| Montreal and Mexico City, 1/03/2001 – A book being launched today in Mexico City tells the story of how Mexican farmers are carving a niche for shade-grown, fairly-traded coffee in the booming billion dollar international specialty coffee market.
With the use of case studies, Coffee with a Cause shows how small-scale coffee producers in Mexico are finding ways to earn a decent income by employing 'fair trade' practices that involve forming their own cooperatives and exporting directly to foreign buyers. Because these same small coffee farmers typically grow their coffee under the shade of forest canopies, usually without the use of harmful agro-chemicals, they are able to make a living while protecting their local biodiversity. As Coffee with a Cause reveals, it is nothing less than sustainable development in action.
Coffee with a Cause was developed and adapted for a Mexican audience by Equiterre, a Montreal-based non-governmental organization, with financial support from the North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC). Among the book's contributors are La Jornada journalist and specialist on rural topics Armando Bartra, Jerónimo Prujin of Comercio Justo, and members of the Mexican coffee farmers' cooperative UCIRI.
Coffee with a Cause is published in Spanish by Acción Cultural Madre Tierra and will be presented by Equiterre and Comercio Justo on 1 March 2001 at 20:00 at El Café de Nuestra Tierra Alvaro Obregón 100, Col. Roma, Mexico City.
Equiterre is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting ecological, socially-just consumer choices. NAFEC, the fund of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC), provides small grants to community-based environmental projects across the continent. NACEC was established by the NAFTA environmental side accord to build cooperation among Canada, Mexico and the United States in protecting their shared environments.
For more information please contact Christine Larson at NACEC: <clarson@ccemtl.org> or tel: (514) 350-4331 or Isabelle St-Germain at Equiterre: <istg@equiterre.qc.ca> or tel: (514) 522-2000 extension 22.
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