Javatrekker: Dispatches From the World of Fair Trade Coffee
33 journalers for this copy...
An Amazing read! This book will tell you what really happened, so that you could get your morning coffee. See the highs and lows, Amazing true stories of coffee farmers from all over the world! A real gem!
*I brought this book from my local Trade Aid shop with my birthday money! and I plan on sending it on it's own adventure, to help spread the word!*
*From Back*
In each cup of coffee the major issues of the twenty-first century-globalization, immigration, women's rights, pollution, indigenous rights, and self-determination-are played out in villages and remote areas around the world. In 'Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee', a unique hybrid of Fair Trade business study, adventure travel, and cultural anthropology, author and coffee entreneur Dean Cycon introduces readers to the real people who make our morning coffee ritual possiable-people that few, if any,outsiders have ever seen. Readers are introduced to the Mamos of Colombia-holy men who believe they are literally holding the world together-despite the effects of climate change caused by us, their "younger brothers". And Cycon takes readers on a trip through an ancient forestin Ethiopia where many believe that coffee was first discovered 1,500 years ago by the goatherd Kaldi. Rich with stories of people, landscapes, and customs, 'Javatrekker' offers a deep appreciation and understanding of the global trade and culture of coffee.
Countries this book has been to:
New Zealand
USA
UK
South Africa
Italy
Thailand
Japan
Chile
Germany
United Arab Emirates
Norway
Canada
Portugal
Romania
Netherlands
France
Greece
Malaysia
Switzerland
Argentina
Starting a bookray with it:
1.) labmomnm -US (Int'l post) *Done*
2.) karen07814 -UK (UK/EU post only) *Done*
3.) katrinat -UK (Int'l post) *Done*
4.) shovelmonkey1 -UK (Int'l post) *Done*
5.) mrbaggins1 -South Africa (Int'l post)*Done*
6.) Hayes13 -Italy (Int'l post)*Done*
7.) bookowl1000 -UK(Thailand when book arrived) (Int'l post)*Done*
8.) pinkbug1 -Japan (Int'l post)*Done*
9.) duza-kaluza -Chile (Int'l post)*Done*
10.) SerendipityN -Germany (Int'l post)*Done*
11.) DubaiReader -United Arab Emirates (Int'l post)*Done*
12.) GronnLivsstil -Norway (Int'l post)*Done*
13.) Kally93 -Canada (?)*Done*
14.) k00kaburra -USA (US/Canada post)*Done*
15.) LittleWhiteBird -USA (US/Canada post)*Done*
16.) azuki -USA (US/Canada post)*Done*
17.) BooksandMusic -USA (Int'l post)*Done*
18.) judygreeneyes -USA (US/Int'l post)*Done*
19.) VictoriaWagtail -Sweden (presuming EU post)*Skipped*
20.) Arvores -Portugal (EU post)*Done*
21.) lamelemon -Romania (EU/Int'l post)*Done*
22.) carmendoran -UK (UK/EU post)*Skipped*
23.) Abi-Gibby -UK (presuming EU post)*Skipped*
24.) iiwi -Netherlands (EU/Int'l post)*Done*
25.) Icila -France (Int'l post)*Done*
26.) Delphi_Reader -Greece (Int'l post)*Done*
27.) susanna koh -Malaysia (Int'l post)*Stalled, got a new copy*
28.) penelopewanders -Switzerland (EU Post)*Done*
29.) Trojanhorse -UK (Int'l post)*Done*
30.) mcsar -Canada (US Post)*Done*
31.) BOOKWORMINUSALL -USA (post?)*Done*
32.) rhythmbiscuit -USA (US post)*Done*
33.) jax987654321 -UK (EU Post)*Done*
34.) Poodlesister -UK (Int'l Post)*Done*
35.) hesiodo66 -Argentina (Int'l Post)*Done*
36.) StrangeEmily -Greece (Int'l Post)*Here*
37.) Billbooks -Australia (Int'l Post)
38.) hobbit -USA (Int'l Post)
Released 14 yrs ago (4/7/2010 UTC) at Christchurch, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- New Zealand
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
In the post and on it's way to the USA!
24 April 2010 update (I forgot to do this before making the release note!) - I didn't make it all the way through this book; something about the author's tone really put me off. it is an interesting subject, but I think I'll see if I can find something written by someone "outside" the process...more strictly non-fiction & less agenda. But thanks for the chance to try it!
Released 14 yrs ago (4/24/2010 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Mailed to karen07814
snag is...there's already one other book in the back that I now have to buy!
OK the Children's book has moved onwards and I've now enjoyed this one far more than I ever would have done that one.
As someone whose idea of a good film is Black Gold it was interesting to find the same people in he book and to meet others from other lands.
Once again I'm made to feel grateful for being born into a democracy, whether or not I usually bemoan it.
I don't have someone take away more than I am expecting from my income arbitrarily, I am allowed to sell what I want to who I want and buy anything I can afford.
And yes this does mean fair trade coffee. I long since had the argument with myself over whether or not I should buy Nestle organic/green pay the extra and hope it gets to where it's supposed to.
Thanks for sharing
This book is now ready to travel to South Africa.
Released 13 yrs ago (7/24/2010 UTC) at Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
NB: The pages are coming loose from the spine. I'll repair it as best I can.
ETA: My blogpost about the Cafe Linder: http://mrbaggins1.livejournal.com/74072.html
The BX'er in Romania before her did not respond to PM's
Released 13 yrs ago (2/14/2011 UTC) at Bangkok, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Thailand
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Thanks for sharing with me.
Off to Thailand
I learnt about coffee cultures and differing customs and politics from around the world, and enjoyed the humorous stories intermixed with Dean Cycon's adventures: he obviously has a good sense of humour. He does a good job of portraying the personalities of those that he met on his travels, and you genuinely start wishing them well.
This book extended its travels by escaping from Bangkok to the island of Phangan, and spending many a pleasant hour with me swinging in a hammock on the beach.
Released 13 yrs ago (3/2/2011 UTC) at Bangkok, (Bangkok) Krung Thep Mahanakhon Thailand
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I'm studying at the moment with a big exam coming up in a couple weeks, but after that I will be ever so happy to read for pleasure again.
Thanks Sfogs for setting this ring up.
I haven't received an answer from DubaiReader, yet, and have pmed her again today.
Released 11 yrs ago (5/18/2012 UTC) at Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Great timing as I always have more chance to read in the summer.
I'll try and get this on its way to Norway while I'm back home in UK for July.
Thanks Sfogs.
20th July:
Next reader GronnLivssti, should be on its way within the week.
17th Jan 2013:
Well, that was famous last words! This turned out to be a much harder read than I thought when I started it. I had hoped to post it on from UK but ended up bringing it back to Dubai to finish.
I had already asked GronnLivsstil for a postal address so this will travel on in the next few days.
Thanks to Sfogs for starting it on its way. I have added my review below.
This book was informative, but a slow read. Some chapters were fascinating and grabbed me from the start, some were overly political and lost me completely. I've been picking this up and putting it down again for several months so it's quite a relief to reach the end. On the other hand, I have full respect for the work of Dean Cycon, founder of Dean's Beans. He has travelled to the source of his supplies and treats his farmers with compassion and dignity.
The chapters each refer to one visit, one area of the world, dating between 1997 and 2007. I had no idea there were so many coffee producing areas. Dean's main message to the farmers is to work together to cut out the money grabbing middle-man and, via co-operatives, to produce Free Trade coffee of uniform quality. To this end he supports them by providing fairly inexpensive equipment that facilitates the process of hulling the beans and returns a percentage of the profits directly to the farmers for improvements within the area. This may be schooling, social improvements, wells etc.
Some parts are quite distressing, such as the Death Train, which refers to a freight train that runs from the border of Guatemala and Mexico, right up to the US border. It is swarming with desperate people who are unable to feed their families due to the poor prices they earn for their coffee. These people travel in all weathers, squeezed betwen carriages or sitting on cargo. Meanwhile others use violence and extortion to steal what little these poor people may be carrying. And there's no guarentee of work when they arrive. Many fall from the train and are injured on the line, losing limbs or even their lives.
Fortunately other chapters are upbeat, such as Dean's visit to Papua New Guinea. These people are self sufficient in food production and coffee is just a part of their produce. They greeted Dean with song and dance, many of them plastered with mud of various colours.
I certainly learned a lot and am now better informed about the source of the coffee I drink.
3 stars for the book itself but 5 stars for the great work that Dean Cycon is doing around the world.
Released 10 yrs ago (8/14/2013 UTC) at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Released 10 yrs ago (1/26/2014 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Book on its way to next person.
This book got buried in a small pile of papers and I completely forgot about it.
As soon as I finish my current book, I'll start this one.
Contacting the next person today so I can get it in the mail as soon as I finish.
Founder of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, Dean Cycon makes it a priority to visit the farmers who grow his beans. In a collection of essays that are part-memoir, part anthropological study, and part-exploration of the impact of globalization on some of the most impoverished peoples in the world, Dean Cycon introduces the world to the men, women and children who produce their coffee. With equal parts humor (often at his own expense) and compassion, Dean highlights the backbreaking labor and often poor returns suffered by the farmers who tend to the coffee plants of Africa, the Americas, and the islands of the Pacific.
Dean chronicles his own attempts to improve the lives of the villages where his workers live. As he explains it, his company is committed to small, meaningful projects that benefit the local population by providing them with things they need. He works directly with the villagers, not a foreign aid agency or the local government, to ensure that the funds are used productively. In Ethiopia, this means building wells designed by the local people so that they can carry out repairs on their own. In Peru, the funds are dedicated to restoring the local forests, as these sacred lands have been severely degraded by illegal logging.
The book is also a travelogue. Many of the men and women Dean works with are indigenous people, and their customs are quite foreign to the American writer. He describes some of the ceremonies he witnesses so vividly it’s like you’re standing right next to him; at other times, he describes his attempts to communicate in the local languages and joins the natives in laughing at how badly he fails.
Finally, the book exposes many of the ways that coffee has hurt the people who grow it. In the early 2000s, prices plummeted globally, and many farmers went into debt as they sold their beans for less than it cost to produce them. Many of these farmers don’t understand why the price dropped so dramatically, because their understanding of the global market is nonexistent – they sell their beans on to a middleman and never even see what the final product looks like. In other countries, the policies of the U.N. and local governments make it impossible for anyone but the rich to get wealthier as corruption and poor recordkeeping destroys Dean’s attempts to track beans from the fields to his warehouses.
I have to confess that I never gave much thought to where my coffee was coming from. I mean, I knew that they had to come from somewhere tropical, but that’s as far as my consideration went. I found Dean’s stories to be very eye-opening and, at times, heartbreaking. Ever since that expose that showed holes in Greg Mortenson’s claims of do-gooding in Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, I’ve been wary of books that proudly toot the horn of their author’s good deeds. Dean seem sincere, and my attempts to Google any criticisms of his work did not turn up anything dramatic.
The one failing the book had was it didn’t always explain terminology very well. In the opening and closing paragraphs, Dean brags about being a “Javatrekker” – but he never explains what exactly he means by this term. Is a Javatrekker someone who physically travels to see where his beans come from? Is it just someone who knows the men and women who picked and roasted his beans? Can you be an armchair Javatrekker? I have no idea. Likewise, I’m not quite sure what “Fair Trade” means. I understand that it’s a desirable label, and one that has been abused by other [corporate] coffee companies, but what the precise requirement is to be Fair Trade in Dean’s book eludes me.
Still, it’s a fascinating read, encompassing many of my favorite things: coffee, travel, ethnographic reports, and white guys trying (and failing) to go native. I’d really recommend Javatrekker to anyone who is still enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee every morning. If I have to wash away that feeling of guilt as I indulge myself, I want to at least know that other people are troubled, too.
Released 9 yrs ago (8/22/2014 UTC) at -- BookRing, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I just PMed azuki to ask for her address so I can send the book to her.
Thanks for sharing it with me!
Have a couple of books that need to be mailed out in October, but will try to start on this soon. A bit intimidated by some of the comments that this is not going to be a quick and easy read!
Dean, at least in his own words, come across as fun, adventurous, daring, creative and caring. He seems genuinely concerned about the well-being of the farmers and tries to give them a hand-up, not hand-out.
In the first chapter about Ethiopia, he mentioned that sun dried coffee beans usually sell for less than wet-processed. I was curious about this, so I asked my friend, who works with Allegro, and she told me that it's true, and the simple fact was that people just don't like the floral, intense flavor produced from dry processing. Most people are used to that milder, caramel-ly flavors from South American beans where wet processed is used. So it's just an unfortunate matter of demand and supply. My friend also told me that this book is among her recommended reading when she trains her staff.
I found Dean's website, it has some of the photos in the book plus more.
http://coopcoffees.com/producer-photos
I received BooksandMusic's address but won't be able to mail it out till after Thanksgiving.
1. The good things he accomplishes for coffee farmers and amputees.
2. His sense of humor
3. His sense of perspective. He gets a little anti-American and anti-capitalistic
sometimes (we've earned it) but he doesn't gloss over the dictators, the thugs, the weapons, the crimes,
revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries or even the eccentricities and anti-socialism
of the people in the countries in which he works. He is pretty good at laughing at
himself and not running other people (or their religions or social or government
systems) down.
He takes us into Ethiopia, Kenya, Columbia, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, El Salvador, Sumatra and Papa New Guinea.
His business is coffee, his company is Dean's Beans and his motive is helping people. Put it all together and he calls it Javatrekking.
My coffee, Tony's Espresso Noir, is fair-trade but it doesn't say on the bag where the beans were grown.
One note: needs better editing. On the death-train and amputee section Dean writes about a coffee farmer from Honduras and says, "Things got quiet as Wilmer looked down at two stumps cut off above where his knees were." There is a picture of Wilmer in the book and he is missing one leg from above the knee. The other leg is whole and intact as you can see as he is wearing shorts.
VictoriaWagtail chose to not participate, so this book is going to Arvores in Portugal. Enjoy!
Thanks for the stickers :-)
I already was aware of some of the facts reported in this book, but it goes far beyond. I think coffee becomes bitter after you read such stories. But, after all, there's nothing wrong with the drink. It's all about human greed, human rights and unbalance.
The other readers have said it all, already.
The book will start travelling to Romania tomorrow.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing, I will now contact the next in line to keep the book traveling.
I have posted the book to iiwi this morning, as I had no reply from carmendoran, while Abi-Gibby asked to be skipped.
Happy reading!
Our book, the literary book from the Lowlands, that everybody in school has to read and do a report on is Max havelaar, and is about the abuse in the coffeetrade in Java, written in the 1800's. The book was like a literary bestseller and did stir up the coffeemarket procedures of that time.
Javatrekker felt for me more a travelbook, of Dean traveling to remote places where they happen to grow coffee. Interesting is how small contributions can make a difference to a whokle community. I made some Kiva loans to coffee entrepeneurs due to this book. His bussiness was far ahead of the growing bussiness were making profit is not the sole basis, but making the world better is, and profit is less dominant.
I will contact icila.
I didn’t have specific expectations from the book, so I found it an interesting insight on coffee industry, Fair Trade movement and indigenous people’s/coffee farmers’ lives around the world, still I found it a bit all over the place.
“Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee” doesn’t seem to focus enough on each issue, so someone unfamiliar with the topic can hardly get a deeper understanding on things. The book consists of snippets from Dean Cycon’s experiences all around the world which aren’t detailed enough to get more than a glimpse on each issue/area, while the author doesn’t restrict his self on the coffee production and coffee trade field, but roams on other fields too. Interesting fields for sure, but the book feels somehow fragmental. There is core material for several different books here!
Furthermore, while in general I think the author is a good guy making an important work, I can’t stop feeling than this book trims some corners a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean the author tells lies in purpose or something, but I’m sure that as it happens in most memoirs etc, often he focuses on the positive side of things and doesn’t mention what went wrong on some projects or skips various small mischiefs that surely must have happen during his trips. And I’m not talking about an upset stomach or specific people on a specific location slamming their doors to him, but on how it’s possible overcoming bureaucracy in counties run by corrupted governments without never ever giving a bribe or meeting a local mafia guy due to a misunderstanding while talking to the hotel receptionist, or how it happens having people drive you in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason and without apparent consequences and so on… Not very convincing.
Then of course, it’s easy to judge by one’ sofa while others trek the world trying to improve people’s lives…
I’m glad I read this book, although I don’t think it’s something that calls for a re-read.
Thank you Sfogs for starting this book ray and everyone for making this book's journey so interesting. I have susanna koh's address, so the book will soon be on its way to Malaysia.
Released 5 yrs ago (4/30/2018 UTC) at Exchange/Trade, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Enjoy!
I can't help thinking of Three Cups of Tea, and how excited I was by those small but powerful steps taken by Greg Mortenson... and how his projects were then criticized and the credibility destroyed. Dean Cycon's work around the world, his success in being accepted into communities hitherto hostile to outsiders and especially westerners, his many triumphs- how I hope this is all true and continuing ten years after this book was written. I was moved by the Death Train section and how he was able to help its victims.
While reading it, I mentioned the book to several people and often the response was that it must be very depressing - but no. Cycon's humor (should I say Mr Dean's? or Mr Bean's? or Greg's?) prevails throughout, definitely lightening some of the load (and his bowels? there is a bit of bathroom humor, but we can pass that..), and he actually relates a number of heartening success stories, which makes it such an easier read than dwelling on the coyotes and corruption and sad stories.
Again, grateful to bookcrossing and to those who thought to share this book. I have read this on my trip to London and will try to parcel and post from here.
Released 5 yrs ago (10/19/2018 UTC) at City of Westminster, Greater London United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I'll see how I get on and will aim to get it moving again soon.
Released 5 yrs ago (2/16/2019 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
--------------------------
It has taken me a while to finish this very informative book. It kept me thinking about the impoverished farmers who supply my daily joy of espresso. We can do better by them.
Thanks for sharing the book.
-----------------------------------
UPDATE: 6 June 2019
Ready to send this one on its way to the next International Bookray Participant!!! 😊
THANK YOU AGAIN, for including me, Sfogs!!! 💖
https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/540747
Released 4 yrs ago (6/18/2019 UTC) at -- By Post Or By Hand (i.e. Ring, Ray, RABCK, Trade) in Denver, Colorado USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Also released for...
booklady331's 2019 Keep Them Moving (KTM) Release Challenge
https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/557667
SqnutZips' June 2019 Pollinator Celebration Release Challenge
https://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/559416/9326055
I found Dean's stories in this book interesting. Like many (western, privileged) coffee drinkers, I didn't know much about the people who actually grow and process the beans. This book has made me more mindful, although I admit I still occasionally drink non-fair-trade coffee from the large chains. I'd like to do better.
I sort of lost interest in reading partway through, but I'm glad I came back to it. The story about Paman Dean was one of my favorites, and Dean's experiences at the festival in Indonesia (one of the last chapters) made me laugh out loud.
Released 4 yrs ago (11/3/2019 UTC) at Ealing, Greater London United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Released 4 yrs ago (12/9/2019 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Join UK Bookcrossers at the Newcastle Unconvention from 9th to 11th October 2020
I finally started it in the holidays and finished it today. I was really immersed in its world, almost cried sometimes, laughed more often. I especially loved the stories from Ethiopia, Peru and -hilarious- Papua-New Guinea. I felt so sad about the suffocating system in Kenya, i felt the despair in the chapter about El Salvador and the Death Train.
I really admire the different
and ingenious ways that Fair Trade can help people not just survive and make some money, but evolve within their communities, educate their children and so on. However, i would really love to know what finally happens with these people, as now 14 years have passed since the book was published. Did they make it? How did the projects go? Sometimes, while reading, i also googled sone of the protagonists, like Tadesse, Esperanza and others.
From now on, i will drink only Fair Trade coffee, although i think i can't find in my town. So, i will bulk some coffees next time i travel to Athens.
Sfogs, thanks so much for starting this bookring, it was eye-opening! I will now send to the next reader, so that the book will go on travelling around the world!