How About We Supersize Third World Debt Relief?

Before I hit the main subject of this blog, I'll go ahead and put it out there...yes, the people of Mississippi once again have achieved the dubious distinction of being recognized as the fattest people in the nation. Let me just point out that I have lost 10 pounds since my arrival in this state, and am getting closer and closer to no longer being officially classified as "overweight". So way to go me...but let's get on the rest of these Mississippians, eh? And let's not overlook the fact that the states in which the populations are the most obese are also the states with the highest poverty levels. Hmm, could there be a correlation?

Speaking of poverty, I found an article today in the Houston Chronicle about a region I visited in Nicaragua. If you know me at all, you've already heard tales about my time spent in Matagalpa. This is where I lived with the coffee growers, in the shack insulated with newspapers, where showers involved a bucket and dinner meant killing one of the chickens roaming the yard. This is also where the mother told me I needed to take the bigger bed as I was the fatter of the two of us staying there. I just laughed.

Anyway, today's article is about the price of coffee and the continued hardship of coffee growers in Nica. People ask me why I'm so passionate about the fact that my coffee must be fair trade. Well, I was there. I stayed with these people, I learned of their generosity and I learned of their desperations. It's nearly impossible for them to forge a living, and it's even more impossible when they have children. Land is so important in Nica culture, in Latino culture in general, and when a son comes of age it's traditional to carve off a chunk of land for him. If the family is unable to save and buy additional land, then the acreage just keeps getting smaller and smaller. The family I stayed with said that it was nearly impossible, what with costs and processing and all that, to put aside money to buy more land. That's why they were so desperate to get organic certification. Fair trade is already helping--it helped my family keep what little land they have. But organic certification fetches an even higher price on the world market.

This is why I make every attempt to buy organic and free trade certified coffee. I realize that there are so many causes about which to be passionate, and so many issues in the world to take upon my shoulders. But this is the one that has meaning to me, this is the one that strikes a chord and reminds me of the human faces behind my purchases. I don't have a ton of money, and it would be simple for me to cut back on the price I pay for coffee (although I must say thanks, again, to those who have sent me coffee since I've been down south--it is much appreciated!) I can't bring myself to do it. Even while I think that I have nothing, I can see those walls covered in newsprint and feel those dirt floors. And yet I remember the open arms. So if those people gave me everything that they had out of the nothing that I believed they possessed, how can I say that I am too poor to afford to pay a little extra for my coffee?