What does your cup of coffee really cost?

An inside look behind your morning cup of joe in El Salvador. A bag of coffee beans costs anywhere between 5 and 20 dollars, depending on the quality and the  brand. A regular cup of coffee bought at a coffee shop, around 2 dollars (we’re talking no-frills, just the coffee in a mug, hot and…

Coffee Leaf Rust Plagues El Salvador

  Coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) is a fungus that is widely feared among coffee growers. Its full life cycle is not completely understood, but direct contact must be made by the fungus, or the fungi spores, with the leaf to infect it. Scientists also know that the presence of free water is required, and…

El Salvador Reaps Record Coffee Earnings

El Salvador has seen record earnings in coffee this past year; the combination of increased cultivation and soaring world prices has led to many coffee producers bringing in more money than they’ve seen in a decade. According to the Salvadoran Coffee Council, the past year’s export earnings were over $435 million – an increase of…

Coffee Exports ~ Good News in El Salvador, not so in Colombia

The 2010/2011 harvest season has been a good one in El Salvador; not only have yields increased, they have nearly doubled when compared to the yields at the same time last year, and coffee prices have also gone up. The price per quintal (approximately 100 kilograms) this year is $213.28, whereas last year it was…

Colombian Coffee Crisis

Colombian coffee. Made famous by Juan Valdez, the iconic gaucho with his cowboy hat and mule laden with coffee in burlap sacs. And although Colombian now fiercely protects its coffee exports and stands with pride beside the consistent high quality found in Colombian coffee, it has only been an export crop since the mid-1800’s. And…

Coffee in El Salvador

I have been remiss in not posting about coffee; the countryside is crowded with coffee, it has taken over the hills anywhere the elevation is above 3,000 feet. Below that elevation, corn is king for a while, and then the sugarcane takes over in the lowlands. By the middle of the 19th Century, the Salvadoran…

Nanoparticles in Your Food Supply?

Nanoparticles are microscopic  substances that act the same as their larger counterparts, and have been used on some level since the 9th Century (according to archaeological records) by pottery artisans. They are essentially the same as the larger units, however, the physical and optical properties of the nanoparticles can change. For example, nanoparticles can have…

Rusting Away

Coffee Leaf Rust, a plague affecting coffee plants worldwide, appears to worsen when coffee is grown in full sun, according to recent research published by the University of Michigan (conducting their research in Mexico). Shade-grown coffee has been making  a small comeback for the more environmentally conscious caffeine consumer. Shade-grown coffee means more habitat for…

Eyes on the Big Box Store Prize

Farming in El Salvador. Not the number one way to get rich quick…in fact, it’s likely well below number one hundred. Nevertheless, there are farmers out there, working tirelessly to feed us. There are many more farmers working tirelessly just to feed their families. And there are a few farmers hoping to “make it big”…

Cutting Down Livelihoods

El Salvador. A country that’s situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire (prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), where 50% of the rural population lives below the poverty line and there are huge rates of underemployment; 40% of Salvadorans are subsistence farmers, 21% are officially employed in agriculture (which accounts for 12% of the country’s…