In Designer Coffee Age, Growers Go Hungry

ABC News

Price Slump Means One Cent of $4 Latte Goes to Growers; Many Tempted by Riches of Cocaine

Near MANIZALES, Colombia, Dec. 19, 2004 -- Jose Alerio grows some of the finest coffee beans in the world, which sell for premium prices in the United States and Europe.

But in Colombia, farmers like Alerio aren't seeing any of the profits.

"I think we're going to starve to death," he says. "I can't afford to keep this farm going."

Alerio's five children got just one meal the day ABC News visited — beans and bananas.

Coffee Price Slump

It may be hard to understand how coffee growers are going hungry, when Americans willingly pay up to $4 for a steaming latte — but not if you look at the economics.

"From that price, around one cent will go back to the grower," says Gabriel Silva of the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers.

There are two reasons: Vietnam has been flooding the market with low-quality beans, and the four companies that control the world market have been pushing prices lower.

In 1997, Colombian growers were paid $3.80 for a pound of coffee. This year, they've been getting 70 cents.

Coffee vs. Cocaine

In Colombia, the crisis is about much more than coffee. It threatens to undermine U.S. efforts in the South American country to combat guerrillas and the drug trade — as guerrillas find willing recruits amongst unemployed farm hands and as desperately poor coffee growers switch to growing heroin and cocaine to keep their families fed.

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Coffee quality, price up (Kona)

Drought followed by heavy rains in Kona has led to a smaller crop of higher quality
Buyer hopes to revive Molokai coffee co.

Associated Press

KAILUA-KONA » There might be less coffee plucked from Hawaii trees this year, but it will be of excellent quality and prices are up, officials said last week.

The latest report from the Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service indicates the statewide coffee production will be down 14 percent from last season's 8.3 million-pound harvest.

The projection of 7.1 million pounds is taken from the service's November survey, when 35 percent of the expected crop had been harvested, research statistician Ronald Nakamura said.

He cautioned that the latest numbers are only a projection for the 2004-2005 year and could change by the time the entire crop has been harvested.

While coffee is grown on several Hawaiian islands, a 15-mile strip of land through the Kona districts is home to more than 100 coffee farms.

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Concentrate On High-Grade Coffee, Envoy Urges Kenya

The Nation (Nairobi)

Sunday Nation Correspondent
Nairobi

US ambassador William Bellamy yesterday urged Kenya to concentrate on high-quality coffee and give it a brand name before exporting it.

He said there is a market for high-grade coffee in the US, and that Kenya is likely to be a leader in the competitive world market.

The envoy said there are good prospects for expensive coffee in the US, especially in the upper market, which he said, had not been exploited.

There is a surplus supply in the world market since countries not traditionally known as major exporters are now producing cheap coffee and selling it at low prices, he pointed out.

As a result, the main producers are suffering since their quality coffee which used to be sold in bulk can no longer fetch good prices.

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Coffee co-op percolating

The Arizona Republic

Douglas-area activists rescue Mexican town's industry

Chris Hawley
Republic Mexico City Bureau

SALVADOR URBINA, Mexico - A decade ago, plunging coffee prices sent farmers in this Mexican village fleeing north toward the Arizona border in search of other jobs.

Now a handful of those refugees have set out to rescue their hometown, forming a cooperative to ship Salvador Urbina's coffee beans over the border to Douglas, then sell them throughout the United States.

Their story - and that of Salvador Urbina, the economic disaster that befell it and the Arizona connection that the farmers hope will save it - began in the southernmost corner of Chiapas state.

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Health district head sanctioned for espresso e-mail

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Espresso stands to hook up to sewer and water service??

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The head of the Spokane Regional Health District has received a vote of no confidence after sending e-mail that a board member felt bordered on insubordination.

Dr. Kim Thorburn had no comment after the 6-1 vote Thursday by the health district's board of directors.

Board members said the vote doesn't mean Thorburn is going to be fired, but is a reminder they want her to take a lighter approach to enforcing health rules at espresso stands and other businesses.

The executive session before the board's public vote was called by board member and Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin after an exchange of e-mail with Thorburn in November.

Health district food safety inspectors this year began requiring espresso stands to hook up to sewer and water service. Owners of some coffee stands complained and asked for waivers of the rule.

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How to brew the perfect cup of joe on the trail

By Peter Flax, BACKPACKER Features Editor

Today is going to be beautiful. I awaken to warbling and the cheery glow of sunlight streaming through nylon walls. I lie in my bag, imagining the sweetness that awaits: the miles of empty trail, the triumph of switchbacks tamed, the bracing dip in an alpine lake, the hearty Asian dinner and starry dessert. It's going to be epic.

Of course, if I don't get coffee in the next 15 minutes, all those warblers and switchbacks and even that glorious Pad Thai can go screw themselves. Without a rousing cup of java, there's no point in unzipping my bag.

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Migration and Coffee in Mexico and Central America

By LUIS HERNANDEZ NAVARRO

Reyno Bartolo Hernández died of heatstroke in the Arizona desert near Yuma on May 22, 2001. He wasn't the only Mexican farmer who lost his life that day trying to cross the border. Thirteen of his countrymen and -women perished along with him in one more of the migratory tragedies of modern history.

Reyno and his companions were small coffee growers from the township of Atzalan, Veracruz. Atzalan is a formerly rich region but in recent years it has been impoverished by senseless policies. Until just a few years ago, few of its residents migrated to the United States. Then the price of coffee fell, and so did the price of citrus fruits and cattle. To make matters worse, bananas were attacked by fruit flies and the coffee crop was overcome by a devastating plant disease.

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Bio-digester project to generate energy from coffee waste

Jamaica Observer

THE Blue Mountain Coffee Cooperative (BMCC) is constructing a bio-digester plant at the Moy Hall coffee factory in Cedar Valley, St Thomas, to supply its own electricity.

The $5.4 million investment will transform coffee waste into energy.

To be completed in two phases, the project is being funded by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.

The Scientific Research Council is assisting with the development and implementation of the bio-digester system, which will be able to produce natural gas for energy.

"We want to lead the industry as it relates to using renewable energy, minimiswing waste and being environmental friendly," said cooperative manager O'Neil Blake.

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