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While this episode of the podcast does actually have a lot to do with the environment, 'getting green' here doesn't refer specifically to water conservation or carbon footprints (we'll save that for another podcast) but rather the challenges and complexities of acquiring exceptional green coffee.
We found two excellent items that really drive home the points made in the podcast and are worth checking out. First is a news video, from Al Jazeera (English) of all places that reports on the devastation in Guatemala specifically in relation to coffee farming. The second is the fact that the Bolivia Cup of Excellence has been cancelled due to bad weather and politics. Part of the email announcing the cancellation is copied below.
"Dear Cup of Excellence supporters-
You have signed up for either the 2010 Bolivia samples and/or its auction. Regrettably, the Bolivia competition has been canceled for 2010. This is certainly heartbreaking news for ACE and for the farmers since Bolivia has advanced so much due to the Cup of Excellence program and its recognition of exemplary farmers.
In the past our partner organization FECAFEB has received donor funding for almost 100% of the costs. This year not even partial funding was made available for Cup of Excellence by any donor or governmental agency. ACE has been advising FECAFEB on plans for a scaled down program which could be mostly funded from the auction commissions from the last 2 years. However given last weeks severe weather there is now a fear that the harvest will also be too small. In a letter received yesterday the Board of FECAFEB asked that ACE and its members understand and support Bolivia's return in 2011.
Those of you that travel to producing countries and work with coffee farmers are aware of how fragile some of the supporting organizations are and how political and economic situations can change on a yearly and sometimes even on a monthly basis. A severe weather event can completely disrupt the coffee sector, politics and security can change overnight and monies coming from outside of a country or from internal sponsors can dry up just as fast. ACE has been working with a project of The United States Agency for International Development to bring Cup of Excellence to the Bolivian farmers. The program, now ending, has been hugely successful at creating a more stable and financially rewarding specialty coffee sector. However, recent politics have often been tense. In Bolivia coffee is now managed under the vice ministry of coca and the priority for its development has changed.
We know this cancellation will cause disappointment and hope that you can contact Bolivian farmers directly for the wonderful coffees that have been discovered."
