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Delicious Peace Grows in a Ugandan Coffee Bean sponsored by Bill & Laurie Bolthouse
documentary
Running Time: 40
Narrated by actor Ed O'Neill, 'Delicious Peace' highlights how a single individual can inspire a community to overcome historical discrimination and create peace, and how that message spreads contagiously and globally.Ugandan coffee farmer JJ Keki opens the documentary wearing a bright Jewish skullcap and spreading coffee beans across drying apparatus. JJ says, I brought the idea to my friends, Christians and Muslim. I said, we should make a co-op selling our coffee and spreading peace in the world. So we named it Mirembe, that means peace, Kawomera,which means that our coffee must be of quality. The screen transitions to a visual montage, tracking the process in reverse from a cup of coffee being consumed in the US at an interfaith event back to the bean growing on the tree in Uganda. The remainder of the documentary is divided into segments, each of which is introduced by a performance of a local musical group (the instrumentation of which trails throughout the section that follows) and a graphic reflective in color and texture of the Ugandan countryside. The text on the graphics will paint in words the frameworks for the sections that immediately follow. The graphics will read: It Takes a Leader, Then It Takes a Villageo Here we meet the leader, JJ, who initiated the cooperative. A self-described 'peasant farmer,' he introduces us to his 25 children, including 15 he adopted after their parents died of AIDs. He takes us through his home, and he explains that he's also a musician who was nominated for a Grammy; he says he uses the music to mobilize for peace; he has composed many songs of peace. There is No Today Without Yesterday's Building Blocks that have Weathered Politics, Religion, the Environment, the Economy, and All of Life Compressed into the Brushstroke called History. This section includes three subsections: Political and Religious Backdrop, Environmental Backdrop, and Economic Backdrop. Each is explored in enough detail to put the larger story into context. It includes an explanation of the establishment of Islam, Christianity and Judaism (the latter called Abayudaya and the ensuing intolerance that developed, as well as a key segment about the hatred propagated during the brutal regime of Idi Amin. Also discussed is the collapse of the pre-Mirembe international coffee market with farmers finding themselves destitute. Even Amidst Relationships of Distrust and an Economy of Poverty, a Society's Course Offers Choices: JJ's Idea o We learn how the concept of the cooperative came about: JJ's idea to put aside differences in the name of peace and economic development, and the process in which the founding farmers engaged to transform the idea into the reality. A Rainbow of Individuals Creates a Community o Here we get a more intimate look at the lives of three farmers, one from each religious community. Some of the struggles they face and hopes they harbor are highlighted, including child mortality from malaria, malnourishment due to poverty, leaky roofs, the need to purchase uniforms and books for school, and the drive for academic success. Also shown are snippets of observance from their religious communities. If a Coffee Bean Filled with Delicious Peace Falls in Ugandan Soil and Coffee Distributors Who Care are Not There, Will Anyone Buy It? Now we learn that an American organization, Kulanu, had established a relationship with the Abayudaya. Through that, JJ met volunteer Laura Wechsler. Laura began helping the Abayudaya, and the projects extended into the neighboring communities. When she learned about Mirembe Kawomera, she contacted Fair Trade companies in the US (providing fair wages for workers), going down an alphabetical list until she got to for Thanksgiving Coffee Company (TCC). CEO Paul Katzeff says he was attracted by the story, and he agreed to buy a shipping container 37,500 pounds -- recognizing that it was a risk because he did not know the quality. In a strong spiritual moment he says: You just know the universe said, This is it. Are you ready? That's what happened. I was ready. I am really proud of that moment. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. Businesses and Plants Have This in Common: While Vulnerable in their Early Stages, Proper and Devoted Attention will Help them Blossom. And the More they Grow, the Bigger the Dreams of What they can Become o The success of the cooperative is the focus of this section, with various individual farmers relaying the small ways the cooperative is improving their lives. We also see a group of farmers from different religious groups drinking coffee together and talking collectively about their now-peaceful relationships. The Means of Distribution Mirrors the Delicious Peace Means of Production o Paul explains that peace is the fourth leg to the sustainability model (following social justice, organic and economic justice). He says that this is what TCC is introducing. We next meet Ben Corey-Moran of TCC, who says that they began taking this new model to interfaith groups in the US, beginning with the San Francisco Interfaith Council. Two members of the Council, one Muslim and one Episcopal, talk about what they are learning from this co-op.• Possibilities Multiply as Partners in Coffee and Peace Mix their Strengths Together o The partnership between the cooperative and TCC is highlighted in this section, including in-person work on the ground in Africa. From Africa's Equator to North America, The Story of Mirembe Kawomera's Spreads With Contagious Enthusiasm o This is the last section. It opens with four Mirembe farmers at Tufts University, where they receive the Global Citizenship Award in February 2008. The ceremony is followed by a montage of a cross-country promotional trip they take with TCC representatives to visit communities across the US (NY/NJ, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Olympia, WA) committed to drinking Mirembe coffee and spreading their message of peace.The documentary ends with JJ saying: Respect yourself and respect others. We shall have won the war.
Producer: Ellen Friedland
Director: Curt Fissel
Screenwriter: Ellen Friedland
Editor: Curt Fissel
Cinematographer:
Cast: Ed O'Neill (Voice),
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