When we began developing the business strategy for Cambio Roasters in 2018, we were looking for a trusted partner who would help ensure that we can truly make a difference in the lives of coffee farmers.
Our commitment to sustainability, fair-trade practices and helping farmers to live healthy lives year-round is so important to our mission, so we looked for an organization with the same passion and dedication to farmers that we have. And it was easy to land on Food 4 Farmers.
Partnering To Provide Food Security To Coffee Farmers
Food 4 Farmers is a non-profit organization in Vermont who partners with coffee-farming communities in Latin America to cultivate a food-secure future. Their co-op partners and the thousands of coffee-farming families they represent are working to put good, healthy food on their tables every day.
Through their work with the co-op partners, Food 4 Farmers helps coffee-growing communities fill the gap between their income from coffee and the income required for a decent quality of life.
Did you know?
An estimated 820 million people around the world don’t have enough to eat. The majority of them live in low-income rural areas – including millions of small-scale farmers who rely on meager income from commodity crops like coffee and cacao.
Based on Food 4 Farmers' research, 67% of coffee farmers experience 2 to 8 months of extreme food scarcity each year. The causes include a combination of low coffee prices, dependence on a single crop for income, limited access to finance, and lack of opportunity to make substantive changes, resulting in a poverty trap for millions of families.
What they've done since starting in 2011 is amazing! Food 4 Farmers continues to work closely with local co-op partners throughout Colombia, Nicaragua and Mexico to learn new skills, develop local food systems, and ultimately create new economic opportunities for those in need to build lasting, community-appropriate solutions to food insecurity.
Having gone to visit one of the co-ops in 2019, our Founders learned first-hand how hard the farmers work. They are generous and kind, opening their doors to invite them to lunch and hold their babies, feed their chickens, and take part in their routines.
Their days are filled with hard work, yet there is only pride and humility to be seen throughout the families. They are so thankful for all that Food 4 Farmers and the local food co-ops have done to help them live healthy lives, year-round.
How can you help?
If you like Cambio coffee, it’s easy and a great way to show you care! Since 2018, Cambio Roasters has made a commitment to donate 20% of its profits to Food4Farmers, who directly invest in these communities.
We also provide an easy way for our website customers to "round up" their purchase to further benefit the farmers. By simply purchasing a compostable carton of Cambio coffee pods, you're showing you care about the environment and farmers who work so hard to grow the coffee in the first place.
And to top that,
For the month of October 2022, Cambio is making a further commitment by donating 100% of the proceeds of every box sold in October from our website to Food4Farmers. Why?
- Because we're "big-hearted coffee roasters" who care to show our commitment to bettering lives over bettering our bank accounts.
- Because coffee farmers truly need the support and Food4Farmers' team works closely with the communities to know exactly what their struggles are, and their struggles are real.
Please meet Roisbel González, a coffee farmer in Nicaragua who benefited from the help given by Food 4 Farmers. Co-op: SOPPEXCCA, Nicaragua
Rosibel lives with her husband and three children in the San Francisco de los Cedros community, near Jinotega. Since childhood, Rosibel has been fascinated by farming and has dedicated herself to agricultural work. She joined SOPPEXCCA in 2015 and became a member of their Mercadito Nutrí Hugar, a women-run organic farmers market in Jinotega and Food 4 Farmers program.
This initiative aims to empower women in agricultural communities to increase production and consumption of local, fresh food, while teaching them financial and administrative management skills, as well as gender issues.
Thanks to the Mercadito, Rosibel is harvesting vegetables for her family and community without the use of any agrochemicals. She says, "We consider it a great advantage to produce vegetables without agrochemicals so as not to harm the health of our children."
Through the program, Rosibel’s income has increased by 10%, with additional savings on food purchases, and she’s used the proceeds to send her daughter to university.
She’s proud to be part of this new venture, and tells other women, ''Join the cooperative, work together, and dedicate yourselves to this undertaking, so you can achieve your dreams.”
Please join Cambio Roasters by purchasing your recyclable Cambio coffee pods in October and supporting coffee-farming families even more! With the cooler weather, it's a great time to buy coffee and welcome the crisp days with a warm reminder that you made a difference.