Coffee cup in one hand; camera in the other

Although my duties on this delegation included putting a narrow box in front of my eye, I returned to Goshen with a broader picture of fair trade coffee.

Through varied interactions with members of coffee cooperatives, established with egalitarian business models, I learned about the complex process involved in placing a cup of organic, fair trade coffee in my hands. From the recipe for organic fertilizer to how one can use insects as pesticides, I now know enoughÑif I owned my own mountainÑto start an organic coffee plantation.

Now that I am back in Goshen I consider each cup of coffee a symbol of a system: one built on just economics and consideration for the producer. With each cup of CafŽ Salvador I drink, my mind returns to the steep slopes of El PinalÕs coffee cooperative and Ana Gladys Molina.

Alongside her husband and daughter, Ana quickly strips coffee trees of its red fruit, filling a basket resting on her hip. For each 25 pounds she harvests, Ana receives 92 centsÑthe highest amount paid in surrounding communities.

In addition to paying a fair wage, members of the El Pinal cooperative receive a fair trade premium for each pound of coffee sold to a fair trade vendor. With this premium the cooperative can pay for a health worker to visit each month, improve roads and increase school funding.

As I hold my photos in one hand and coffee in another, I look to the future, excited about spreading the word on fair trade coffee.

(Joel traveled to El Salvador as a photographer)