffee was thrilled to welcome two members of the
Guatemalan coffee cooperative Santa Anita de la Union to
Minneapolis this month. Santa Anita de la Union is our
second Guatemalan coffee partner along with APECAFORMM.
The Santa Anita cooperative is
made up of 33 families of ex-combatants from the
Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (or URNG), a resistance
movement that forced the Guatemalan army to negotiate an
end to the country’s 36-year civil war. After the civil
war, Santa Anita members obtained land through a
government land fund program. Fortunately, the mountainous
land they were granted was at the perfect altitude for
growing coffee.
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 Roberto
and Rigoberto arrived at their new land with a small sack
of possessions and a great deal of hope. Over the past six
years, the community built houses for all its members and
began the laborious project of planting new coffee trees.
While they first had to carefully cut back tree foliage
that actually provided too much shade for their coffee,
they are now reaping the benefits of their meticulous
work. The cooperative exported two containers of Fair
Trade organic coffee last year. One of these containers
went to the U.S. to Cooperative Coffees, the roaster co-op
of which Peace Coffee is a member.
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 This
purchase was the impetus for Roberto and Rigoberto's tour
to the Midwest, a visit that was important for many
reasons. For the first time, new Peace Coffee staffers and
customers were able to meet coffee farmers. Roberto and
Rigoberto spent an entire morning sampling their coffee at
a Kowalski’s Market in Minneapolis. Despite the language
barrier, they engaged customers, letting them know that
they were the farmers that grew their coffee. After four
days with Peace Coffee sharing the successes and
difficulties of building a sustainable coffee-producing
community, the two farmers continued on to Iowa.
Roberto
and Rigoberto welcome travelers, environmentalists and
coffee lovers alike to visit their community. Let us know
if you are planning a trip to Guatemala and we will put
you in contact with these incredible farmers.
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