Mujeres por la dignidad rebelde is a cooperative of several hundred Zapatista indigenous women weavers in Chiapas, Mexico. The objective of the cooperative is not just to sell artesania (crafts) but also to organize women to participate fully in the Zapatista struggle for self-determination and the preservation of indigenous culture. The Zapatistas are an indigenous rights movement that began their uprising symbolically on January 1, 1994, the first day that NAFTA went into effect. They are struggling to maintain their historic culture by demanding that indigenous rights be recognized and protected by the Mexican government and to create an economic base within their communities that allows indigenous families to remain together and maintain their way of life. This is no small feat in the context of NAFTA, which has caused over a million small farmers (many of them indigenous) to abandon their farms, unable to compete with US heavily subsidized corn that has been dumped on the Mexican market, and migrate in search of work in factories along the US-Mexico border or in the US as undocumented workers.

Café Mam is grown by fair-trade cooperatives of native Mayan farmers living in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. The growers, primarily of the Mam, Tzetzal and Mochó peoples, are organized according to egalitarian democratic ideals that stress responsibility to the co-op, hard work and high standards. Their programs provide countless benefits to outlying native communities.  Native Mayan farmers believe that by taking care of the soil, they are taking care of the entire bio-system. Their beliefs and sustainable approach to agriculture benefit their communities in many positive ways.
 
The cornerstone of Café Mam social responsibility has been their recognition of a living wage based coffee price. The price per pound of coffee paid to the farmers has been calculated to sustain and support a family in the region. Café Mam supports farmers who have made a commitment to better their social and natural environment. Café Mam beans are Fair Trade Certified™ by TransFair USA, a guarantee that the farmers received a fair price for their harvest, which was grown on small, family-owned farms.
 
Their moral commitment includes the exclusive use of certified organic coffee and their support of pesticide reform groups (over $110 thousand donated since their inception). They use recyclable glassine lined Kraft bags, when aluminized Mylar bags are today's industry standard. They also use recycled, unbleached boxes and paper.
 
Fair Trade Certified Coffee guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their product. The Fair Trade price means that farmers can feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.  Without the certification label the farmer may have recieved as low as $0.07 a pound, by purchasing Fair Trade certified coffee you are guaranteeing the farmer received a minimum of $1.26 per pound.   Look for the label. 

 
Purchase Café Mam's Fair Trade Certified Coffee by the Pound