вЂњThere are so many coffee shops that, you know, but not like what theyвЂ™re doing, which is pretty amazing that they have a direct line to the farm, that itвЂ™s a family business that drew me in because I love a good story,вЂќ said Nicole Benjamin of the Lincoln Square Farmers Market. They sell their coffee beans by the bag and brewed coffee on their website and at farmers markets via their coffee bike. Once the beans have made their own trek from Central America to Chicago, theyвЂ™re roasted in small batches in a West Town shared kitchen space. Normally it will then be classified in order to send over there,вЂќ Fajardo told Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices in Spanish. вЂњWith the coffee that we prepare to send, we have to pick it, sort at the farm and depulp it, then wash, dry to a point and from there mill it. I am his point person with helping sort of steward the coffee from the farm all the way up here to Chicago,вЂќ Reese says.ДЄt the family farm, Emilio Fajardo describes long days in the field - often 12 hours or more - during the harvest season for himself and the workers preparing the beans for shipment to Chicago. вЂњItвЂ™s coming directly from my husband ElmerвЂ™s farm and I work directly with his brother, my brother-in-law Emilio, and we basically talk every day, especially when itвЂ™s during the harvest season. In 2019, Fajardo and his wife Lauren Reese developed a business model that cuts out the middleman between farmers and consumers. вЂњThat means that, even if the price is high, they are not going to see more money, they already owe their coffee to these multinational corporations.вЂќ вЂњThese multinational corporations say, вЂwe have these people on our coffee, we already have the coffee in advance,вЂ™вЂќ said Fajardo. вЂњWhen I came here in 2011 and I saw вЂ¦ the prices of coffee in my town and when I went to those, like, fancy places to drink, IвЂ™m like, thereвЂ™s something wrong, because they are using our coffee, but we are not receiving money and they have been like selling this coffee like for this expensive price.вЂќДЇajardo says that in Latin America, even cooperative farming models often end up undercompensating farmers for their beans. It was in ChicagoвЂ™s coffeeshops that Fajardo says he had a wake-up call.

But when he came to Chicago, Fajardo was just hoping to find work that would allow him to send money home and keep the farm afloat. Today, FajardoвЂ™s business Anticonquista CafГ© sells locally-roasted beans from the Fajardo farm. вЂњMy grandpa, he used to grow a lot of not only coffee, but he used to grow tobacco, corn, beans, sugar cane.вЂќ The name of my village is Aldea Valle de JesГєs, and I remember that we didnвЂ™t even have like electricity until I was like 8 years old,вЂќ said Fajardo. Fajardo was just 17 when he made the trek from his familyвЂ™s farm on the mountainous border of Guatemala and Honduras to Chicago in 2011.

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