My name is Aloysius but you can call me Bob. If your making my grande vanilla soy latte.In some cafes anything more that a cup of regular coffee requires a you to give your name and wait for your order.   On the surface this isn’t a big deal. Unless you don’t hear them call your name when your order is ready. Or worse, they mispronounce your name and you NEVER hear that your order is ready. When the frustration of correcting the barista’s spelling became too much Shefali Kulkarni writer for the Village Voice gave the name ‘Sheila’.  With the time she saved not spell-checking the barista she spent observe others in the coffee shop and realized that she was not the only one using a fake name.

As a person who has witnessed these painful interactions  I applaud and celebrate all you impostors who selflessly lie so you can keep the line moving.

Recently while looking for a Guatemalan coffee to add to the current offerings I ran across the Guatemala Nahuala. Its from Cooperative Nahuala in Quetzaltenango region of Guatemala on the Nahuala River Basin. Founded in 1978 it’s a small co-op of about 126 farmers, formed to help the farmers connect with overseas buyers which ultimately results in providing them with higher wages. The Cooperative is 90% organic, consistently invests back into their communities and focuses on improving its coffee quality and crop yields. Cooperative Nahuala has initiated a reforestation project in the Ixtacapa River area, planting more trees, creating a better environment, inviting more native species to live in the region; creating healthier soil in the area. The Cooperative has provided training to all of its members in organic production and implemented diversification projects, encouraging producers to sell honey and organic bananas to the local market so they aren’t completely dependent on coffee and help stabilize the community. To top it off, they also manage a very successful composting project that allows the Cooperative members to purchase fertilizer at a reasonable prices. I was sold and brought Guatemala Nahuala.

Several days later at an outdoor market a woman stopped, picked up a bag of our new Fair Trade Organic Guatemalan coffee and began asking questions about how it was roasted, She told me she was well acquainted with the some of the she coffee farms or “fincas” there. She was in Guatemala some years back as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders and lived there for several months. She said there were many smaller co-ops and farms that operated much like Cooperative Nahuala but couldn’t afford Fair Trade Organic certification. We lamented about the inequities of all systems and the politicalization of all things, even coffee.

Her story served as a reminder that a lot of sweat, love and pride create the beans that I roast to create the hot liquid heaven in my cup. It served as a reminder of how connected we all really are; that no life goes untouched by another life even down to the most basic levels of existence. I take a lot of things for granted and often act with such a sense of entitlement. Sometimes I need to be reminded to be thankful for simple things.

Thank you Cooperative Guatemala Nahuala.