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AT THE BIRTH OF COFFEE
by Anita MacAuley
When you can't travel, you read travel magazines. When you can't go to origin to source your beans and meet the growers, you read The Birth of Coffee, a new book by Linda and Daniel Lorenzetti that focuses on the
coffee-growing regions of Central America, South America, Africa and the Middle East, and Indonesia.
The Lorenzettis travelled to a total of eight countries to document coffee from seed to cup. They conceived The Birth of Coffee as part of a greater documentary project that also includes a Website,
(www.birthofcoffee.com) and a "Birth of Coffee" exhibition that will tour the United States as well as some producing origins in 2002.
Q. Who did you write the book for?
Linda: We wrote the book for people who drink coffee. Most people go to a grocery store or coffee shop and pick up a shiny package, and that's where coffee begins for them. We wanted them to have a broader
understanding of the people and the places and the way it's grown around the world.
Daniel: Part of the documentary tradition is to try to give visibility to something that isn't in the public view. Linda and I consider ourselves to be documentarians--we try to work on projects that have the
potential to bring to the public something that they might not otherwise see or learn about. And that was the intention with this.
Q. What about the coffee retailer?
Linda: It takes all people to make it work. It takes retailers, roasters, consumers, and producers. There's nobody that isn't an integral part of the whole process.
Q. Did you start with any assumptions? What did you find out?
Linda: We were on a [two-month] image expedition project to Indonesia. It occurred to us that it would be very interesting to see how coffee is grown. So we planned a trip to a plantation on the eastern end of the
island of Java. We traveled up this rugged road--way, way up--close to the active volcano Mt. Bromo. We ended up on this plantation in this little area that was stunningly beautiful. There were clove trees blooming,
nutmeg, vanilla beans, pepper plants, rubber trees, and coffee trees. This was our first exposure to coffee. Visually, Daniel thought it was very compelling, and I thought it would be an interesting thing to write
about. This is how we came to coffee. We didn't come with preconceived ideas. ... It just occurred to us that because we didn't know where coffee came from that other people might not know.
Daniel: We didn't have any link to the coffee industry, we didn't know people in the industry, we knew nothing about the issues--like fair trade and child labor. We weren't looking for anything--to see whether or not
some of these issues are valid or not. We didn't see that as our job. Of course, we've learned about a lot of these issues in the four or five years that we've done this project, just by attending the SCAA and NCA
conferences and reading publications. We felt that the images and the words should speak for themselves.
Q. How were you changed by the experience of the project?
Linda: There were so many people, so many experiences, so many cups of coffee that were offered to us, and so many conversations. We might have one photograph in the book [representing] a whole day on the plantation,
visiting and talking with people. ... So yes, it does change you, because you are touching the lives of other people. You are spending a period of time in their world. It's a very enriching experience.
Daniel: Part of what I learned from the project is that we should try to be conscious of the things that we consume or use in everyday life--to try to give some thought to what has gone [into] the production of
things. It could be anything from a running shoe that you're wearing to the sugar that you're putting in your coffee to coffee itself.
Q. What is the status of the tour?
Daniel: We have received an offer to design and tour a "Birth of Coffee" exhibition--about 50 images from the book, some coffee artifacts and perhaps some digital video. We're also trying to bring it back
to some of the origin countries--like Brazil and other countries.
Q. How do you think they will respond?
Linda: I think people in origin countries are just as excited. We were just at the SCAA conference, so many people came by to look at the photographs. I think it gives them a way of perceiving something that is a way
of life there that they don't normally take the time to notice.
Q. Were you satisfied with the way the project turned out?
Daniel: When you're an artist, you always feel that it can be better, but it's very important that the book be in print. We hope now that the industry--both coffee companies and retailers--will help us bring these
images to the public. That's what we hope--that the readers of Fresh Cup will look at the project and help their consumers appreciate these images and what they mean to the industry.
article copyright Fresh Cup Magazine
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