100 Places To Remember: Veracruz Mexico
Geschreven op 31-5-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Natuur
They Need Coffee More Than You Do. Coffee is not just one of the most popular beverages in the world for some countries it is also a crucial export. One such country is Mexico, where most of the coffee is produced by 100,000 small farms. The state of Veracruz in east-central Mexico is the countrys second largest coffee producer, accounting for around 20% of total production.
In the highlands of Veracruz, many of the small farmers produce organic shade coffee in the traditional manner, by growing coffee plants under specific trees, preferably ones with pods. As well as shade, these trees also provide nourishment for the soil when their leaves and pods fall to the ground, which helps make the coffee plants strong and healthy.
The farmers hand-pick the red coffee berries once they are ripe. They either wet-process them in water baths or dry-process them on large patios in the sun, turning them by hand frequently to remove the pulp. Inside are the coffee beans the seed of the fruit two beans to each berry.
Compared to modern production methods, traditional coffee cultivation is time-consuming, and the yields are small. On the other hand, neither fertilisers nor pesticides are needed, so the traditional method is environmentally friendly. The coffee is also renowned for its intense flavour.
The small-scale organic farmers of Veracruz have suffered from many years of low coffee prices. Now they face another severe problem. In the near future it is projected that climate change will lead to both droughts and floods during the summer and unusually cold weather events in the winter, rendering many areas of Veracruz unsuitable for organic coffee growing. By 2020 production in Veracruz may be economically unviable, forcing many smallholders out of coffee farming.
