yesterday me and two of the dudes(jay and wookie) drove up to madison wisconsin. to a roasting facility called just coffee, we are going to use their coffe in the future. and maby get a roaster from them for our shop. they are GREAT people.

but yesterday they had visitors, some of the actual farmers they buy coffe from. people from mexico, peru, venezuela, and columbia. they talked about free trade and how small businesses like just coffee help them as farmers, and their comunity. 

dealing in fair trade means that the growers have control over how much people pay for their coffee. instead of a middleman going to them and saying "this is how much ill pay you for this coffee"-its very low and unfair to the grower. 

i cant rember his name but this man was from columbia, he talked about how by dealing with just coffee it has helped him free up more time and money for fresh water and roads for his village. and the co-op he works with is now an example for other co-op's and growers on how much they SHOULD be selling their coffee for. 

a woman from venezuela was there representing a co-op of all women growers. they only produce 19 tons a season(one container of coffee). but they also produce honey, hibiscus, and food for their familys. they fight for child labor change. and as you can expect, womens rights are not the same there. so they constantly strugle with this great thing they are doing.

one man even talked about how with the new organic way his co-op is growing coffee, it saves the lives of a certan group of native birds. a man who comes from a world that we consider in poverty, sat in front of me and talked about how important it is to him that his work stay in tune with nature. 

its hard to think about without getting a little teary-eyed. it knocked all of us on our ass a little bit.

and every one of them used the word solitude alot, and every time it was a very positive thing. i thought a couple of you would find that interesting.

it was a humbling and amazing experiance. i cant wait to go to ciapas, mexico later this year to visit one of the farms.
a band played too, traditional music from mexican working class people. sweet.