www.dirtdoctor.com https://www.dirtdoctor.com/efl/dirtDoctor/ |
|
NEED HELP Nicaraguan Coop and Florida CSA https://www.dirtdoctor.com/efl/dirtDoctor/need-help-nicaraguan-coop-and-florida-csa-t11479.html |
Page 1 of 1 |
Author: | Dirt Doctor [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:59 am ] |
Post subject: | NEED HELP Nicaraguan Coop and Florida CSA |
Nicaraguan Coop and Florida CSA My name is Jonathan Dodd and I spoke with Howard during the second hour of Sunday, Sept 19 radio show. I work with 60 coffee farmers in Nicaragua who have started a Coop. I am currently importing coffee from these farmers and have created a coffee company call New Earth Goods, in order to save an orphanage in Jinotepe, Nicaragua from closing. This orphanage is more like a community center; besides the 20 kids who live there, it has a small farm working 2 acres of land with the potential to grow to 130 acres, it houses a school, a feeding program for 400 people (women and children to age 6), and it provides the only clean drinking water for the entire community. The farmers I work with are 5 hours away from the orphanage (which is closer to Granada). The coffee is in the mountains north of San Rafael del Norte, in the Jinotega region. I have learned a lot about the truth of the coffee business after witnessing what small farmers have to go through to survive (this is true for the US and 3rd world countries). I am taking a group to a max of 25 people January 22-29, 2011. We are going to paint a school, play games with the kids, take a dentist and physician (if we can find one), harvest the coffee and work the farms. I am seeking to take an agronomist with me. I have convinced the leaders of the coop that they need to become organic, diversify their crops, and other suggestions. However, I have no idea what I am doing. My education is a Master's of Divinity from Regent College, not in agriculture. We have also started a local not-for-profit in Cocoa, FL where we live. We are on 4 acres and we decided to start farming after reading the works of Wendell Berry. We have grown tremendously over the past 3 months. Our name is Keipos, which means "garden" in Greek. Our motto is: "when you pick the grapes on the grapevine, go over it only once; leave the rest for the estranged, the widow and the orphan" (Deut 24:21). For us, farming, food, and community have become our whole way of life, hospitality to all in need. We currently have 6 interns, 8 members, and about 20 volunteers. Thank you for any help you can give concerning the help with Nicaragua. I have a professional film crew going in January with me, so this could be a great opportunity for somebody with an organic agriculture background to get some free publicity. I hope to hear from you soon. Please check out our websites: http://negoods.com http://keipos.org Grace and Peace, Rev. Jonathan Dodd NE Goods & Keipos jonathan@negoods.com http://negoods.com 321.544.2851 |
Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC - 6 hours |
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group https://www.phpbb.com/ |