Just Local Food: guatemala

Zacarias from Just Local Food was just in Guatemala and Honduras this past January, Farmer to Farmer Continues to create a bond between our communities through media, coffee, textiles y mucho mas. As I'm sure you've heard Central America has been hit by Agatha and Guatemala had a volcanic eruption and earthquake too. Info about these disasters can be found on the Farmer to Farmer website (www.farmertofarmer.org). Also, here is a video that Alexander, the peacecorp worker we traveled with to Huehuetenango last January, put up on youtube.

Peace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WacAI0ZmycQ

This video was filmed a day after TROPICAL STORM AGATHA ravaged the SAN MIGUEL ESCOBAR coffee-growing community located on the base of the "VOLCÁN DE AGUA" (Water Volcano) just outside of ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA. Go to: www.ASGREENASITGETS.org to send DONATIONS. This video was produced, edited, and published by ALEXANDER NIXON, a PEACE CORPS volunteer working with the As Green As it Gets coffee cooperative in this affected community.

It has been an honor to share some images and a short video of our trip to Honduras and Guatemala in an effort to better understand the lives of organic growers that grow us such high quality, environmentally conscious, small scale crops in two countries that few of us in the Chippewa Valley have been able to immerse ourselves in.

In an effort to keep my first blogs to the point, I'd like to offer a few areas where I can focus future writing based on what questions you may have about the agricultural and environmental, political, social or artistic happenings of the regions that we visited. please comment to this blog with any further questions you would like me to elaborate on...

To summarize some of these things Honduras and Guatemala share a history of pre-columbian ancestry but now differ in their intact cultures as Spanish and Mayan influence has taken different paths in both countries, leaving a different reality for indigenous rights, farming practices, environmental impact and areas of focus for farmer to farmer type projects.

Honduras, the first half of our trip, simmered with political tension (but a general feeling of rest... or perhaps a population holding it's breath) and boiled as coffee was a-buzz as market prices ran high (but supply continued to run low) and farmer to farmer (organic and oober fair trade) prices substantially higher. Politically, our new hosts deliberated the effects of president Zelaya's overthrow (via coup d'etat in June 2009), leaving the country divided and lead by two leaders or presidents which neither could claim an overwhelming degree of support. Guatemala, the second half of our three weeks in Central America, continues to be a concentrated area for work in indigenous rights and greater human rights as severe poverty and short of infrastructure leaves many in the indigenous dominated country unrecognized by the government, creating calamity with the repeating reality of devastating natural disasters and basic medical coverage lacking accessibility (the sister of our Tzotzil (Mayan) interpreter passed away two days ago due to lack of funds for insulin).

www.farmertofarmer.orgFarmer to Farmer's trip focused our energies on connecting with different cooperatives that continued to develop ties to western Wisconsin through the sale of organic coffee, heirloom textiles (natural dies, traditional weaving methods, multiple types of cotton), scholarships for area children, and much much more. Each visit to a cooperative meeting or family visit included sharing the story of Just Local Food and the people of my community, games and culture (from gifting and practicing Frisbee to explaining winter and the related culture of ways to embrace the Wisconsin cold). We were introduced to the ups and downs of cooperative business and sustainable development in small communities, explained and deliberated a transparent market to farmers that never could learn of the complicated systems that moved their cafe from farm to cup, toured farms that have naturally practiced organic farming for as far back as memory can wander (the alternative of synthetic fertilizers, chemical herbicides and pesticides is/was either too expensive, inaccessible, unnecessary, and now more and more harmful to the hopes and dreams of a safe place for eco-tourism and fair trade), took time to record their stories, dreams, messages for their customers, etc.

To wrap up today's blog, it's been an incredible education to see how solidarity groups like farmer to farmer make a growing impact on communities like those we visited in Honduras and Guatemala. please keep an eye on just local food's blog for upcoming coffee 101 talks and feel free to email me (zac@justlocalfood.com) if you'd be interested in having a talk at your local school, congregation, community group, etc.

paz