Posted on 09/23/2006 11:16:02 AM PDT by DogByte6RER
Wake up and smell the Contras!
Fair-trade coffee’s not just for lefties. Now the Contras are in on the action, says Mike Power
Nicaraguan coffee has been a staple of any good liberal's shopping basket since the 1980s. But now misty-eyed Reaganites can get their hands on the fair-trade action as well, with Contra Coffee.
Gourmet coffee grown by former Contras – the US-supported militia who tried to topple Nicaragua's socialist Sandinista government in the 1980s – is now available and offering customers a chance to "Wake up with freedom fighters!" according to company founders Tom Kilroy and Ryan Myers, two MBA graduates from New England.
During the bloody civil war in the 1980s, many left-leaning US and European volunteers helped the Nicaraguan government with its coffee harvest, and bringing home coffee to sell was seen as a sign of direct solidarity with the Sandinistas as they fought the Contras.
But all that has changed now. "Fair-trade coffee [in Nicaragua] has always been in the hands of the left," Jose Adan Lopez, the president of the farming cooperative that supplies Contra Cafe told the Miami Herald. "We decided why not sell to those on the right? There are a lot of former Contra [supporters] who can help us by buying this coffee."
The Contras carried out political killings, kidnappings and torture in their fight to overthrow the Sandinista government. Today, some ex-Contras grow coffee on small lots in Jinotega, northern Nicaragua. But as coffee markets slumped in the mid-1990s following a bumper global harvest, prices fell below production costs and many struggled.
Tom Kilroy visited Nicaragua in 2003 as a volunteer and decided to help impoverished ex-Contras he met.
Although Kilroy admits he was only 10 during the Iran-Contra hearings, he has been reading a lot on the subject, and believes the history of the Contras is more complex than most liberals believe. "The farmers lost their land to the Sandinistas, and so they joined the Contras."
Although it's not Fair Trade-certified, Kilroy and Myers sell the beans for $10/lb at www.contracafe.com and pay the farmers $1.50/lb - 50c more than commodity markets. The firm made no profits in 2005 - unsurprising in a market as tough as coffee. The pair also donated $250 to the Freedom Alliance, a foundation established by US Lt. Col. Oliver North, who gained infamy for selling arms to Iran and diverting the profits to the Contras. North personally thanked the conservative coffee marketers for their "truly incredible" support. Kilroy dismisses North's arms sales to the Iranians, and adds: "The Freedom Alliance supports families of US servicemen killed in Iraq."
Just don't ask if they do decaf. "No. Freedom Fighters love caffeine."
For more info about ContraCafe coffee, go to:
http://www.contracafe.com/
Nice idea... but $10 for the coffee, plus $6.40 for shipping? Kind of pricey.
Sounds like it tastes pretty good. Anyone tried W ketchup?
Thanks, I'l have to give it a try.
Save on shipping by buying multiple pounds at a time. I bought two pounds for myself, plus a few more to give as Christmas gifts to some coffee-loving (and right-minded) relatives and friends. It really is good coffee.
If you order more, it's still the same price for shipping, so that's something to consider. Also if you sign up for their club, you get it for 9 dollars a bag.
Yes...I had several bottles of W kethcup during the '04 campaign (they were gifts.)
I have still been trying to stay away from the Heinz brand, what with Terry and John Kerry-Heinz profitting from their Heinz fortune and all.
Also, here is a great hot sauce for BBQ and for hot wings - The Right Wing Sauce; go to:
http://www.therightwingsauce.com/
I have no idea if this company is conservatively oriented like ContraCafe is, but they do have a pretty good hot sauce. Also note that their wimpy sweet teriyaki sauce is called Left Wing Sauce.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.