Evaluation, feedback, and learning are central to the way we work as an organization. We are always curious to learn about the takeaways and ongoing experiences of those who have been involved in our projects. We followed up with baristas who participated in a True Roots learning tour to gather feedback and discuss the outcomes of the experience.
These follow-up conversations we had with participants led us to reflect on the value of diverse perspectives and the impact of experience-based learning.
True Roots, in collaboration with a local partner organization, CAMPO, designed and facilitated an interactive, educational tour for baristas to coffee-farming communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. This tour was part of ¡TRUEQUE!, a grant-funded cultural festival in Oaxaca, Mexico.
The goals of ¡TRUEQUE! were to raise the profile of specialty coffee in Oaxaca, while strengthening the local economy and that of coffee producers. These goals align seamlessly with our commitment to bridging the needs of producers, small-scale development initiatives, and members of the coffee industry to create a more equitable and resilient coffee industry.
Through the tour, eight baristas from Oaxaca and Australia experienced first-hand the realities and challenges faced by individuals and communities working at different stages of coffee production. Guided by a cooperative of coffee farmers, we saw the coffee farming process in action, from nursery to plot to processing. At a visit to a local roaster, the baristas participated in an exercise creating a “roasting profile,” roasting and tasting coffee. Together, we learned about how local roasters are marketing to the rise of specialty coffee in Mexico. Our partners CAMPO led a discussion about how their nonprofit organization works to promote sustainable community development in coffee-producing regions.
True Roots had an excellent time facilitating this learning tour; we enjoyed participating in interesting discussions with our expert hosts and group of knowledgeable, open-minded baristas who were keen to learn. As a team, we appreciated having so many different perspectives and backgrounds come together to enrich the trip and our collective experience.
We checked in with a couple of the participants to see whether the learning tour was having an ongoing influence on their work as coffee professionals. We are sharing here reflections from two barista participants on how the tour has influenced their understanding of coffee.
Discussing Impact with Rubén
Rubén Antonio Pascual Martínez is a young Oaxacan barista, who at 17 years old has already been working in barismo for three years and competed in two state competitions. Discussing his experience on the Learning Tour Rubén explained:
“It was my first time visiting a coffee producing region and the truth is, I fell in love. It is wonderful to be able to meet with farmers and have contact with coffee plants.”
Since the learning tour, Rubén has started a new job as a barista at a specialty coffee shop in Oaxaca that sources its coffee from Oaxaca, including the region he visited on the learning tour. Rubén shared that the tour experience has impacted his perspective working with coffee as a barista: “It has made me think of the arduous work that goes into a perfect coffee. It’s a new way of looking at coffee, understanding the process from its roots.”
Kurtis Offers his Perspective
Kurtis Tupangaia is a Melbourne-based coffee trainer at Proud Mary’s Coffee Roasters who has worked extensively in the specialty coffee industry. According to Kurtis, his trip to Mexico “completely changed [his] entire perspective on coffee.”
Kurtis described his shifting perspective on the coffee industry. He pointed out that every coffee produced is given a score out of 100 based on its taste. This score determines whether coffee is deemed as “specialty grade” or commodity coffee.
“Despite this, every single coffee we drink
has to undertake the same painstaking journey before arriving in our cups. This odyssey – for lack of a better word – is what I think of now, every time I order a coffee. Yes, it’s very easy to to start talking about links in a chain or boil it all down to simple statements like ‘crop to cup,’ but the reality of this process is much, much more complicated. There is beauty in this elaborate interconnection of parts.”
True Roots’ goals on learning tours are to offer unique insights, demonstrate the self-management capacities of communities, and explore complex issues by learning first-hand from the actors directly involved. Our aim is for the learning tour experience to have an ongoing impact by diversifying and enhancing participants’ perspectives and understanding of coffee and community development.