Part 1 Miriamis Well Fermenting Change Part 2 Bridging the Gap Global Warning: Climate Change, Conflict and Culture Part 3 Lighting a Candle for Freedom (Guatemala 1993) Tracking the Death Train Coffee, Landmines, and Hope Part 4 Good Friends, The 300-Man March Epilogue
Dean Cycon owns Dean's Beans, an all-organic, all-fair-trade, all-kosher coffee roaster in Orange, MA. He and his company lead the industry in commitment to true fair-trade principles. Projects funded through Dean's Beans include a revolving loan fund to dig wells in Ethiopia, a coffee roaster/cafe in Nicaragua owned and operated by a prosthetics clinic giving limbs and therapy to landmine victims, reforestation in Peru, and coffee de-pulping machines in Papua New Guinea. To learn more about Dean's Beans visit www.deansbeans.com.
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review-
This surprisingly gripping travelogue is filled with tales from the
"coffeelands," barely-on-the-map locales in Africa, the Americas,
and Asia where coffee farmers struggle to survive. Written with
knowledge and good cheer by the founder of Dean's Beans Organic
Coffee, the book reads more like a trippy adventure than a business
trip, though the issues Cycon raises are vital, prescient and
little known ("99 percent of the people involved in coffee... have
never been to a coffee village"). While learning first-hand about
the hardships involved in growing and selling coffee beans-the
world's second most valuable commodity, after oil-the author finds
himself in Guatemala praying to an effigy in a Mickey Mouse tie and
cowboy boots; eating armadillo leg in Colombia; working to heal
landmine victims in Nicaragua and war widows in Sumatra; and
meeting with all manner of farmers, bureaucrats and dignitaries.
His dispatches are highly enlightening, demonstrating how few
national governments provide coffee growers with water, education,
health care or even protection from harmful pesticides; further,
coffee growers' income is subject to the whims of financial
speculators half a world away. Reading this eye-opening book, it's
impossible not to reconsider-and feel grateful for-the myriad
people behind your morning cup.
"Who would have thought that a cup of coffee contained World Bank
schemes, indigenous rights, third world women's empowerment and a
wide range of globalization issues? Dean Cycon reveals the worlds
within worlds of coffee that have to make us think about the
choices we make at the supermarket or café."--Susan Sarandon,
actress and activist
"Coffee is more than just a drink. It is about politics, survival,
the earth and the lives of indigenous peoples. Dean Cycon has been
involved with indigenous rights, in coffee and in the larger
sphere, for the twenty-seven years I have known him. He has a rich
knowledge of the people and places of coffee, and knows how to tell
our stories in a sensitive, insightful and often humorous way.
Javatrekker is a great book for anyone who wants to know what is
really going on in their morning cup."--Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel
Peace Laureate and author of I, Rigoberta Menchu and Crossing
Borders
"Dean Cycon is a born storyteller. . . and he has some
extraordinary stories to tell in Javatrekker. Dean is the rare
individual who possesses a keen intellect, quick wit, without the
taint of cynicism or world-weariness. He's a rebel and a
trailblazer with a deep passion for the fundamental causes of
fairness, freedom, and environmentalism. Javatrekker is a great
read because it is, first and foremost, entertaining in the
swashbuckling style of Anthony Bourdain or Jack Kerouac. But Dean's
stories possess a depth of spirit and a love for his subjects that
many adventure writers lack. And his core subject-coffee-is so
universally familiar (and yet little-understood) that I believe his
potential audience is enormous."--Stephen Braun, author of the
award-winning Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and
Caffeine
"Dean is truly a singular character in the world of coffee
roasters. He takes an intense interest in knowing the origins of
his coffee. While most roasters and importers brag about their
'Third World' experiences, Dean travels to the 'Fourth World,'
getting down and dirty with the indigenous groups growing the
coffees, way out beyond where most folks will go. He is embraced
universally by these groups and hailed as a true brother. His
visits to these locations and his ability to bring these coffees to
the U.S. market and pay Fair Trade pricing to the growers has
brought large scale economic recovery to thousands of small coffee
farmers around the world."--John Cossette, Royal Coffee, Inc.
"It's not often that a book with great politics is also a great
read. Dean Cycon puts a face and a story in each cup of coffee I
will ever drink. This is a book for anyone who loves coffee as well
as anyone who wants to know the real life stories behind those who
provide us with this second-most-traded commodity after oil. Dean
Cycon is an informed, lively, straight-shooting guide. I've always
been grateful to him for the work he has done to bring a conscience
to coffee. Now I can add my gratitude for the stories he tells so
vividly and powerfully in Javatrekker: Dispatches From the World of
Fair Trade Coffee."--Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the
Butterflies and A Cafecito Story
"Dean Cycon's experience has ranged from Native communities in
North America to the depths of the oceans and remote coffee
producing villages and communities internationally. Cycon's
analysis and experience, as well as his humorous and engaging
style, promise to bring stories to the light of day that would not
and could not be told, simply because no one else has his range of
experience. Coffee is god to many of us in the morning, and yet, we
know so little about its history and present issues. Linking coffee
drinkers to the communities is the work of Dean Cycon in an
animated, vital and forever engaging manner. Javatrekker promises
to be a set of stories, adventures and compelling relationships
told for all of us to eagerly read."--Winona LaDuke, indigenous
rights activist, author of All Our Relations: Native Struggles for
Land and Life and Recovering the Sacred
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