Dean Cycon is the founder and owner of Dean's Beans, an organic coffee roaster based in Orange, Massachusetts. The company supports indigenous growers and cooperatives around the world through a combination of strict fair trade principles, profit sharing, and development assistance.

"Who would have thought that a cup of coffee contained World Bank schemes, indigenous rights, third world womens empowerment and a wide range of globalization issues? Dean Cycon reveals the worlds within worlds of coffee that have to make us think about the choices we make at the supermarket or caf."Susan Sarandon, actress and activist

In each cup of coffee we drink the major issues of the twenty-first centuryglobalization, immigration, womens rights, pollution, indigenous rights, and self-determinationare played out in villages and remote areas around the world. In "Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee," a unique hybrid of Fair Trade business, adventure travel, and cultural anthropology, author Dean Cycon brings readers face-to-face with the real people who make our morning coffee ritual possible.Second only to oil in terms of its value, the coffee trade is complex with several levels of middlemen removing the 28 million growers in fifty distant countries far from you and your morning cup. And, according to Cycon, 99 percent of the people involved in the coffee economy have never been to a coffee village. They let advertising and images from the major coffee companies create their worldview.Cycon changes that in this compelling book, taking the reader on a tour of ten countries in nine chapters through his passionate eye and unique perspective. Cycon, who is himself an amalgamequal parts entrepreneur, activist, and mischievous explorerhas traveled extensively throughout the worlds tropical coffeelands, and shows readers places and people that few if any outsiders have ever seen.Along the way, readers come to realize the promise and hope offered by sustainable business principles and the products derived from cooperation, fair pricing, and profit sharing.Cycon introduces us to the Mamos of Colombiaholy men who believe they are literally holding the world togetherdespite the severe effects of climate change caused by us, their younger brothers. He takes us on a trip through an ancient forestin Ethiopia where many believe that coffee was first discovered 1,500 years ago by the goatherd Kaldi and his animals. And readers learn of Mexicos infamous Death Train, which transported countless immigrants from Central America northward to the U.S. border, but took a horrifying toll in lost lives and limbs.Rich with stories of people, landscapes, and customs, "Javatrekker" offers a deep appreciation and understanding of the global trade and culture of coffee.In each cup of coffee we drink the major issues of the twenty-first centuryglobalization, immigration, womens rights, pollution, indigenous rights, and self-determinationare played out in villages and remote areas around the world.What is Fair Trade Coffee?Coffee prices paid to the farmer are based on the international commodity price for coffee (the C price) and the quality premium each farmer negotiates. Fair Trade provides an internationally determined minimum floor price when the C plus premium sinks below1.26 per pound for conventional and1.41 for organics (thats us!). As important as price, Fair Trade works with small farmers to create democratic cooperatives that insure fair dealing, accountability and transparency in trade transactions. In an industry where the farmer is traditionally ripped off by a host of middlemen, this is tremendously important.Cooperatives are examined by the Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO), or the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), European NGOs, for democratic process and transparency. Those that pass are listed on the FLO Registry or become IFAT members. Cooperatives provide important resources and organization to small farmers in the form of technical assistance for crop andharvest improvement, efficiencies in processing and shipping, strength in negotiation and an array of needed social services, such as health care and credit. Fair Trade also requires pre-financing of up to sixty percent of the value of the contract, if the farmers ask for it. Several groups, such as Ecologic and Green Development Fund have created funds for pre-finance lending.

Acknowledgments and Dedication Prologue: The Inner Worlds of Coffee-Evolution of a Javatrekker

Part I - Africa
Chapter 1. Miriam's Well, the Emperor's Bed and Kaldi's Goats (Ethiopia 2002)
Chapter 2. Fermenting Change, But Don't Cross the Big Man (Kenya 2005)

Part II - South America
Chapter 3. Bridging the Gap (Peru 2003)
Chapter 4. Global Warning: Climate Change, Conflict and Culture (Colombia 2007)

Part II - Central America
Chapter 5. Lighting a Candle for Freedom (Guatemala 1993)
Chapter 6. Tracking the Death Train (Mexico/El Salvador 2005)
Chapter 7. Coffee, Landmines, and Hope (Nicaragua 2001)

Part IV - Asia
Chapter 8. Good Friends, Cold Beer. . . and a Water Buffalo (Sumatra 2003)
Chapter 9. The 300-Man March (Papua-New Guinea 2004)

Epilogue