| About Catskill Mountain
Coffee
Naturally the
Best...
We want to support farmers in their ecological efforts, so
we proudly carry two natural process coffees from Ethiopia
and Kenya. The Ethiopian beans are harvested from wild bushes
in the mountains. The Kenyan comes from small farms with
plots about half and acre each. According to the Kenyan Institute
of Organic Farming these farmers have never used (nor could
they afford) pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
The organic certification process is long
and expensive. In many parts of the world, small farmers
individually cannot afford the $5,000 - $10,000 dollars needed
for the certification process.
Through Labor We Respect and Reward ...
Entire families and cooperatives harvest the coffee, working
for 12 to 14 hours a day. It takes 2,000 beans to make
nearly four pounds of coffee - the average yield of each
tree.
After the coffee is picked, the pulp is removed from the
coffee cherries and the beans are dried in the sun. Beans
come from small farms and cooperatives, which are largely
made up of indigenous people working hard to maintain their
culture and lives. We do not buy from large estates, farms
or plantations. These systems have created conditions of
chronic poverty and malnutrition among the people who grow,
pick and process the coffee.
Catskill Mountain Coffee only purchases from villages, farmers
and importers who are committed to fair trade while working
toward better economic opportunity, improved health and nutrition
for the coffee growers and workers.
Catskill Mountain Coffee is part
of a progressive trade network. Each person, from farmer
to consumer, is part of
socially-just and environmentally-responsible trade. It is
important to us that the quality of our coffee includes respect
for the quality of life of our farming partners in the coffee
world. And that respect translates into superb tasting coffee
for your pleasure.
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