By Matt Early
Just Coffee

Recently fellow Just Coffee worker-owner Mike Miller and I had the opportunity to visit the organization La FEM (Fundación Entre Mujeres) in Estelí, Nicaragua. After finding out about the group from WCCN, we were excited to meet them and learn more about their work while exploring the possibility of buying their coffee to roast and sell in Madison.
La FEM is not simply a coffee growing cooperative. Founded in 1996, they organized to work on issues of domestic violence against women, women’s health, education, and job training. Upon meeting them we were immediately impressed with their level of organization and their dedication to women’s rights as a political and social imperative.

Our time with La FEM was incredible. We were able to meet with the Development Committee, the membership of one grower cooperative, and the Directivas of all four cooperatives. The highlight of the trip was spending all of one day on horseback riding through the mountains with producers, going from field to field, meeting growers and getting to know them.

When we returned to Estelí for one final meeting, we were floored by the “interview” that the group gave us. The FEM co-ops sold their coffee to a German group last year under fair trade terms but were disappointed by the lack of interest on the buyers’ part to construct a larger project that extended beyond coffee. The producers wanted to know that we at Just Coffee are interested in a deeper partnership, one that would build connections between groups in Madison and the women of La FEM. They also wanted to make sure that their coffee would not end up at “Wal-Mart” or any other trans-national or unethical stores. After discussing possibilities for collaboration, we left the room so that they could take a vote on whether they should work with us.

I am happy to report that they unanimously chose to partner with us and we expect to have their coffee for sale by May 2007. We will tentatively be putting together a group to visit them in late winter/early spring to see how we can work to advance our common causes. Please check our website at www.justcoffee.net periodically for more details.