Coffee and Community: Maya Farmers and Fair-Trade Markets

Acknowledgments

vii I I n fall 2005, several months after completing my Ph.D., I attended a Wenner-Gren conference for young researchers at which the foundation’s president, Leslie Aiello, sagely reminded us in attendance that our research is not complete until it is published. I have often repeated those words to myself over the past five years as I struggled to balance the seemingly endless demands of work and life. I have come to realize that my research was incomplete : I owed a large debt to the many people who selflessly offered me their time and shared their invaluable thoughts with me over the course of interviews and informal conversations conducted between 2000 and 2006 in Guatemala, Seattle, and Vermont. More than anything, this book represents a follow through on the promise I made to them. Out of respect for their confidentiality I do not name them in the text; however, it is my greatest hope that they know how thankful I am for their contributions . I am especially grateful to the people of San Juan La Laguna and the members of La Voz who so graciously acknowledgments Acknowledgments viii welcomed me into their community, cooperative, and homes. They taught me more than the practicalities of organic coffee production—from them I learned the importance of coupling a strong work ethic with a generosity of spirit and the enduring significance of an agrarian lifestyle in an increasingly complex and urban world. In addition, this research would not have been possible without the assistance and support of a variety of individuals in various organizations. A sincere thank you to Rick Peyser and the many employees at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters who opened their office doors to me during the course of my two research trips to Vermont. I especially thank Steve Sabol and Chuck Jones for allowing me to tag along on several employee coffee tours in 2002 and 2003. A special thanks as well to Karen and Francisco at Elan Organic Coffees. Prior to his becoming the Guatemalan Minister of Agriculture, I was lucky enough to meet Edin Barrientos at the Guatemala City USAID office. He generously shared with me his knowledge of the Small Coffee Farmer Improvement Program and provided critical support at the earliest stages of this research by first introducing me to La Voz. In addition, I thank the many Anacafé employees who agreed to interviews in both Guatemala City and San Pedro and the countless NGO employees and members of the boards of directors at cooperatives across the highlands who sat down with me and shared their knowledge and understanding of fair trade and coffee. Genuine thanks to the extended Richardson family for providing lodging, advice, and company during the months of research in Seattle. This research would not have been possible without the interest and support of the members of the Northwest Sustainable Coffee Campaign, including the many coffee roasters, small and large, who consented to interviews and the employees and volunteers at Seattle Audubon, the Songbird Foundation, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, TransFair, and Global Exchange. Special thanks to Eric Lindland, Matt Dudgeon, and especially Jenna Waites for helping to keep me sane during the trials and tribulations of fourteen months of dissertation fieldwork. Peggy Barlett continues to provide unrelenting support to this day, and without her early interest and strong commitment to social and economic justice this project would have not been possible. Thanks also to Carla Freeman, Rick Dolan, Silke von Essenwein, and Faidra Papasaviliou at Emory University and Laura Raynolds at Colorado State. I consider myself lucky to have landed at the University of Kentucky, surrounded by such interesting colleagues who appreciate the ongoing importance of research on livelihoods in a changing world. Special thanks to Erin Koch (for the reading and free babysitting), Acknowledgments ix Cristina Alcalde, Tad Mutersbaugh, Lisa Cliggett, Peter Little, Sue Roberts, Lucinda Romberg, Srimati Basu, and Emily Burril for providing reading labor and advice over the years. I am ever grateful to Walter Little for his close read of the manuscript and the many valuable suggestions he made for improvement. Thanks also to Ted Fischer and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. Finally, thanks to Darrin Pratt and the staff at the University Press of Colorado. Without the ongoing support of my extended family this research would not have been possible. Thanks to Olivia, who is always ready to take a...