It’s rich, bold and bitter — buttery, tangy and sometimes nutty — coffee: it’s treasured in the northwestern United States, yet this commodity originates in a very different environment. Hannah J. Ryan, and I, Michael Beall, plan to explore the coffee trade, from its cultivation roots to roasters such as Cravens Coffee — Estelí, Nicaragua to Missoula, Mont. 3,700 miles apart.

When the World Trade Organization replaced the aging Global Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, the food trade was opened to global regulation. In theory, the elimination of subsidies would boost production and trade in developing countries, but in reality it promoted multinational corporations and big business — and the inevitable slow death of the small farm.

Cravens Coffee is a successful coffee roaster located in the northwestern United States. The company was founded upon roasting a single high quality level of coffee for all sectors and all customers, says founder Simon Thompson. Not all of their roasts are Fair Trade certified, but all exceed Fair Trade pricing. “Fair Trade only certifies co-operatives, and we have sourced a lot of high quality coffee from single farms over the years,” Thompson said. “Our starting point in sourcing coffee has always been cup quality, followed by verification of quality of life on the farm or estate.”

Nueva Segovia in northern Nicaragua is one of the co-operatives Cravens visits and purchases from for single source, Fair Trade coffee. Thompson visited the co-op in 2005 to visit the farms, mills and drying patios. “I liked the profile of the coffee and also the format of the co-operative. It has a strong quality control program and is very well managed. The coffee has been consistently excellent every year.”

The coffee industry in Nicaragua supports roughly 50,000 families, which is significant in a country of six million people with a 8 percent unemployment rate and 50 percent underemployment rate. In April 2011,The Guardian reported that coffee prices have risen to $3 a pound, the highest in 34 years. The rise is a result of an increase in demand worldwide, due to poor harvests in Africa and Central America.

We want to tell the story of the java trail from northern Nicaragua to the American Northwest, documenting what fair means to the people who produce the coffee we drink. We will be producing a series of features, photo essays and audio slide show.

Communication has been established with Cravens founder Simon Thompson, his co-op PRODECOOP and employees in Segovia. They know about the project and are expecting our arrival December 15th in Estelí.Funds from Kickstarter will go toward in country travel and help compensate the $950 airfare ticket I have already purchased. Other expenses include roughly $200 for lodging costs, $150 for in-country transportation and $150 food.