What is Coffee Growing Community?
Coffee Growing Community facilitates holistic economic, social and spiritual development in communities whose economy is driven by coffee farming, processing and sales.
We work with coffee-farming families to maximize the quality and market value of their coffee, bringing promise of higher economic return for their good work. At the same time we partner to lift these farming communities from societal and spiritual issues that prevent them from thriving. Our dream is to participate in the renewal of all aspects of these communities so that economic, spiritual and social health work together to bring long term, community-wide well-being.
Coffee Growing Community is a a 501(c)(3) entity and our work is fueled by the generosity of individuals, families and organizations who want to help struggling communities realize sustainable well-being through the unique combination of pragmatic free-market principles, faith-based empathy and relational trust.
We work with coffee-farming families to maximize the quality and market value of their coffee, bringing promise of higher economic return for their good work. At the same time we partner to lift these farming communities from societal and spiritual issues that prevent them from thriving. Our dream is to participate in the renewal of all aspects of these communities so that economic, spiritual and social health work together to bring long term, community-wide well-being.
Coffee Growing Community is a a 501(c)(3) entity and our work is fueled by the generosity of individuals, families and organizations who want to help struggling communities realize sustainable well-being through the unique combination of pragmatic free-market principles, faith-based empathy and relational trust.
How we got our start?
The idea for Coffee Growing Community was born in the mid-2000's when our founder, Doug Cooper, happened to be drinking a cup of Peruvian coffee, as his teen-aged son, Nate, was in Peru on a mission trip. Being a coffee enthusiast, intrigued by all things having to do with coffee, it occurred to Doug that much of the poverty realized in Peruvian coffee-growing communities might be eliminated if the farmers at the heart of their economy could earn specialty-grade prices for their coffee and invest the money earned back into the local economy. The theory went like this: If small-family farms in Peru were earning better prices for their coffee, Nate's mission trip to Peru might not have been necessary.
As Doug began to test this theory in Mexico, he realized that it was sound, but not quite as simple as he thought. Many small-scale coffee farmers are not producing specialty-grade coffee and have little or no money with which to invest in improvements that would elevate their coffee's quality. At the same time, these farming communities lack access to trade partners who would recognize the value of specialty-grade coffee and pay higher prices. And, sadly, he learned that with poverty that comes with depressed coffee trade comes social and spiritual issues that severely weaken a community's ability to pull itself out of its brokenness.
Coffee Growing Community is a response to these realities, and to the fact that prosperity and access to resources enjoyed in the United States can provide real solutions to these issues if we care enough, and are patient enough, to see them through.
As Doug began to test this theory in Mexico, he realized that it was sound, but not quite as simple as he thought. Many small-scale coffee farmers are not producing specialty-grade coffee and have little or no money with which to invest in improvements that would elevate their coffee's quality. At the same time, these farming communities lack access to trade partners who would recognize the value of specialty-grade coffee and pay higher prices. And, sadly, he learned that with poverty that comes with depressed coffee trade comes social and spiritual issues that severely weaken a community's ability to pull itself out of its brokenness.
Coffee Growing Community is a response to these realities, and to the fact that prosperity and access to resources enjoyed in the United States can provide real solutions to these issues if we care enough, and are patient enough, to see them through.