A Day in the Life of Guatemalan Coffee Farming

Our friend and ground photographer, Mynor, in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala, gave us a peek into what a day in the life of a coffee farmer looks like. 

From November to February, inhabitants get ready to work in the coffee fields. Generally, the whole family goes to work with sacks on their backs ready to pick the coffee. These are months when the children have time off and can help their parents work in order to bring more money in to help the family. Some of the coffee fields are relatively close while others require a little more travel. Upon waking early, the women make the lunches as their husbands and children prepare to head to the fields for a long day of work. 

This has been one of the most important jobs in the area but recently, the purchasing price and wages to employees has dropped incredibly. This is causing people to stop cultivating the coffee due to high maintenance costs and low cost of products sold. Typically, income from coffee sales goes to education, food, maintenance of the grounds, and necessary expenses in the home so this has become quite a problem. Other challenges coffee farmers face include climate change, finding buyers, and physical afflictions from having to carry the heavy coffee sacks on their backs due to lack of transportation options.

If you are anything like me, coffee is a huge part of my daily routine. It is becoming so important to support coffee farmers in order to keep this business alive and well. When purchasing coffee, make sure you are buying from places that offer fair prices and are supporting the indigenous coffee farmers who work long, hard hours to produce a quality product.

We actually have a pillow naturally dyed from coffee in our shop! Shop our large pillow here and the lumbar pillow here!

Pictures and info provided by Mynor Israel in San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala.