The unlikely trio of coffee culture, community and compost have become inextricably entwined in my herbal work with the indigenous Karen community along the Thai Burmese border.
Like most brilliant ideas, it started out simply and clearly enough: empower the indigenous people with no food and no income to become self-sustaining by growing local herbs which my natural product business needs & will buy back at confirmed, current market prices. Cut out several middlemen, everybody wins, especially Mother Earth. I pay the same as I pay now but get higher quality and organic; they get skills training and a small income to begin the journey to self-sufficiency. And so Organic Frontiers - the social enterprise arm of Pure Thai Natural Co Ltd was born.
In a relatively short space of time, we have created a beginning:
Yes, that's our prototype solar powered herb dehydrator (more about the specifically another day) sitting amidst beds of Phlai root. Planted barely 6 weeks ago and BOOMING. Trouble is, those beds have only a very thin layer of compost on top of baked earth which has the consistency and nutritional value of concrete dust. Two generations of young men dragged away to fight in the world's longest running civil war has severely depleted the knowledge base of how to farm and grow things.
Composting school has been in, earnestly, for over a month now. Since our first "how to" weekend some weeks back:
they have built another 3 piles, by themselves:
They are aerating the piles weekly, adding EM (effective microorganisms) and (I think) praying too. It's going really well, but not fast enough. We have hungry mouths to feed!
The Phlai roots are booming and their rhizomes will need feeding in order to grow well. A simple solution while we await our compost? Organic coffee grounds.
Northern Thailand is famous for its magnificent organic coffee, and so it was logical for me to encourage them to hustle up used coffee grounds locally, for improving soil texture, moisture retention and for feeding our growing family. But that hasn't happened. A compound problem around the local small town being super quiet in low-rainy season; the Karen people not being coffee drinkers and seeing it as a white western luxury; but mostly indigenous refugee people with minimal Thai language skills feeling not able to ask Thai people they believe to be their social superiors.
And so because they NEED this first herbal planting to do brilliantly well and, despite all the will in the worlds, the compost is months away from being ready, I volunteered to ask my Chiang Mai coffee shop owning friends to save their used coffee grounds for us.
Tonight, on Friday 5th June, I'm DELIGHTED to announce that 4 progressive Chiang Mai coffee businesses have come on board, and pledged their old coffee grounds to help change our little corner of the world:
When I do my normal product deliveries to these businesses each week, I'm will also now be able to pick up a free bag of used coffee grounds. I will dry them, and then schlep them over to our Karen project partners long the border every 3 or 4 weeks. It's a small, routine, incredibly hands-on little program. And yet, CRITICAL for them to be able to start getting enough organic material to boost and support their composting endeavors. Without it, the things they have planted are unlikely to thrive.
Coffee grounds in excess will turn the soil acidic over time, so they will mix the grounds with ash to help neutralize acidity. Ash they have a plenty, since they cook over small wooden fires.
The tough choice now is where to drink my coffee when I'm in town? Easy - think rotation.
And so today I found myself here - at Mountain Coffee. As you can see, this part of the project involves considerable personal self sacrifice. LOL.
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 18.790979 lat 98.991401 long Mountain Coffee, Chiang Mai. Organic, hand roasted, wholesale & retail. d3scr)
I was pretty happy to be able pick up a pack of yummy hand roasted organic coffee to take home too! No better way to start the weekend off right.
Next time you're in Chiang Mai, Thailand, consider that socially responsible travel CAN make a difference. You may never have the pleasure of meeting the young Karen people working hard learning to create great compost, but you can DO YOUR LITTLE BIT - go and buy a coffee from one of our contributing coffee communities.
When I am in Mae Sariang over the coming months, I will make it my business to go and drink coffee at the busier coffee shops in town, to try and set up some local sources for coffee grounds. Meanwhile, the Chiang Mai community-working-together solution is pretty good.
And so you see that social enterprises don't just happen. They are painstakingly created, as one problem at a time is creatively solved. It's time consuming but communities come together in Chiang Mai, and I love that. There is so much good will! I approached 4 businesses in the last days and all 4 of them said yes, without hesitation. It's my privilege to be facilitating these small community & coffee connections and demonstrating practical ways to reduce waste, enhance the organic equation, encourage sustainability and build the soil.
Grateful for organic coffee and our wonderful community.
