"Delicious Peace" Coffee Project

Last night, we had four amazing farmers from Uganda - representing local Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities - speak to us about their interfaith coffee cooperative. Their goal is to make quality coffee and, with it, send a message of peace, interfaith cooperation, and economic development to their communities in Uganda, and to the rest of the world.

J.J. Keki, a Jewish coffee farmer and very gifted musician, is the visionary behind this coffee cooperative. He spoke to his hope that it stand as a message to the world that we CAN work together, regardless of our differences. Keki spoke of the violence in Kenya and in the Middle East, pointing out that people often kill over very small, insignificant differences.

I sometimes hear people speaking negatively about organized religion, saying that it's the cause of so much violence in the world. We all understand where this sentiment comes from, and yet we should all acknowledge that violence is a perversion of any of the major faiths. To use God or religion as a reason to kill is a horrendous crime; a dismal excuse. And, if there were no religions, don't you think that, unfortunately, we would still find a million reasons to hate and kill each other? The sad fact is that too many people seem to be better at condemning, instead of celebrating and respecting, our many differences, and that's regardless of whether it's Hutu or Tutsi, Christian or Muslim or Jewish, black or white, Israeli or Palestinian.

Thankfully, there are still many more who know that there is another way to live in the world, that is, in a spirit of cooperation, tolerance, respect, forgiveness, and love. This is why projects like "Delicious Peace" (and their fair-trade distributor, Thanksgiving Coffee) are so important. We all need to stand together to show that the forces of peace are stronger than the forces of destruction. This is what we, at The Garden of Forgiveness, intend to do. The Ugandan farmers will continue growing their coffee and we will continue growing our gardens... and, together, we will "grow peace" in the world!

Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming documentary, "Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean" by filmmakers Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel.

For more information about "Delicious Peace," visit: http://www.deliciouspeace.com/

To support this fair-trade, interfaith initiative for peace, consider starting a Monthly Buying Club at your local church, synagogue, mosque, community center, or other community group. The coffee, as its name promises, is absolutely delicious.
Please contact Holly at (800) 462-1999 ext 49, or holly@thanksgivingcoffee.com for further information.

(Submitted by C. Ritter)