Book Description
A Cafecito Story is a story of love, coffee, birds and hope. It is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds.
Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best. The challenge of producing coffee is a remarkable test of our ability to live more sustainably, caring for the land, growers, and consumers in an enlightened and just way. Written with Julia Alvarez's deft touch, this is a story that stimulates while it comforts, waking the mind and warming the soul like the first cup of morning coffee. Indeed, this story is best read with a strong cup of organic, shade-grown, fresh-brewed coffee.
Customer Reviews:
One of Those Amazing Little Book Finds Discovered Unexpectedly Between Two Behemoth Titles on the Shelf.......2007-05-20
While perusing an independent bookstore in Pasadena, CA, I discovered *A Cafecito Story* in between two giant tomes of little interest; but somehow, this slime volume caught my eye and then my interest as I read the back cover and flipped through the book to see the wonderful woodcuts by Belkis Ramírez.
This is the simple story of Joe, the son of a farmer in Nebraska. Disaffected by the direction of farming as the corporations buy up family farms - including his families when his father is forced to sell a large part of the land to pay the bills - and the ruin this brings to the local economies, Joe decides farming is not for him. He moves to the city, marries a city girl, becomes a teacher, divorces the city girl, and at 40 finds himself near burnout and realizing that he can't even enjoy a cup of coffee. So, he decides to take a vacation.
His travels and budget land him at a resort in the Dominican Republic; but, soon he is bored with sitting by the pool and the sterility of resort protected behind walls and guards from the population of the land. At the recommendation of one of the resort's employees, Joe visits the mountains and the coffee farm of the employee's relative. Here is where Joe's life changes forever.
This semi-autobiographical novella by Julia Alvarez (writer-in-residence at Middlebury College and who was born in the Domincan Republic) is a metaphor for the discovery that the author and her husband made while visiting the place of her birth. It is also the story of how people can change the way things are done for the better and in the course of it all begin to change the world. If you are familiar with the concept of Fair Trade in the world of coffee and chocolate and the like, you will really enjoy this look at some of the movement's roots - if you aren't familiar, this book will open your eyes.
A Cafecito Story.......2007-01-10
Delightful, charming story, based on a true, organic, working coffee farm in the Dominican Republic. Illustrations are delightful and enhance the story and the imagination!
A Cafecito Story by Julia Alvarez.......2007-01-10
Beautifully written & illustrated! A little disappointment: I bought this as a gift and there was a small knife slit in the paper cover. I taped it over & hoped my daughter won't notice. Please, be more careful in handling. Thank you. Kathryn Russell
Coffee and love .......2005-12-08
This short work, is the story of coffee, "a social beverage that bridges nations and unites people in trade, in words, in birds, and in love . . . through the eyes of Joe, a man with farming in his blood but an increasing sense of dislacement from the natural world."
Joe is the son of Nebraska farmers. He loves to farm, the small farms go under, and he winds up teaching, though he still yearns for a connection with nature. Then, he takes a vacation in the Dominican Republic. Escaping the gated resort where he is staying, he goes into the mountains and discovers coffee and the coffee growers. They, too, are threatened by agribusiness, companies that spray the coffee with veneno (poison).
Joe buys a parcel of land, and, with another grower, forms a cooperative. Others join them. But they do more than grow coffee the "old-fashioned" way. They promote literacy, and sustainability.
There is also a love story here, not, they are careful to say, the story of Alvarez and her husband, but I think there is something of them in Joe and "the woman behind the counter".
There is an afterword by Bill Eichner about their coffee farm, as well as a list of resources.
The woodcuts by Dominican artist Belkis Ramírez are wonderful. I especially like the one of "the woman behind the counter", as she sits with the steam from the coffee rising, and her hair, flowing out and upwards, has visions of a coffee farm in its curls.
Praise for Alvarez.......2005-06-01
I picked this book up purley by chance. It was on a featured book table at my local library. I don't normaly real a lot of fiction but something made me check it out. I brought it home and started reading it the next morning while having my morning coffee. Theres something in the author's writing style that just makes you want to read more and more. I will most deffinently be purchasing this book and cherishing it forever. Thank you Julia Alvarez!
Average customer rating:
- A Chronicle of a Creative Company Combating the Cold War
|
Mission Possible: The Latin American Agribusiness Development Corporation
Robert Ross
Manufacturer: Transaction Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Development & Growth
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
International
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Agricultural
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Relations
| International
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Rural
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
History of Technology
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Agronomy
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Business Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0765800357 |
Customer Reviews:
A Chronicle of a Creative Company Combating the Cold War.......2000-10-24
The author documents the inception and extraordinary success of a small company that challenged the Cold War and sprung into becoming an accomplished enterprise. The author also managed to take a snoozing subject destined for insomniacs and transformed it into a charming book for history buffs and students of economic development and international business management. Readers for generations to come will continue to benefit from this company history and this authors wisdom.
Book Description
While the American agricultural and food systems follow a decades-old path of industrialization and globalization, a counter trend has appeared toward localizing some agricultural and food production. Thomas A. Lyson, a scholar-practitioner in the field of community-based food systems, calls this rebirth of locally based agriculture and food production civic agriculture because these activities are tightly linked to a community's social and economic development. Civic agriculture embraces innovative ways to produce, process, and distribute food, and it represents a sustainable alternative to the socially, economically, and environmentally destructive practices associated with conventional large-scale agriculture. Farmers' markets, community gardens, and community-supported agriculture are all forms of civic agriculture.
Lyson describes how, in the course of a hundred years, a small-scale, diversified system of farming became an industrialized system of production and also how this industrialized system has gone global. He argues that farming in the United States was modernized by employing the same techniques and strategies that transformed the manufacturing sector from a system of craft production to one of mass production. Viewing agriculture as just another industrial sector led to transformations in both the production and the processing of food. As small farmers and food processors were forced to expand, merge with larger operations, or go out of business, they became increasingly disconnected from the surrounding communities. Lyson enumerates the shortcomings of the current agriculture and food systems as they relate to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. He then introduces the concept of community problem solving and offers empirical evidence and concrete examples to show that a re-localization of the food production system is underway.
Average customer rating:
|
Making Peasants Backward: Agricultural Cooperatives and the Agrarian Question in Russia, 1861-1914
Yanni Kotsonis
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Economic History
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Agricultural
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Japan
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Russia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Europe
| History
| Humanities
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
General
| Economics
| Business & Finance
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0312220995 |
Book Description
In this first monograph on the Russian cooperative movement before 1914, economic and social change is considered alongside Russian political culture. Looking at such historical actors as Sergei Witte, Piotr Stolypin, and Alexander Chaianov, and tapping into several newly opened Russian local and state archives on peasant practice in the movement, Yanni Kotsonis suggests how cooperatives reflected a pan-European dilemma over the extent to which populations can participate in their own transformation.
Average customer rating:
|
Make No Small Plans: A Cooperative Revival for Rural America
Lee Egerstrom
Manufacturer: Lone Oak Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1883477042 |
Average customer rating:
|
Cultivating Cooperation: A History of the Missouri Farmers Association
Raymond A. Young
Manufacturer: University of Missouri Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Missouri
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Social History
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0826210007 |
Customer Reviews:
Keeping a conscious connection to the land and your food.......2006-02-08
I've been a member of a CSA for the past several years and read this book because I wanted to become a more active participant in the movement. No, this book is not an operations manual on how to run a farm and distribute shares. I'd classify it more as an inspiration manual with examples and case studies of how other CSA formed (and failed), obtained financing and land, found shareholders and labor, all for the purposes of giving people an alternative to being dependent on big agribusiness and live a more sustainable lifestyle.
In the true spirit of a co-op, this book provides an introductory education to CSA newbies on the history of food co-ops, community-building and food systems. For those looking for more hands-on or operations-oriented guides to CSA farming, I'd encourage you to review the rather exhaustive reference section in this book and contact someone near you. For me, I found this book perfect for gaining a comprehensive understanding of CSAs overall, which is helping me increase me evolve from passive shareholder into a more active, participatory role.
Heavy on philosophy, light on practicality.......2001-08-10
If you're new to market gardening and looking for solid info on how to run a CSA, this is *not* the book for you. For example, the chapter on harvesting and processing is only 2 1/2 pages long and boils down to "it can't be explained in a book, you need hands on experience". The majority of the book is self-congratulatory prose about how CSAs are saving the world. I support the CSA concept, but found this book a big disappointment. There are a few useful charts for determining share size and how much to grow, they are the only thing that prevents me from giving this book zero stars.
A Solution to a Problem!!! - This book made me optimistic........1999-09-09
This book describes many problems of the current food production & distribution system. More importantly, it provides a solution using Community Supported Agriculture. The book outlines the steps necessary to set up a CSA, discusses options and issues for each step, and includes examples from CSAs all over the country. Many references and a resource list guide readers to other sources of information in a variety of media. I am a CSA consumer, not a farmer or an organizer; I enjoyed the book and am much more optimistic about the power groups of individuals have to change the system
Average customer rating:
|
Village Republics: Economic Conditions for Collective Action in South India
Robert Wade
Manufacturer: ICS Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic Conditions
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Cooperatives
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic Conditions
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 155815387X |
Book Description
Widely used by Curriculum Directors and Administrators, this handbook/reference focuses on the everyday details of developing, organizing, operating, and managing the cooperative occupational education plan—with topics presented in a logical sequence of an educational planning-strategy-structure system. It shows how to apply the plan at the secondary level, adult workforce level, and post-secondary and collegiate levels, and to occupations in agriculture, business, family and consumer sciences, marketing, and trade and industry. Features complete forms (training agreements, student evaluation forms, training plans, etc.) for use in coordinating and managing cooperative educational programs in each area. Covers in detail the impact of current vocational legislation, legal aspects, evaluation, and accountability of cooperative education. Cooperative Education Models. Coordinators and Their Roles. Initiating the Plan. Coordinator Responsibilities at the Secondary Level, for Adult Workforce, at the Post-secondary and Collegiate Levels. Planning and Carrying Out Effective In-school Instruction. Developing Training Stations as Instructional Laboratories. Correlating Instruction Between School and Job Laboratories. Accountability Through Evaluation. Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Cooperative Education. The Plan in Agricultural, Business, Health, Family and Consumer Sciences, Marketing, and Trade and Industrial Occupations. For Curriculum Directors, Local Administrators, Teachers, and Consultants involved in cooperative vocational education.
Average customer rating:
|
Education Through Cooperative Extension
Brenda Seevers
Manufacturer: Thomson Delmar Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Guides
| Job Hunting & Careers
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Horticulture
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Agronomy
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Education
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Horticulture
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
| Plant Diseases
Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Home & Garden
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0827371721 |
Book Description
Delmar presents the only introductory text on the Cooperative Extension Service that acquaints readers with every aspect of the world's largest nonformal education program -- from its inner workings to its vital offerings to the community. Emphasis is placed on illustrating the role of Cooperative Extension as a viable educational entity that addresses the concerns and issues of a changing society. ALSO AVAILABLE -- INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT: Instructor's Manual (ISBN# 0-8273-7173-X). Call Customer Support to Order.
Amazon.com
It would take an asteroid the size of Vermont crashing into the Earth to wipe out all life on our planet. We can probably go to sleep tonight without worrying about this happening. Yet a significantly smaller asteroid -- say, one that spans 10 football fields -- could wreak enormous damage on life as we know it. Even if it struck in the middle of an ocean, violent flooding could drown millions of people. Asteroids this size pass between the Earth and the moon with disturbing frequency, writes Patricia Barnes-Svarney. This book nicely combines history, science and engaging speculation. It's a must-read for doomsday aficionados.
Book Description
A look at the creation and composition of asteroids and the frightening eventuality of a collision with the earth.
Customer Reviews:
Very good, if you are interested in the subject.......1997-10-30
The first chapters are a little bit too technical. However, you will learn a lot about the scientific background on asteroids and impacts. The chapters on how Earth has been hit in the past, the summary of the theory about the dinosaur extinction, and how the Chicxulub crater was found, are really good. The book also has a good coverage on subjects such as near-Earth objects, actual near-misses, what if?, and the Spaceguard survey.
If you became interested on these subjects after the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact on Jupiter, or because you are a Sc-Fi fan who like the "hard stuff" and read Clark's "The Hammer of God", Benford's "Shiva Descending", or Niven's "Lucifr's Hammer", this book is for you. You can deepen your scientific knowledge and learn why these fiction novels seem so real, specially those written before the Alvarez paradigm.
Books:
- A-Z of Snake Keeping
- Agroecology: The Science of Sustainable Agriculture
- An Illustrated Guide to Veterinary Medical Terminology, Second edition
- An Introduction to Plant Structure and Development
- Appleton & Lange's Review for the USMLE Step 3
- Architecture: From Pre-history to Postmodernism
- At&t Reliability Manual
- Back from the Land: How Young Americans Went to Nature in the 1970s and Why They Came Back
- Beneath It All: 100 Years of French Elegance
- Broodstock Management and Egg and Larval Quality
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
- Lady in Red
- European Isolation and Confinement Study
- Garden Lighting for Outdoor Entertaining: 40 Festive Projects
- History: Fiction or Science
- Maintaining Mission Critical Systems in a 24/7 Environment
- Live Bait
- National Trust Guide / San Francisco: America's Guide for Architecture and History Travelers
- Cowboy High Style: Thomas Molesworth to the New West
- Castores: Animales Norteamericanos
The Nine Guardians: A Novel
The Other Side / El otro lado
Cubanisimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature
Sweet Diamond Dust: And Other Stories
How Tia Lola Came to Stay
