GLOBAL SWARMING continued from page 37
or other plants, bees provide valuable pollination properties. "There's just this whole range of products," says Mares. "We know that coffee is a commodity where you only get paid once a year. If there's another revenue stream for farmers, that can really help."
Spurring alternative revenue streams for coffee farmers has become a major Green Mountain mission, and with the possibilities of beekeep- ing identified, the roaster last year helped establish a nonprofit called Food4Farmers.
It was that thinking that caused Mares to join forces with long-
time friend Rick Peyser, director of social advocacy and coffee community outreach at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Spurring alternative revenue streams for coffee farmers has become a major Green Mountain mission, and with the possibilities of beekeep- ing identified, the roaster last year helped establish a nonprofit called Food4Farmers. The goal is to implement ideas that can help counter "the thin months"—those times of the year when coffee- farming families face devastating hunger issues as their cash from the previous coffee harvest starts to run low. A plan to expand coffee-farming beekeeping is the first proj-
ect from Food4Farmers. Working alongside another beekeeping expert, Oregon State University's Dewey M. Caron, the group is
38 COFFEE ALMANAC 2012