Peruvian Coffee Co-Op Receives Environmental Stewardship Award

We've been talking a lot recently about the sustainable and environmentally-minded coffee cultivation in different parts of the world and here's another dimension to add to that discussion: The Peruvian co-op CECOVASA recently received a national award for the positive impact their work has had on preserving and promoting biodiversity in the region. CECOVASA is probably like many coffee co-ops around the world: A collection of small farmers who have banded together in order to take advantage of the economic opportunities of Fair Trade. But like so many labels, the real faces and people behind them can get lost in the shuffle, and we found this great article on a visit to the remote Andean farms that comprise CECOVASA incredibly informative. This is another example of how choices we make in our daily lives -- for example, purchasing coffee imported by Equal Exchange -- can have a positive impact on both the ability of small indigenous farmers to put food on their table and to keep the ecological balance intact around them. These are market factors that can help define what kind of world we live in -- not just in 50 years, but in even 2 years from now.