Zapatista Coffee
Chiapas in Mexico produces one of the best coffees in the world, mainly grown in the mountains. Coffee is Mexico’s main export. Mexico is in fact the world’s fourth largest producer of coffee in the world, and the main producer of organic coffee.
In Mexico more than 3 million people depend on the production of coffee and on its exportation. 91.7% are small producers with less than five hectares of land, and more than 60% of these are indigenous peoples. The other 8.3% own a number of enormously extended estates that are the fruits of occupations of indigenous lands; these occupations have been promoted and supported by the government.
The EZLN commonly known as the Zapatistas has developed social and political projects: building, from the bottom up, a society where the Maya people can enjoy autonomy, safeguarding their own idioms and culture, and organising their own access to education, health, and land, through forms of direct democracy.
One of these projects is the creation of small cooperatives that produce the “Cafe Rebelde” or “Zapatista coffee”. The organisation of these cooperatives has strengthened and improved access to the land and the quality of life overall.
Where appropriate Veggies therefore uses and sells Zapatista coffee that we get from Active Distribution, who in turn buy it from Café Libertad in Hamburg. Café Libertad deal directly with the cooperatives in Mexico, as an act of solidarity with the indigenous peoples struggle in Chiapas Mexico and also because it tastes so damn good!
You can buy Zapatista Ground Coffee from Veggies at the Sumac Centre, and many good events for £4.20 each 250g bag, or whole beans for £8.00 (500g bag).
Note that at some events, particularly outdoors, we also use fair trade organic coffee from Cafe Direct.
Both Cafe Direct and Zapatista Coffee are also available from our main wholefoods supplier, Lembas, from Sheffield or from Bristol’s Essential Wholefood Co-operative, when we are down their way.
Zapatista Coffee by mail order direct from Veggies
- 1 x 250g ground coffee – £4.20 + £2.60 p&p = £6.80
… - Additional bag ground coffee: £5.00 incl. p&p (order 1 bag first)
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- 500 bag Coffee Beans – £8.00 + £2.60 p&p = £10.60
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- Postage rates are for the UK as at April 2013.
If you are ordering from overseas, we would welcome a donation towards the additional postage costs. (Adjust quantity to match your donation)
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Click button to order via Paypal (accepts cards), or send a cheque or secure cash to Veggies, 245 Gladstone Street, Nottingham NG7 6HX.
Allow a couple of weeks for delivery if we are out at events away from our Nottingham base. Or arrange collection at one of our many events – see http://www.veggies.org.uk/vegevents.htm
ZAPATISTA COFFEE DOSSIER
The dossier on the Zapatista Coffee has been printed on the Italian
magazine “A Rivista Anarchica”.
You can find the English version online
at: http://anarca-bolo.ch/a-rivista/360/dossier_Chiapas_en.htm#1
Chiapas / Shall we have a nice coffee (zapatista)?
Chiapas / 1. Zapatista Coffee
Chiapas / 2. Where and how coffee is produced
Chiapas / 3. Zapatista Cooperatives
Chiapas / 4. Cafe Libertad collective eG
Chiapas / 5. Tasting Coffee Zapatista
Chiapas / 6. Where to find Zapatista Coffee in the world
Chiapas / 7. Anarchism, Zapatistas and Global Solidarity