Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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A cross the coffee and tea industries, the hard work of For that reason, humanitarian nonprofits and human rights many is fueled by a passion for a product that touches organizations working at origin are vital to female growers lives at every level of production. From the first planting around the world. One organization working for women's rights to a fresh cup, these are beverages fueled by bold determination, is Pueblo a Pueblo (Spanish for "village to village" or "people to brought farm to table only by the collective efforts of many. people"), a nonprofit helping to improve conditions for women Some of the stickiest tasks on coffee farms and in tea gardens and children in the coffee-growing communities of Guatemala's are given to women, yet the trials women face at origin remain Western Highlands. abundant. For women in rural growing communities, the tradiTraditional roles remain steadfast in rural Guatemala, accordtional demands of farming are only one aspect of their lives. They ing to Pueblo a Pueblo executive director Rosemary Trent. also have families to care for, often without adequate healthcare "Coffee-farming families and poor families in general tend to put or childcare, and limited access to education. Domestic abuse is any available resources in educating sons over daughters," says still prevalent, and women—unlike men—are rarely allowed to Trent. "The girls are more likely than the boys to be denied access own land or to assist in decision-making on farms. Despite the to school and healthcare." To combat this disparity, Pueblo a fact that women hold integral roles in the Pueblo's Maternal-Child Health Sponsorship supports new mothers production of coffee and tea, they have by ensuring that they receive pre- and postsurprisingly little power to improve natal care, medical treatment for W h e n we their livelihoods or to make decitheir infants through age 5, and h e a r o r re ad about to c u p," a sions regarding their fates. family planning and child "s e e d b o u t b a ri sta s a n d ro As in most industries, gender nutrition education. The in g o ri g in a ste rs v is , and abo it u t th e p o inequality stubbornly lingers, nonprofit also works we r o f fa w h a t we ir tra d e, a re re a ll y and it is only the efforts of many closely with schools in w it n e ss in g is a tra ti o n fro m n s ia g lo b a l that can alter long-standing injusticrural communities to m a rke tp la ce to a g lo b a l co es. Luckily, the coffee and tea industries improve sanitation practicm m u n it y, a u n if ie d co n str u c t s u are populated by passionate individuals es, including increasing access p p o rt in g th e b a s ic who demand quality on every front and to fresh water and providing genh u m a n ri g h ts o f e ve ry work tirelessly to protect the rights of women, der-segregated bathrooms, allowing member o f th e improving their status as vital industry leaders. young girls to stay in school after they s u p p ly c h Read on to learn more about the dedicated indireach puberty. Meanwhile, organic school a in . viduals whose combined efforts are opening doors gardens and a curriculum covering nutrition for women across the globe. make communities healthier at large. Children with better access to healthcare, education and nutrition have a higher potential to change the "traditional INDUSTRIES STEEPED composition of the Central American coffee industry," says IN TRADITION Trent. A healthier workforce is a stronger workforce—one more The inequality women face at origin is in some ways a question likely to pursue further education, demand adequate compensaof tradition. In Asia, for example, tea cultivation boasts a rich tion for harvests and adapt to new ideas. history, and tried-and-true cultivation techniques have remained While women's social standing in these communities might not unchanged for centuries. Picking the youngest leaves off of the change overnight, organizations like Pueblo a Pueblo are working tea plant, or "fine plucking," is a delicate and important process to empower and educate women and children early, effectively traditionally executed by women due to the size of their hands. preparing them for stronger leadership roles down the road. But it is also very taxing, and long hours in the fields—often with children in tow—are tiring for women who have more work ahead LEADERSHIP THROUGH EDUCATION of them at home. Similarly, fickle coffee cherries ripen at different times, and AND EMPOWERMENT being able to pick the maroon cherries without disturbing the Having more women in leadership roles within their commugreen is delicate work typically performed by women. Coffee nities is an important step in creating a more fair and balanced grafting—the process of splicing a coffee plant in the middle industry. With the goal of educating and empowering women and and attaching it to a new root—is another practice requiring "promoting possibilities for women in coffee," the International meticulous attention to detail, and another aspect of the indus- Women's Coffee Alliance (IWCA) has 15 international chapters try in the hands of women. These operations are essential to the throughout the world. Each chapter works to raise the status production of coffee and tea, but in rural farming communities, of women by educating females at origin on coffee, providing fixed gender lines make it very difficult for women and young resources for growers and establishing a forum for connecting girls to break out of conventional roles. women at every point on the coffee chain. continued on page 38 freshcup.com October 2013 37