The following was written by Becca Koganer, Natural Foods Sales Representative, Equal Exchange
Escolastico Perez Gomez picking coffee.
Coffee growing is the most intense work I have ever witnessed. I can’t really put it into words.
The trek to the actual communities where the farmers members of the CIRSA co-op live is indescribable to begin with; imagining having to figure out transport from these isolated places where the roads wash out and can send you over a cliff in an instant; it had my mind spinning. In the moments when I found myself being totally present, I could take in the beauty of the place. 
We got a ride with board members and 2 technicians. It’s the technicians’ job to check every member’s farm for the standards and practices that are required, this is an incredible amount of work. The work of a board members is also unbelievably challenging and they sleep at the office 4 days a week, leaving behind their farms and families. Victor Hugo, board member, told us how at age 19, he took back a hacienda from a rich German land owner with 29 other companeros in 1994 and split it up collectively to farm. Camarino was hoping we would get to his family’s community because he hadn’t seen his parents since last November. Julio Cesar, the other technician, took photos and videos of us throughout the trip, to share at CIRSA’s annual meeting- to show the strong partnership between our two organizations, co-operatives both. The 5 of us Equal Exchangers, our photographer, Julia, and the folks from CIRSA stood in the back of the truck holding on as we passed across mountainsides and through communities, passing corn, corn, and more corn. Between the corn there were incredible views of valleys, more mountains, communities with farm animals and colorfully dressed women holding babies. People were drying coffee on rooftops, depulpers were visible from the road. Continue Reading »
