Everyone is feeling the effects of the coronavirus, including the producers of our Honduras 18 Rabbit coffee beans. We introduced you to the lovely folks who work diligently to farm and harvest our natural process Honduran coffee beans in a previous post. Recently, we were able to reconnect with the owner of 18 Rabbit, Señora Flhor, to see how she and her family are weathering the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what we learned:
Flhor and her family are safe and have been able to maintain their health, but the coronavirus changed their production process.
The country-wide lockdown created new challenges at nearly every stage of 18 Rabbit’s coffee production process. According to Flhor:
“Realmente la vida nos ha cambiado, al inicio las medidas gubernamentales fueron muy drásticas y esto hizo un poco lento todo el proceso de producción y de exportación, hubo un toque de queda absoluto, luego las mismas comunidades por miedo a la Covid cerraron carreteras, y el transporte fue muy difícil de nuestros trabajadores”
“Life has really changed for us, at the beginning the government measures were very drastic and this slowed down the entire production and export process, there was an absolute curfew, then for fear of Covid-19 the same communities closed roads and transportation was very difficult for our workers.”
18 Rabbit’s commitment to biodynamic farming has helped them to survive.
In Honduras, the coffee harvest season is typically between October and March. This means that even though the coronavirus certainly interrupted many aspects of the coffee production process at 18 Rabbit, Flhor and her employees were able to harvest their coffee cherries before the pandemic hit. What is more, the farm’s commitment to biodynamic farming has been crucial for their continued success. According to Flhor, even though the coffee industry slowed down, the work at 18 Rabbit never really stopped because they also cultivated many other crops, including honey, vegetables, and eggs that helped to provide their livelihood.
The coronavirus has revealed the need for systemic changes within the coffee industry and beyond.
Señora Flhor sees biodynamic farming as one of the best ways to meet the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s not enough. As she articulates:
“Después de la pandemia necesitamos un cambio en todos nuestro sistema, la agricultura organica y biodinamica da muchas respuestas a estas crisis nos vuelve independientes como productores, y nos brinda libertad con la sostenibilidad que nos ofrece. También debemos más enfocados en las necesidades básicas de la humanidad.. educación, salud, alimentos… etc. Debemos pensar y meditar más que queremos dejar como herencia a nuestras futuras generaciones.”
“After the pandemic we need a change in all of our systems, organic and biodynamic agriculture gives many answers to these crises, it makes us independent as producers, and it gives us freedom with the sustainability it offers us. We must also be more focused on the basic needs of humanity … education, health, food … etc, we must think and meditate more that we want to leave as a legacy to our future generations.”
Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to support the work of small producers like 18 Rabbit. That’s why we are extremely happy to announce that we are once more able to offer their delicious beans in our shop.
You must be logged in to post a comment.