Interfaith Coffee Coop Thrives

January 30, 2006

Source: Yes!

http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=1344

On January 30, 2006 Yes! reported, "Mirembe Kawomera coffee delivers a double jolt. First, there’s the caffeine, but right behind that tang comes the jolt of learning that the arabica beans were sold by an alliance of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Ugandan farmers. This unique cooperative in the Mbale region of Uganda is Mirembe Kawomera—Delicious Peace. Their coffee comes to market fairly traded, distributed by Thanksgiving Coffee, a Fort Bragg, California, company specializing in organic and fair trade produce. By banding together and by establishing a fair trade relationship, the farmers now realize enough profits from sales to meet their families’ basic needs - a sharp contrast to the hardship of trying to sell as individuals to large corporate buyers in a glutted world market. Better circumstances have, in turn, sweetened relations between the unique Mbale Jewish community and their more numerous Muslim and Christian neighbors."