2003
The Voice: Winter 2003
The Humble Bean opens for business
by Sally Jongsma
Dordt College finally has a late-night spot to relax, study, or talk over
a cup of coffee. The Humble Bean opened its doors for business in
late November after a series of construction hold-ups and delays. Located on the
lower level of the new Campus Center, the coffeehouse serves up cappuccinos, espressos,
lattes, mochas, and smoothies as well as a good strong cup of coffee
and some of the things that go so well with it.
The Humble Bean is run by recent alums Laremy De Vries and Eric
Van Wyk.
“There’s something so good about sitting with a cup of coffee in a
relaxing space,” says Van Wyk. Both he and De Vries say that as
students they missed having such a place nearby.
“We were actually thinking about setting up a coffeehouse off-campus when this opportunity
came up,” says De Vries. But the opportunity to open one on campus
seemed like a better option, since they did not have to come up
with the capital to buy equipment or rent space. They run the coffee
shop as a business and pay a percentage of their proceeds to the
college to help cover the cost of running the facility.
De Vries and Van Wyk want the Humble Bean to be, first of
all, a warm and comfortable place for students to gather. But they also
hope that faculty will take advantage of the opportunity and join students in
conversation there. They encourage professors and forums to schedule afternoon meetings on the
premises, and they welcome people from the community as well.
Some weekends they plan to have solo musicians playing in the coffee house,
and they expect to cooperate with the Student Activities Committee in arranging bands
to play in the main lounge area of the Campus Center, located outside
the coffeehouse doors.
The Humble Bean is adjacent to the Defender Grille in the Campus Center,
but the managers say that even though there’s some overlap, the two businesses
provide different services and have different goals.
“We’re specializing in coffee—good coffee,” De Vries says, adding that already before it
opened many people told him they hoped the coffeehouse would serve good strong
coffee.
The good coffee they serve is Equal Exchange, a gourmet, fair trade coffee
that is purchased directly from democratically-run farmer cooperatives on farms that use organic
and sustainable farming practices. Van Wyk and De Vries say they are committed
to using Equal Exchange coffee as their way of trying to make a
difference as Christian businessmen.
“What we buy affects people’s lives,” says Van Wyk. He and De Vries
like the fact that for a price usually less than that of other
gourmet coffees, they are assured that the farmers who grow the beans will
get a fair price for their product and will have access to medical
care for their families. They also appreciate the option of buying shade-grown coffee
that helps preserve wildlife habitats, adds nutrients to the soil, and prevents soil
erosion.
“Many people want to feel more con-nected to where their food comes from,”
they say. They also plan to sell bags of coffee and make brochures
about it available.
“We see it a bit like the way groups of students helped change
policies on using styrofoam cups on campus. By urging people to bring their
own mugs and encouraging people to consider stewardship issues, things changed,” says De
Vries. He and Van Wyk hope to raise awareness of how coffee is
produced in just such a way.
But their goal isn’t first of all to promote a particular coffee, but
to serve up a good cup of coffee in a comfortable place. The
health department finally gave the okay to open for business just before Thanksgiving.
Van Wyk hung some of his paintings on the walls, the furniture shifted
into a comfortable arrangement for conversation, and the cash register began ringing. Next
time you’re on campus, check it out.
Equal Exchange coffee
Dordt College students have been selling Equal Exchange coffee on campus for the
past few years. In supporting fair trade coffee, the Humble Bean will take
on the role previously filled by SHAMAR, the student environmental club on campus.
Their goal has been to try to help students make a difference by
giving them something concrete they can do to help those living in poverty
in Latin America.
Besides the exposure SHAMAR and the Humble Bean have given fair trade coffee,
students who take Political Studies 201 are also introduced to it as an
illustration of how North Americans can directly affect people living in poverty in
other parts of the world. In the introductory political studies course, students study
a specific international political issue each semester. They studied poverty this past semester.
“Each year we do a case study to make the issue concrete,” says
Dr. Fred Van Geest, professor of political studies. “We ask why the current
situation has arisen and what has led to such intense poverty in places
like Latin America.” Such questions lead to other questions about access to resources
and capital, which leads to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies. Students
learn that many poor coffee farmers in Latin America are caught in a
system over which they have little control. They are dependent for their livelihood
on middlemen and companies who pay wildly fluctuating prices for the farmer’s coffee
bean crop.
“Equal Exchange makes a good case study in how to give farmers another
option,” says Van Geest. He helped arrange a campus visit by Cornelio Rivera,
a small coffee farmer who has been traveling around the country sponsored by
a faith-based organization named Witness for Peace. In a clear and concise way
Rivera described how he believes international monetary policies affect small farmers like himself,
says Van Geest.
Companies like Equal Exchange work with local democratically-run cooperatives offering them a fair
and minimum price for gourmet-quality coffee. Through these cooperatives farmers can get small
loans otherwise unavailable to them, they have better access to medical care and
education for their families, and they farm under healthier conditions for both themselves
and the land they farm.
“Such a case study helps students, who often feel helpless after learning about
such conditions, feel that they can make a difference,” says Van Geest.
