C as in Commodity / Colombia El Paraiso

 The Letter C

Commodity and Community are the key words to consider on this cassette. Lucia Bawot was interviewed to discuss the process of their creative work, We Belong, that visually captures narratives of Colombian Women Farmers. The book is translated in both English and Spanish side-by-side. We discuss that organization as well as the commodity and specialty sector at large. We also talked about a campaign headed up by Lucia that takes on the challenge of making mental health services accessible for women farmers in Colombia. 

The music was graciously provided by the Colombian cumbia/psychedelc/rock band, BALTHVS. They were just in Memphis last year and it would be an absolute treat to hear them preform live. Check out their works here: https://balthvs.com/

Pairing the coffee for this tape was tricky. The normal purchasing channels/partners  and the inventory on hand were exclusively specialty grade coffee and, therefore, did not reflect what is discussed on the tape. Figuring out how to navigate as a buyer across the supply chain is not typical as you move along it. But, the show must go on! So on the farther end of the spectrum, this tape will feature a coffee that was purchased this harvest 2023 year back in the summer at $23USD a pound. Yep, taking a chuck out for y'all on this one. We checked another seller of this coffee and for 40grams would have to spend about $35. You get it for $5 - cool little markdown. Hope ya enjoy!

Currently in the works of purchasing our green coffee from a provider that has coffees in both sectors. We are actively working to get more details - this delay is circumstantial and not due to any lag of communication from any third party. So, that "commodity/commercial" coffee will have to be released as a separate/"in addition to" product when it arrives. That kind of coffee pairs perfectly with the content in this conversation. The more that is discussed about commercial/commodity, the more the industry can understand the works that people are doing to move it forward and to support sustainability and profit-generating practices for producers. The hope is to not just have that discussion verbally but be able to taste and appreciate that work in a tangible way.

Check back for updates!