Sunday, September 10, 2017

Why Your Latte is $5 a Pop - My Coffee Farming Experience





For the past three months, I've been living and working on Mama’s Kona Coffee farm in Keauhou-Kona, Hawaii. After working in the coffee business for three years, and drinking A LOT of coffee, I decided to take things a step further and really experience the journey that coffee makes from the tree to the cup. My goal in my professional career is to improve access to healthy foods and bring urban society closer to our food through gardening or small-scale farming, cooking, and nutrition education. As processed and streamlined as our food is in the modern day, it's hard to remember that there are human beings behind the convenience of grocery stores.  

Every coffee drinker has heard the criticism: “why would you pay $5 for a drink?” and
in my three years of coffee-making, one of the questions I heard the most was “why is coffee so expensive? Isn't it just beans and water?”

My answer back then, before I really had knowledge of the nature of coffee farming, was usually “well, the cost includes the cup and lid, milk and flavor, employee pay, and rent for the building”. Which are all real reasons when buying specialty coffee from a cafe, but coffee by the pound tends to be pricey, as well, especially when compared to other popular steeped drinks like tea.

Now, my answer includes all of the reasons above, but includes this, as well: coffee farming is hard. It's simultaneously physically challenging, mentally frustrating, and environmentally delicate. And for the farmer, it often isn't always very profitable. The farm I worked on supplemented their income by selling baked goods and meals at a farmer's market. When you consider that the majority of coffee is grown outside of the United States in countries with poorer working conditions and labor ethics, commercial coffee is actually under priced.

So what makes coffee farming in Hawaii, home to some of the best coffee on Earth, so challenging?

  • Environmental Factors
    • Coffee plants are very particular about the conditions they grow in, and only grow in very specific climates. While it loves and thrives in Kona’s volcanic soil, moderate year-round temperatures, and frequent rainfall, any deviation from the normal weather is damaging. Periods of drought and acid rain have made it harder for farmers to maintain healthy crops in recent years.
  • Invasive Species (and other pests!)
    • While Hawaii’s climate is perfect for growing coffee, it's also perfect for nearly any living organism. Farmers in Kona now have to tackle invasive coffee borer beetles and fire ants. Fire ants not only feed on fruit, but pose danger to farmers and coffee pickers with their painful sting.
  • Caretaking of Plants
    • Mentioned above, if it doesn't rain, coffee farmers have to water the plants by hand or with irrigation. This is costly both financially and environmentally for the farmer and the land.
    • New growth on fruiting trees, called suckers, literally suck nutrients away from the coffee cherries and plants themselves. These are pulled or cut off before picking season.
    • As coffee beans develop, they weigh down the tree’s branches. The main stumps of the trees, called verticals, start to bend and need to be propped up so that they don't snap in two. Verticals can be heavy, and propping them up just right takes time.
    • The way beans are harvested is important, too. Careless pickers can damage the plant at the point the cherries grow on. New cherries should grow on the plant in the same spot during following seasons. If cherries are picked incorrectly, though, the plant scars and no cherry will grow there again.



  • Processing of coffee
    • Some farmers process their own coffee: from  pulping, drying, roasting and bagging, which is all time-consuming work. Others send coffee harvests off to be pulped (removes the fruit from the bean), and finish the drying and roasting process themselves.
    • Roasting coffee is a rewarding experience, but it's also extremely hot, and the smoke burns your throat, lungs, and eyes if you don't wear proper protection. Not all farmers roast their own coffee, but it is a common process in Kona, where farms often go to market to sell their products and hold tours and coffee tastings.

As harvest season approaches, I'm looking forward to doing some coffee picking, though I’m not living on the farm anymore. Coffee farming (as any farming is, really,) is a labor-intense lifestyle, but I found being in the land to be calming and meditative. In fact, Lily Sr., or “Mama” as we all call her, is in her 90s and still goes out to take care of the land every day, having done so since she was a child. She was usually out before we would even be awake. She says it keeps her mind and body young, and seeing her out there, I believe it.
Farming coffee opened my eyes to the struggles that coffee farmers around the world likely face, and I've gained a new appreciation for one of my favorite beverages and the people that grow it. It brought me closer to the land, where I found confidence and gratitude to every little thing that went “right”. So I encourage you, next time you order your small, hot, honey-almond milk latte with cinnamon sprinkles (my fave ;) ), take a moment to be thankful for what you have, and for the people whose lives and livelihoods rely on that cup of roasted bean ambrosia!




Monday, March 13, 2017

A time to celebrate! / Vegan-Friendly Spinach Artichoke Dip

"To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
And a time to every purpose under heaven"
Turn! Turn! Turn! By the Byrds is my second favorite song of all time, right after "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion (I definitely had my dad request it on the radio when I was six). I loved this song growing up, and the verse in the Bible that inspired it is also still one of my favorites. The seasons are turning here in Phoenix, it's getting hot during the day, so Spring is here. The seasons in my life are turning, as well. If I could summarize with one line from the song how life has been lately, it would be "a time to build up" because I'm building on everything I've worked hard for since last year.

Here's a recap of my 2017 so far:

Music school audition - could go either way, either way I'm happy I tried!

Presentation for Thrive families - Thrive is a new, local non-profit here in Arizona that focuses on providing support and basic needs for families at risk of being put into foster programs. I had the opportunity to share my story and a few budget and kid-friendly healthy recipes (here). It was an amazing event and I met so many incredible, beautiful people through it!

CSA Takeover for Monika Woolsey at Hip Veggies) - honestly my RD hero (she’s a sports nutritionist for the Brewers, supports local and native foods, and uses art to market healthy foods and combat food insecurity. Literal career goals.), Monika asked me if I'd like to do a takeover of her CSA box this month and share my creations. This was a huge opportunity for me and my blog to be seen as well as an amazing way for me to learn and push myself creatively! I can't thank her enough! :)

With so many things to celebrate, I thought it was appropriate to share a fun, celebratory party-food recipe which features a couple vegetables from the CSA Takeover! Note the “party food” aspect! It is vegan, so there is no cholesterol, less fat, and less sodium than regular dip, but it's still a food that should be enjoyed in moderation!

Creamy Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip


1 cup chopped artichoke hearts
2 cups steamed and cooled spinach
¾ package firm silken tofu
½ cup vegan cream cheese
2 tbsp cilantro or parsley
1 i’itoi onion or scallion
2 tsp red hot sauce of choice (Cholula is my jam)
1 tsp White vinegar

  1. Steam your spinach. You should have about 1 cup after it's been steamed. Drain any excess water and allow to cool to room temperature. You can also use thawed frozen spinach.
  2. Clean and slice the white bulb of your onion up to the point that it turns green.
  3. Add the onion whites, cilantro, tofu, cream cheese, hot sauce, and vinegar to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. It should be the texture of Greek yogurt.
  4. Chop the artichokes into bite-sized pieces and add to a bowl with the spinach.

  1. Add the cream mixture to the spinach and artichoke and mix well so that everything is evenly spread throughout the dip.
  2. Taste and add more hot sauce if you so desire :)
  3. Slice the green portion of your onion and sprinkle on top along with black pepper to taste.
  4. Serve with corn chips, pita chips, raw veggies, or anything else you might think would go well with it!

For this recipe, I used Daiya’s plain vegan cream cheese replacement. If you want to go all out, this recipe makes a good cashew cream cheese: https://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2012/12/how-to-make-soy-free-vegan

If using frozen spinach, cut the amount listed in half, measuring only 1 cup of thawed spinach.

I hope that 2017 is treating you all well, too! If it isn't, remember, there's a time for everything under the sun - your time of peace is coming :) 

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Simply Real: Part 2 + Some Updates!

 Life has taken a turn for the busy as of late, and what I thought was manageable at one time has turned out, in all honesty, not to be. Can't always plan and account for those uncontrollable factors in life like car accidents and not having a place of your own to cook and practice, ya know?

Regardless, life in my personal realm is actually quite nice right now. When you consider the big picture when it comes to the state of our world, you realize how blessed we really are, despite the inconveniences of modern life in a first world nation. My car got hit, but at least it still drives and no one got hurt. My name isn't on a lease right now, but at least I have a bed to sleep in at night. Matthew 6:26 says "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" I'm working towards a new place to call a home of my own, but I'm at peace until then. I'm feeling very drawn to a minimalistic lifestyle lately. For real, I could be content living in a tent in the desert (could just be I'm totally over moving stuff around to a new place every year, haha).

The audition for music therapy school is quickly approaching, and though I've experienced different levels of anxiety over it during the past few months, I've come to settle with whatever happens in peace. Whether I get in or not, whether I'm actually able to attend school if I get accepted, I'll be happy knowing that at least I tried, and my love for music is and will continue to be alive and well. I participated in a monthly jam-session night in December. It was rad. I met some cool people, and played music. I'll keep doing that if I don't get into school.

And if I don't get into school, my focus is going back into gardening, and farming, and sustainable food systems. This year, I want to learn more about agriculture. I'm attending meetings with a group of beekeepers in Phoenix to learn more about raising our lil buzzy friends, and even more exciting, I'm going to WWOOF this summer! WWOOF is a program which allows those agri-curious wanderers to live somewhere besides their home while learning hands-on about farming and agriculture. I'm seriously so excited about this, and am in the process of contacting some farms to go work on! Sustainability and taking care of creation is something I've always cared about, ever since I was a wee, 4-year-old rescuer of endangered butterflies. I'm ready to participate and be an ambassador for changing our food system to make it better for the long-term.

Finally, if you've been following along with the Simply Real series over the past several months, you've learned about the things that make our food healthy, and what it means for a food and a person to be "healthy". So you know the why's, but now how do you use that knowledge? Perhaps you already have a solid (or even decent) understanding of how to cook. You might be good to go! If not, this next part of the series will focus on:
  • Recipe literacy
  • Cooking methods for different foods
  • How to customize and create your own recipes
 I'm excited for what 2017 is about to bring! 2016 was, for me personally, the greatest year I have experienced in a very long time. I'm praying that 2017 is similar, but if it isn't that I'll have the patience, strength, and peace of mind to deal with whatever happens.