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About Muskrat Coffee
The Muskrat Coffee Company
Our Muskrat Coffee is roasted here on the White Earth Reservation and bagged and sealed at the café. Drawing from different beans around the world, our suppliers participate in a fair trade exchange. The result is a truly distinct line of rich and diversely flavored coffees.
The Muskrat Coffee Company is owned by the LaDuke family and served in the Minwanjige Café in Callaway, as well as shipped all over the Upper Midwest and North America. The beans usually are roasted by Betty McDougal, or sometimes Janice Chilton and Winona LaDuke. We are committed to serving fair trade and organic coffees, because we believe that farmers should receive a fair price for their coffee, a price that allows them to be stewards of their land and water. We believe that their children should not be sprayed with poisons. It’s sort of that simple. We are committed to supporting other indigenous communities internationally. We know people should get a fair price for what they produce, and for their work.
About 90% of the coffee sold worldwide comes from big international conglomerates that pay little or no attention to the human needs of the workers producing their coffee. We at Muskrat are interested in the opposite: small farmers and communities who not only produce a quality coffee bean, but are able to support their local community through receiving a fair price for their coffee. Guaranteeing a fair trade price for coffee can mean the opportunity to have a donkey, to buy covering for a dirt floor, and to provide an education for a child in a coffee-producing community.
Read More about the commitment to global justice that you make when you drink Muskrat Coffee.
Waazhask - The Story of the Muskrat
Posted June 8th, 2007 by Reed AubinIt’s said that a long time ago, the original people became out of balance. To cleanse the earth, a great flood came and washed away all the evil. Nanaboozhoo and the other animals saved themselves by resting on a giant log floating in the water. “I’ll swim to the bottom” exclaimed Nanaboozhoo, the trickster, “there I will find some earth, and create a new land for us all, with the help of the four winds and the Creator.” Deep he went, but only to return gasping for air. Great swimmers volunteered: Maang (Loon), Zhingibis (the Hell-diver), Nigig, the Otter, all tried and failed. At long last a soft muffled voice was heard: “I will try.” said Waazhask, the Muskrat. Many of the animals laughed, seeing that the Waazhask was puny and pitiful. But the little muskrat dove deep and was gone for a long time, until the animals gave up hope. Finally, his limp body came to the surface. Nanaboozhoo said, “Our little brother has gone too long without air and he is dead.” Only then did Nanaboozhoo looked inside the paw of the Waazhask and found was a small amount of Earth. Mikinak, the turtle, said, “Place this earth on my back and we will make a new land.”
So it is, that even if you are feeling pitiful you may do a great thing. And for those of us who may need that extra help in the morning or mid-day, the Muskrat, Waazhask, is one to consider as a good friend and example.
The Global Benefits of Fair Trade
Here’s what it means: Halfway around the world, cooperative endeavors are leading to increased income, nutrition and community health for villagers in Kapubaten, northern Sumatra, and Indonesia. Although formal co-ops are rare in Indonesia, a home-grown version called "Self-Reliance Groups" ("SRG's") parallels the form and function of the co-op. In Kapubaten, with support from Coffee Kids, coffee farmers and their families have formed SRG's to bring drinking water through pipelines to their village and homes. The SRG's have also taken advantage of technical assistance to raise alternative crops between the coffee rows for increased family nutrition and income generation.
Through Fair Trade, farmers and their families are earning a better income for their hard work -- allowing them to hold on to their land, keep their kids in school, and invest in the quality of their harvest -- so they can continue to grow excellent quality coffee for your morning brew.
