{"id":22186,"date":"2014-09-25T17:11:57","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T21:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=22186"},"modified":"2014-10-10T12:26:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T16:26:02","slug":"common-grounds-coffee-talk-stirs-the-pot-for-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/common-grounds-coffee-talk-stirs-the-pot-for-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Grounds Coffee Talk Stirs the Pot for EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #111111\"><em>This article was published in the EMU WeatherVane, a student newspaper.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">A Nicaraguan coffee farmer and a local roaster teamed up last Thursday to discuss their efforts in supplying Common Grounds coffee in a way that is responsible and fair to the global community. Jamie Miller talked mainly about the challenges of coffee farming in Central America. Troy Lucas (of Lucas Roasting Co.) explained his role as a \u201cconscientious middleman\u201d in the coffee industry.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">\u201cThere is a lot of money in the coffee industry,\u201d Lucas began. \u201cHow can we change that industry so that the money that starts here gets back to the farmers? That\u2019s the question we are trying to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">Backed by a plethora of facts, Lucas and Miller painted a picture of a coffee industry unseen by most consumers, one in which social injustice is commonplace.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">Much of the money earned in the lucrative trade remains at the top of the social pyramid. Subsistence farmers in Central and South America receive a very small percentage of the pay-off, earning between $1 and $2 per pound of coffee. Many coffee farmers do not have a large enough income to support themselves, let alone consider environmental issues.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">In addition, the increasing lack of predictability in the seasons in Central America has led to widespread problems with coffee cultivation. \u201cThe rainy season isn\u2019t the rainy season anymore,\u201d lamented Miller.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">\u201cOur coffee is no longer getting the time needed to flower and mature.\u201d Droughts and floods especially hurt farmers, since coffee plants have a maturation period of five years until flowering.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">Lucas Roasting\u2019s mission statement is, \u201cto educate coffee consumers on conditions in the world\u2019s coffee growing regions while producing incredible coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">As part of a campus-wide dedication to sustainability, Common Grounds began purchasing coffee from Lucas Roasting Company several years ago.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">Thursday marks the first time since that agreement that Lucas has given a presentation to the EMU community.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">\u201cI\u2019m here to plant seeds of transformation,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cEducating the consumers in the industry is the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">In this regard, EMU is well on its way to sowing the seeds of knowledge. Lucas and Miller were hosted by three student organizations: Peace Fellowship, EarthKeepers, and the Sustainable\u00a0Food Initiative (SFI).<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">Tyler Eshleman, community coordinator of SFI, played an instrumental role in inviting the speakers and organizing the event. Because of his leadership position, Eshleman interacts with many Harrisonburg community members.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">In addition, Eshleman\u2019s family has purchased coffee from Lucas Roasting since its inception. When asked about their relationship, Eshleman laughed and said, \u201cLucas is very concerned about social justice issues. That\u2019s one of the reasons we get along so well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">In the spirit of Troy Lucas\u2019s mission statement, Eshleman plans to continue cultivating the seeds of sustainability here at EMU through SFI. Eshleman hopes all coffee connoisseurs will join him in this endeavor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #111111\">&#8211; Harrison Horst, Staff Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article was published in the EMU WeatherVane, a student newspaper. A Nicaraguan coffee farmer and a local roaster teamed up last Thursday to discuss their efforts in supplying Common <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/common-grounds-coffee-talk-stirs-the-pot-for-emu\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Common Grounds Coffee Talk Stirs the Pot for EMU<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5708],"tags":[15081,17470,14917],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-22186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-fair-trade","tag-sustainable-food-initiative","tag-tyler-eshleman"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Common Grounds Coffee Talk Stirs the Pot for EMU - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/common-grounds-coffee-talk-stirs-the-pot-for-emu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Grounds Coffee Talk Stirs the Pot for EMU - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was published in the EMU WeatherVane, a student newspaper. 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