Transparency. Sustainability. Hope.
After water, coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world and has the unique benefit of being a medium for forming and solidifying quality relationships that contribute toward healthy, flourishing communities for those that produce coffee and those that consume it. In the roughly 70 coffee-producing countries, producers are facing environmental, agricultural, social and economic challenges, many of which have already become critical issues.
These challenges not only threaten the sustainability of the industry and the reliable supply of coffee to consumers, even more critically they threaten the quality of life and the health of communities of all global stakeholders. Complicating the challenges is the fact that stakeholders at both ends do not comprehend each others’ realities. That is, producers typically do not understand the market that purchases and consumes their product, and consumers typically do not understand the costs and challenges involved in delivering it.
Flourishing Community’s call is to engender a culture of sustainability and community from end to end by creating, supporting and executing innovative economic and educational programs that are both culturally appropriate and locally relevant. We focus on emphasizing the building of relationships and the sharing of knowledge, resources and experience among stakeholders throughout the chain.
How do we do this?
Step 1: Identify coffee farmers and coffee roasters who are passionate about more than just the bottom dollar.
Step 2: Identify specific educational and economic projects that will help the coffee farmers to flourish in their businesses, and thereby in their lives.
Step 3: Provide and manage a way for donors to make tax-deductible contributions to these projects.
Example: So, say you love that single origin Colombian that your local roaster is brewing. Your roaster, because they are awesome, personally knows the farmer that produces those beans. They also know that this farmer has not been afforded the opportunity to learn business management. Because of this the farmer has been taken advantage of in the past and his or her community is suffering. So, your local roaster connects the farmer to a business education program. This is where you come in. You and your friends fund the farmer’s education. The farmer then builds a better coffee business. You get better coffee. The farmer’s local community flourishes. The farmer has received something lasting and sustainable. It’s a win for everybody.
Flourishing Community connects all of those dots.