More than Just Coffee

People go to convenience stores like this one and buy a cup of coffee every day. However, this coffee here is “More Than Just Coffee.”

Raul is the owner of this convenience store in Douglas, AZ. This town is the largest area on the Mexican border, where illegal immigration is a problem with drugs and people. Raul is pleased that this local coffee company Just Coffee is helping address some of the concerns, and everyone like the taste better than we had before.

This week I am following a group of Americans from all over the country as they explore, from the Mexico-USA border to the Guatemala-Mexico border, the immigration issues. They are walking along the wall from the people’s fence to see the vehicle fence.

The tour group is diverse in age, political, and ethnic backgrounds. They are here to see firsthand the issues around immigration.

They are also here to see how one solution is helping restore a coffee-growing community in Chiapas and Agua Prieta, where they roast the coffee. Like many others, just Coffee is a coffee cooperative because 100% of the profits stay in Mexico.

From a little over ten years ago till now, the families are no longer looking to the North to solve their economic problems; they found it through building a cooperative.

Stay tuned for more images and stories.