November Coffee News

-Rain - a blessing and curse
-Rains and Flooding in Honduras
-Unique Shopping Opportunities

Somewhere in all of the election coverage we watched Tuesday night, we heard that the Kenyan people celebrating Obama's victory had known he would win because it had rained the day before, a sure sign of good things to come. We hope that the rain that arrived here on Wednesday (and now the snow) is indeed a forecast of the positive change we hope to see in our country and world in the coming months and years.

While rain may be seen as a "heavenly blessing" in the desserts of Africa, it does not always mean good news in the tropics of Central America. Extreme flooding in Honduras these past few weeks has been a bit lost in the news here, but has resulted in significant damage and even the postponing of their own presidential primary elections this week. We'll give more details below, including an update from Guillermo's family.

Rains and Flooding in Honduras
While we were enjoying sun and balmy 60s and 70s here in Minnesota the past few weeks, Honduras (and neighboring countries) were inundated with nearly two weeks of heavy rains that have hit over 600,000 people and left 34 dead and 16 missing. Flooding in all but one of Honduras' 18 provinces has destroyed many roads and nearly 8,500 homes, causing an estimated $154 million in total damages. UNICEF reports that 20,000 Hondurans, half of them children, have been forced to flee their homes.1 As a result of this natural disaster, the primary election that determines candidates for president, vice president, congress and many local races was recently postponed for two weeks until Nov 30. (Their general election is scheduled for November 2009).2 

Hurricane Mitch that killed over 10,000 people in Honduras 10 years ago, was more severe in loss of life, but many fear that the long term effects of this flooding may be worse. Ekkesia reports that between 45 and 50 per cent of basic food crops have been lost, meaning that there will be severe food shortages for at least four months before beans and maize can be harvested again. Other crops like rice will take six to seven months to harvest, and plantains and yucca take a year. Cash crops like Africa palm, cocoa and coffee have also been destroyed.3 

If you feel moved to support relief efforts in Honduras, the research we've done indicates that AidMatrix (a web portal that works with reputable organizations like the International Red Cross and FEMA on disaster relief) is coordinating donations for this latest Honduras disaster. Another group we have supported for years, Sustainable Harvest works heavily in Honduras on efforts that reduce reforestation and promote sustainable farming. Although their website doesn't indicate anything about the flooding yet, we're certain they will be working on long-term responses to this situation.

Thankfully, calls with Guillermo's family confirm that no one in our family has lost property or experienced flooding where they live. Guillermo's dad Maximo called from the city recently because they had left the farm where it was just too rainy and cold. There is some chance that the coffee crop will be affected as the heavy rains cause leaves to drop off the coffee trees which can weaken the plants and later cause the coffee berries to fall off. The impact should be limited to the first smaller "cut" of coffee - those berries that are ripe first - and hopefully the plants will recover in time for the next two pickings which tend to be the more important harvests anyway. We'll keep you posted as we assess the situation, but never fear, we have plenty of coffee already here in the US to hold us for a good long time.

There are several great local shopping opportunities coming up that we thought you'd be interested in.

-Winter farmer's market at Golden's Deli in downtown St. Paul - Saturday's 9-12 November-March
Starting this morning, Guillermo (and most likely our son Sam) will be selling Velasquez Family Coffee in the winter farmer's market inside Golden's Deli at the southwest corner of the St. Paul Farmer's Market in downtown St. Paul. Although the bounty of fresh vegetables from our region has subsided, there are lots of other high quality local foods for sale including meats, cheese and dairy, honey and maple syrup and now coffee. Bags of Velasquez Family Coffee will also now be for sale at Golden's Deli during the week in case you don't have a chance to stop by on Saturday mornings.

-The World Jubilee - November 15
Once again, we'll be at the World Jubilee selling those wonderful recycled handbags made by Honduran women who are neighbors to the Velasquez family. The sale will be held at the Colonial Church of Edina on November 15 from 9:00-4:00. Stop by to see us and lots of other unique fair trade products (toys, cards, pottery, baskets, jewelry, clothing, carving, textiles, needlework, rugs, musical instruments and more) from around the world. The church is located at 6200 Colonial Way (from crosstown Hwy 62 exit on Tracy Ave. Go one block north then one block west).

-Terrace Horticultural Books - November 22
Coffee customers Kent and Abby Petterson who own Terrace Horticultural Books will be hosting their Annual Fall Open House on Saturday November 22nd, featuring a 20% discount on all books, ephemera, seed and plant catalogs, seed packets, unframed art and antique garden tools. Their showrooms at 503 St. Clair Ave in St. Paul will be open from 9am to 5pm with refreshments all day. Terrace Horticultural Books is the largest stocking bookstore of new and used books about plants and gardening in North America. Books and more can also be purchased through their website at www.terracehorticulturalbooks.com (although the discount is only available in person at their annual open house).

-Sibirica Boutique -Nov 28-30, Dec 6-7 (10am-8pm Fridays and Saturday, 12pm-5pm Sundays)
While working as an election judge on Tuesday, Cathy learned of this very cool artisan boutique held over two weekends in a home at 996 Oxford St. North in our very own neighborhood here in St. Paul -- and the very next day we were invited to participate. The list of unique items is amazing and includes photography, plant presses, jewelry, eco-friendly cleaning products, herbal bath salts, American Doll clothes and accessories, original acrylic prints and cards, miniature landscape paintings, hand-knit baby booties, beaded Christmas ornaments and jewlry, bead embroidery artwork, quilts, metalwork frames, eco-friendly games, waitress-approved aprons, limited-edition purses, hand-painted printed and beaded silk scarves, organic caramels and now Velasquez Family Coffee as well. A few details are at: http://www.myspace.com/sibiricaboutique. A copy of the complete flyer is also on our website at http://www.vfamilycoffee.com/node/164.

P.S. Just a reminder before we end this very long email, we canceled our old email address info@vfamilycoffee.com over a year ago because it was getting caught in spam filters (and was receiving mostly spam itself). In case it is still in your address book, this is just a reminder to clear it out. coffee@vfamilycoffee.com is now our correct email.