"Mexican Week" Celebrates Coffee Culture South of the Border

Coffee brewed from beans grown on Santa Elena -- the first coffee farm in Mexico to be certified by the Rainforest Alliance -- will be served at Marché 5 Saisons during "Mexican Week" in Montreal, Canada. Scheduled for the first week in February, the Mexican Tourism Board and Bancomext are sponsoring the event to draw attention to the precarious condition of coffee production in Mexico, and to celebrate growers committed to a sustainable, eco-friendly alternative.

The "Rainforest Alliance Certified" seal of approval guarantees that Santa Elena meets a rigorous set of social and environmental guidelines established by the nonprofit in collaboration with nine Latin American-based organizations. Certification encourages growers to maintain primary forest, to reforest their land with native species, to use water efficiently and to protect wildlife. Historically, coffee was one of Latin America's most lucrative and environmentally-friendly cash crops. The coffee-growing tradition was integrated into the social fabric of rural life. Primarily cultivated beneath the shelter of the rainforest canopy, the taller trees not only protected the coffee beans, but provided habitat for a wide range of wildlife. With the development of "technified" methods of coffee production, many farmers began clearing the forest and switching to a new, open-field system of sun-grown coffee. While these intensely managed hedgerows produce more beans per acre, they require the application of more agrochemicals and are useless to wildlife. The return to sustainably produced coffee is key to maintaining balanced ecosystems in coffee-growing regions.

Not only do Rainforest Alliance standards protect the land, they support the rights and social conditions of workers and local communities. The current crisis in coffee production, brought on by a glut in the market, is forcing farmers worldwide to abandon their crops. In Mexico, entire villages have been turned into ghost towns as villagers flee to find work in the squalid shantytowns of Mexico City, or in Canada and the U.S. Because certified beans commands higher premiums than mass-produced coffee, certified farms like Santa Elena can afford to provide workers' families with benefits such as improved working conditions, safety equipment, training, environmental education, better housing, sanitary facilities, clean water, and access to schools and medical care. "Today we have companies from all over the world who are willing to negotiate a premium because they understand the challenges to producing a high-quality, sustainable coffee such as ours," says Astrid Bernstoff, Santa Elena's Vice-President of Marketing. Consumers committed to saving rainforest and those simply seeking a great-tasting cup o'joe, should visit 5 Saisons during the first week in February. Sip a sustainable cup, learn more about the Rainforest Alliance and experience the cultural and traditional treasures of Mexico. Marché 5 Saisons is located at 1180 Bernard, Outremont, Québec, Canada, (514) 276-1244.

The Rainforest Alliance's mission is to protect ecosystems and the people and wildlife that live within them by implementing better business practices for biodiversity conservation and sustainability. For more information please contact the Rainforest Alliance at (212)677-1900, or visit www.rainforest-alliance.org