Introducing our TransFARMation Blend
Sparrows is pleased to partner with Trade Coffee for our second collaborative initiative focused on social justice in our coffee community. Last Summer, Trade directed proceeds from the sales of our Joven Coffee brand to Kids Food Basket, whose work provides greater food access to West Michigan youth. For the month of May, we’ve teamed up with Trade once again, this time to release a new “TransFARMation Blend” available exclusively through their platform as a part of their Act for All Coffee initiative. Our organizational partner for this project is Food 4 Farmers, a non-profit that helps coffee-farming families throughout Latin America strengthen local food systems, build climate change resilience, and improve livelihoods. $2 of every bag of TransFARMation Blend sold will be directed towards their organization.
We wanted to partner with F4F for this project because their organization supports the communities we most directly benefit from as roasters: the coffee growers. As part of a global supply chain, we often work outside of our own geographical community. It feels crucial for us to offer support to the international communities we most directly benefit from, particularly with the economic disparities that exist between us and them.
Most coffee is grown by farmers who own less than 5 acres of land. Low coffee prices and small farms simply can’t deliver enough income to support their families; most live on less than the Global Poverty Line of $1.90 per person per day. F4F partners with coffee cooperatives and other coffee-growing organizations to connect farming families with the resources and expertise they need to build food security and better livelihoods by strategically diversifying their farms, growing healthy food using climate-friendly practices, and strengthening food systems and local economic opportunities for their communities.
For the past 10 years, F4F’s efforts have been transforming small-scale farming families into leaders building more resilient rural communities and a healthier planet. One of the hundreds of farming families F4F has supported in Colombia, José Jair Vivas and his wife, children, mother, and uncle can attest to the program’s capacity for transformation. The family had participated in other food security programs before, but Jair said this one is different. “It is not only about getting seeds and materials, but also learning about good nutrition and better techniques to grow clean food”.
Our TransFARMation Blend is composed of coffees from Guatemala’s Huehuetenango region and Colombia’s Cauca region, both regions where F4F works. Flavors of both coffees shine in the cup; the coffee from Cauca lends rich brown sugar sweetness with more lively notes of green apple and orange zest. Its component from Huehuetenango provides accent flavors of vanilla and hazelnut, and adds to the coffee’s creamy body.
To help support social justice in coffee, pick up a bag of TransFARMation Blend from Trade’s webstore. F4F also provides opportunities to support their organization, from giving monthly to sponsoring a program, or holding a fundraiser of your own. Visit their website to learn more about how you can make a difference for coffee farming families.
