Organic Coffee: Making Room for the New Harvest

Have you been to the El Porvenir coffee co-op at the top of the mountain in Posoltega, Nicaragua? 

Do you drink their organic coffee as your morning cup of joe?

The answer to both should be YES! If your answer is no, you can remedy the coffee drinking right away, read on. (You can also remedy the visit – see here for more information on upcoming delegations to Nicaragua!)

The co-op’s delicious coffee has been marketed for the last few years by Farmer Shares in NC, which was set up by our friend and supporter, Steve Virgil. The coffee is grown on top of a mountain in Nicaragua by the 56 families of the El Porvenir Co-op. These families struggle to make ends meet because their only source of income is their annual sale of organic coffee to Farmer Shares - your purchase of their delicious coffee makes a huge difference in their lives. Recently, co-op President Rene told us:

“If it weren’t for your purchase of our coffee harvest, our co-op and our families wouldn’t survive.”

Harvest time is especially difficult as the co-op must hire coffee pickers, process and hand select the coffee. This year is particularly tough because the water pump for the co-op’s well is broken and they don’t have the funds to fix it. They are having to take their tractor off the harvest to send it down to purchase water in another village and haul it to the top of the mountain in order to drink, to wash, and, of course, to process the coffee! Your support is more important than ever.

As of January 1st, Farmer Shares Coffee is now officially a project of the JHC-CDCA. For more than 20 years, we have been working with El Porvenir to sell their annual organic coffee harvest (first through Their Bucks, now through Farmer Shares), carry out potable water and community development projects, and to provide medical care for the co-op’s families.

In December, staff from the Nueva Vida Clinic – Dr. Jorge, nurse Isamar, health promoter Emir and Becca - went up to the co-op and saw 88 patients: 46 in general medicine (including 16 children), placed 12 new birth control implants, did 6 PAPS, and handed out 24 pairs of reading glasses. These clinics provide the only medical care at the co-op.

All proceeds from your coffee purchase go to support El Porvenir’s families. 

The best news about the new coffee harvest coming in is that Farmer Shares is making space in the warehouse by offering big discounts on your coffee! Here are the details:

Organic coffee by the pound 

$8/ lb for roasted beans

Monthly Subscriptions

Subscriptions of 2 lbs/month are now just $14 + shipping

You can now order from 1 to 5 lbs as a monthly subscription!

Sign up now or give as a gift!

Already have a subscription? Thank you for all your support!

Here’s how you get the discount: Cancel your current subscription, delete your customer account, and sign up for an entirely new subscription.

Unfortunately we cannot apply the discount to already existing subscriptions. When you sign up for a new subscription, however, you will continue saving each month! We apologize for the hassle!

Bulk Coffee & Fundraiser Packages

50 Lbs or more at $6/lb + shipping

In 2005, volunteer Eric Gruen packed up his duct-taped shorts and hiked to the top of the El Porvenir mountain to spend a month working at the coffee co-op. Eric planted coffee in the nursery, ate armadillo and possum, took portraits of the co-op’s families, and his life was changed forever. Now with a family of his own in Minneapolis, Eric has found a way to continue supporting the 56 families at El Porvenir. He is purchasing 50 lbs of coffee in bulk per month, then reselling to friends and colleagues. Everyone saves on shipping, Farmer Shares can count on a bulk order each month, and Eric’s front porch always smells of delicious freshly roasted coffee!

We need your help! Can you be the “Eric” in your city? Does your church, university or community group need a fundraiser? Email us: info@farmershares.com

We want to send a huge thank you to Steve Virgil, who set up Farmer Shares, stored hundreds of pounds of coffee in his living room, and successfully got the subscription coffee project off the ground in the middle of a pandemic, all the while working organic coffee in around his already very full life. We appreciate every minute Steve has been able to dedicate to supporting the families of El Porvenir Coffee Co-op.

As of 1 January 2022, the Farmer Shares project has officially been passed on to our non-profit, the Jubilee House Community, Inc. and our project in Nicaragua, the Center for Development in Central America. We here in Nicaragua are now the ones at the other end of the emails and phone calls, and hope that we can live up to the high standard of customer service that Steve provided to you all. Thank you, Steve! - Becca & Daniel for the Farmer Shares Coffee Team

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Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA with the poor in Nicaragua:

https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/jhc-cdca