Black Gold: coffee, a very tough business

This trailer puts forward the coffee business and its hardships on producers; To sum it up, for a 3$ cup of coffee, producers only earn 3 cents.
Let's make trade fair!

Deir El Ahmar

Deir El Ahmar is a Lebanese town, located at 100 km from Beirut and 12 km northeast of Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.

Deir el Ahmar's location in the fertile Beqaa Valley makes agriculture its main economical activity. The town has also good potential for tourism due to the mild climate, pristine nature, and the variety of historical and archeological sites. Ecotourism, especially natural excursions and hiking trips are becoming more popular in the region of Deir el Ahmar. Tourists also visit the local organic farms and participate in farming activities.

However, an economical and demographic study conducted in Deir el Ahmar by Dr Gaby Saliba in 2001 highlights the following three problems:

1- High emigration of youth [62% of population] and still increasing mainly caused by the lack of high education institutions and the nearest university is 40 minutes away.
2- Scarce role of women in development.
3- And high rate of unemployment.

The pictures above were taken by my colleagues Fanny and Vanessa who spent 4 days in Deir El Ahmar accompanying our wine producers during their first audit for organic certification, provided by the IMC international body.

Article published in L'Orient-Le Jour by the journalist Rana Andraos

Article is available here.

Mulberries

It is the Mulberry Season! A very brief season, begins around the end of June until mid July, with lots of mulberry trees in Lebanon; these fruits are at their best when you harvest them and eat them on the spot.

The benefits of mulberries are numerous...

"Mulberry is one of the nutrition treasures of alternative health medicine. Mulberry contains fiber, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, carbohydrates, iron and proteins essential to one's good health. The fruit is found mainly in the subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and the Americas and can be black, red, pink or white in color.

Mulberry juice is believed to be a good source of treating anemia and poor blood circulation. The fruit is also a good source of nutrients that lower high blood pressure, reducing the risk of blood clots and strokes."

More on health benefits here.

To give you some ideas, we will be posting recipes and serving suggestions about what you can do with the Fruit and its Syrup!

We have mulberries, so let's enjoy them ; )

Positive vibes in Lebanon

If you have stopped believing in Lebanon… read on..

Every now and then, I discover new initiatives and projects being done in order to raise awareness about important issues in our society.
Problems here are too many to be counted or be solved immediately but sometimes it just takes a few positive vibes to give you hope again.

Producing in Lebanon is a major challenge, you cannot recognize how hard it is until you see it with your own eyes and hear all the results of research studies done on the subject. Selling quality products and teaching consumers about the necessity of favoring seasonal, authentic and local produces is just another story.

This why I consider the people and organizations listed below as true warriors.

SLOW FOOD BEIRUT: protecting our invaluable food heritage…

Slow Food Beirut is a Lebanese convivium and a Non Governmental Organization. It seeks to promote a good clean and fair food system.
Slow Food Beirut believes the enjoyment of excellent food and drink should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness.
Buy the book From 'Akkar to 'Amel : Lebanon's Slow Food trail

SOUK EL ARD or Earth Markets or Terra Madre….

The Earth Markets in Lebanon are part of an international network of farmers' markets, a project that started in Italy. They are direct selling markets, where every vendor is a producer who sells local and seasonal food, respecting the Slow Food principles of Good, Clean and Fair.

SOUK EL TAYEB

Souk el Tayeb is Lebanon’s first farmers market, of fresh, seasonal, traditional, natural and organic food products. A weekly market in Beirut and other Lebanese regions, gathering small farmers and producers; true “earth and land lovers”, sharing a dream and concern of respect and responsibility towards earth and men.
Every Saturday in Saifi Village parking (from 9 am till 2 pm), every Wednesday in ABC Achrafieh L3 Parking (from 4 pm till 8 pm).

...So if you have stopped believing in Lebanon….some people are still trying to and need You to do so as well in order to go on...

Click on images to access the websites

Ever seen a blossoming almond tree?

above: pic taken in Rachaya (West Bekaa) a couple of days ago.

"A blossoming almond tree" painting by Van Gogh

The Almond is a native to the Mediterranean climate region of the Middle East, eastward as far as Pakistan. It was spread by humans in ancient times along the shores of the Mediterranean into northern Africa and southern Europe and more recently transported to other parts of the world, notably California.

Global production of almonds is around 1.7 million tonnes.

Major producers are the USA (41%), Spain (13%), Syria (7%), Italy (6%), Iran (6%) and Morocco (5%). Algeria, Tunisia and Greece each account for 3%, Turkey, Lebanon and China each account for 2%.

In the United States, production is concentrated in California.

Importing over 94 % of its consumption, India is the largest global and U.S. market for in-shell almonds.

Source: Wikipedia

Watch out where you're heading

Lebanese Agriculture has been experiencing a significant decline for the last thirty years.

Fact 1:
The most affected agricultural sector is the micro one: small lands which represent 80% of the current farms in Lebanon. Agricultural activities have little income effect, therefore tend to favour the rural exodus of youth.

Fact 2:
The high cost of domestic factors is leading to land abandonment; it began 30 years ago and has reached today more than 25% of the utilized agricultural area.

Fact 3:
Only 2% of farmers are below 25 years, 13% are below 35 years against 23% who are aged over 65 years.
The permanent agricultural workforce is aged, which will quickly pose a generational problem.

Fact 4:
Very few Lebanese farmers perform exclusively agricultural activities and 2 / 3 of them are often required to have other parallel activities, mainly for financial reasons.

Fact 5:
Finally, employment opportunities for women in rural areas are relatively weak or absent for cultural explanations usually.

You can either see this as a hopeless case or as an urgency to bring change. We really hope you choose with us the second option.

Be innovative and react, do it for you, your children and generations to come.

Info Source: UNDP, Lebanon 2008-2009, The national human development report, March 2009.