Kentucky Colonels: Advocates of Fair-Play and Honor

Becoming a Kentucky Colonel

A Great Honor to Serve as a Goodwill Ambassador for Kentucky

By Ambassador Col. David J. Wright

In 1996 I received the honorable title of Kentucky Colonel, at the time it was a recognition that was awarded based on being noted for an accomplishment or great deed that brings attention, prosperity and prominence to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Governor Paul Patton awarded me the commission at the recommendation of Judge Ray Corns a few days after the Louisville Courier-Journal did a controversial article about an Arbor Day program I had developed that distributed millions of trees to homeowners across the United States from Berea, Kentucky.

I received the award with great honor and subsequently was named locally in newspaper articles in Kentucky and other parts of the United States as "Col. David Wright" instead of David Wright. It is also a title that helped me in my career and worked as a 'door opener' for continuing the tree program I had started for several years thereafter as the title condones authority when making initial contacts with corporations and the news media. It worked better for me than my university degree, also how I got the title is also a lead-in for a good backstory.

In the subsequent years like many Kentucky colonels I took the special title I was given for my deed, used it and told others about how I received Kentucky Colonel as a title and why it was important to me. I also unequivocally supported the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels which at the time sent membership cards and a product catalog of memorabilia which they sell for Kentucky colonels.

Starting a New Order for Kentucky Colonels

In 1998 I decided I wanted to give back to the Kentucky colonels and the Commonwealth by using the abilities I had learned to become successful on the Internet with the tree program as a webmaster to help promote the image and traditional ideals of Kentucky colonels around the world using the Internet, so I contacted the HOKC, but I was snubbed. They told me that their organization had no roles for its members, that members had no voting privileges and further that they were not interested in being online. They offered no privileges other than the annual membership card, unless I could donate more then I could be recognized with a medal. This encouraged me to establish a website for Kentucky colonels which could be found at [colonel.org] from 1998 until 2002. When the HOKC discovered the website they had an attorney contact me at my home in Kentucky in 2001, threatening to take legal action against me and to remove the website.

The purpose of our website at the time was to offer exclusive Internet services to those who had been recognized with the Kentucky colonel commission, promote their ideas, foster good works and establish an online registry for Kentucky colonels to verify their status as colonels, something I discovered that neither the state or the HOKC organization were willing to do for Kentucky colonels.

If I had not been engaged as an international goodwill ambassador as a result of my becoming a colonel in the first place I may have engaged in the struggle to develop the project resulting in an independent organization, but based on some phone calls I received and contacts that were made by politicians to me it is nothing that would have turned out favorably for my startup website initiative. So in 2001 I continued in my life to go to work internationally as an ambassador establishing a new international organization in Kentucky and moving to Venezuela where I reside now protecting the Amazon from deforestation and working to empower the indigenous people to protect their lands that live in the forests here.

The HOKC is and always has been a powerful well-respected charitable institution with millions each year in funding, they were not about to allow another organization with our inspiration to take root in their territory, not for anyone's benefit. Either way I investigated the organization in depth to learn as much as I could, I read their Articles of Incorporation, though I learned quite a bit it at that time, it was many years ago. I came away from the experience with the understanding that they are not a true membership organization at all, they do not allow members to participate or have any input on the decision making process of the organization, nor did they hold any regular meetings. Most of their activities were dedicated to fundraising and processing mail.

I clearly understood that at very best they are legally stated as a non-membership 501(c)(3) organization that provides an honorary membership to their donors, which was fine; however it was not providing the type of fraternal or an active type of membership like the program or organization that I wanted to start, they had no basis for bullying and snuffing out the inspirations that I and other Kentucky colonels had or have today for themselves, somehow I knew that I would revisit this again someday.

Enter the Facebook Era

Years later, I came to revisit the ideal of establishing a membership group for Kentucky colonels that promotes colonels based on their desire to continue to be recognized as goodwill ambassadors for the Commonwealth and to continue doing good deeds for others through programs and projects involving Kentucky colonels. Then in 2008 I saw a group on Facebook that was founded by other Kentucky Colonels in the social media which were not affiliated or under the administration of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

After being a member there for a short-time I applied to become an administrator of the Facebook group and started the first Facebook Page dedicated to Kentucky Colonels in 2009 which remains today as part of the Facebook group. Now today the page and organization is administered by eight very distinguished ladies and gentlemen who have been made Kentucky colonels since the late 1990s.

As a result of my discovery in 2008 I searched Facebook for other groups and found several, I also discovered that at that same time that the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (HOKC) was not online yet, so I pleasantly contacted them offering them services online free for their members, my offer was flatly rejected again, that was in 2009. By 2013 I was contacted by them once again requesting that we change the name of our Facebook Group and Page so that it does not use the term "Kentucky Colonels" in our name, because they were claiming these words as their own trademark. This is something I did not agree to fully comply with.

They felt that we were confusing members to believe that we were connected in some way to them because we were using 'KentuckyColonels' as our Facebook user name and group name. I agreed to publish a disclaimer that clearly stated to members of our social media circles that we are not affiliated with their charity or organization and added the word "international" to our Facebook group as well. Our Facebook page has always carried the name "Kentucky Colonels International" and has never inferred or insinuated that we are part of the HOKC, which all of us implicitly are a part of through their organizational design.

There is another large group of several thousand called the "Kentucky Colonels on Facebook" which started in 2009 by Col. Jon Meier, they claim the be the largest (unofficial) Facebook group which also states that is not associated or affiliated with the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

All of us as colonels are individually associated with HOKC based on the terms of their free non-obligatory membership and initial voluntary offer to recognize us as a part of their charity (when I became a colonel), but moreover we are all Kentucky colonels that were independently of the HOKC commissioned and awarded an honor from the governor prior to becoming recognized by their private non-profit charity organization. No one is selected to become a Kentucky colonel based on how much support they can potentially provide to the independent charitable organization, at least they are not supposed to be, it is a strictly honorable commission that is given without condition, and is not about money or charity, but the deed by which a person becomes a colonel in the first place and supporting the tradition of looking for others that truly deserve the title given they can get the governor's personal attention.

Governor Matthew Bevin presenting a Kentucky Colonel Commission to Honorable Yuan Zhang of the China Daily now member of Kentucky Colonels International and the Honorable Order (Photo Credit China Daily and Facebook).

It is fine when the governor recognizes someone directly as Governor Bevin has above with Col. Yuan Zhang, as well it would also be alright if he reads a letter from another colonel somewhere in the world asking him to review their nomination; there is no substitute for this actual presentation and recognition, however there is not so much honor in a program where hundreds (perhaps thousands) of Kentucky colonels are automatically being recognized which have never actually become known to the Governor or the Secretary of State for their deeds. For the title of Kentucky Colonel to remain the special distinctive and great honor that it is, it needs to be a title that is distributed more sparingly, all those who are Kentucky colonels mostly agree with this.

It is actually important to Kentucky colonels who other Kentucky colonels actually are and what they do. Kentucky Colonels International members naturally want to know how their peers have come to be colonels, it is something that exists naturally among members of "fraternal orders" which in reality represents traditional ideals resulting in common fraternity and mutual cooperation potential.

We welcomed Col. Zhang just a day or two after he was given the Kentucky Colonel title, so you know it is a great honor to be recognized by taking a photograph presenting your commission with either the Governor of Kentucky, another Kentucky colonel that may present it to you or even by yourself after you receive it, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks to his presentation in Kentucky Colonels International he received a better average welcome than anyone else has for a very long time.

Kentucky Colonel postcard.

Honor of the Kentucky Colonel Title may be Endangered

In 2016 the development of our independence in the social media became more important because under Governor Matthew Bevin the governor's office suspended issuing commissions and revamped the nomination process that broke with an 80+ year tradition of the nomination policy, now allowing only "active" supporters (donors) of the private 501(c)(3) HOKC to make nominations using an online form.

Apparently the HOKC convinced the governor's office under Former Governor Steve Beshear to permit an online registration form which they hosted which significantly increased the number of colonelships being awarded during his administration (thousands), but it also made the award of a commission less meaningful and easier to obtain. By the time Governor Bevin took over he was overwhelmed with nominations and halted the program to find a better solution.

The old system which was honored by Former Governor Steve Beshear along with the online version was removed as a result of Governor Bevin's change to the system. The classic "old system" had involved a "paper nomination card in cover with a letter" to the governor from Kentucky colonels who wished to nominate someone for the title and commission in recognition of a good deed or accomplishment that warranted the making of a new Kentucky colonel.

Personally I liked the older system because it allows commissioned colonels to include photographs, newspaper articles and make a detailed account that honorably presents the nominee better than an electronic form can and it is one which most colonels agreed with it lasted over 80 years. It should not be an easy or simple process to nominate someone as a Kentucky colonel!

It was an unlawful and unethical act for the governor to revoke or limit the privileges of Kentucky colonels granted by previous governors based on them making an annual contribution to a private charity without taking over the organization completely and remaking it an official or quasi state agency or office, otherwise it is diminished in its status. Legally speaking the award does not belong to the HOKC, but to the office of the governor which precedes them. However for the time being the HOKC is vetting each Kentucky colonel nomination under the current requirements and policy implemented by Governor Bevin. Business has never been so good either for the HOKC.

What Happened to the Original Organization?

Many believe that under the Republican governor that the HOKC has also been somewhat nationalized to assimilate some of the values of the Trump administration with the change of their logo from a traditional Kentucky motif to one representing the American flag shield and updating the HOKC's social media profile which is also known today as "Kentucky Colonels - National Headquarters" instead of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels (HOKC), sort of putting themselves in charge of the commission and other small organizations at least nationally that set up as fraternal groups, there are perhaps 20 independent civil societies in the United States. I don't hold an opinion over their name or the politics that may have been behind the changes I was never dependent on the HOKC for my recognition but on the title itself. Maybe it would have been better for colonels if they had changed their online name to International Headquarters or just Headquarters it would have held more authority.

Changing their name from the "Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels" to "Kentucky Colonels - National Headquarters" was probably not the best of their decisions, I view it as an attempt to come up first in the social media which also changed their distinction to become more aligned with national values and the United States rather than those of the "Commonwealth of Kentucky" which are distinct.

This is important to me because I live outside of Kentucky today, possess individual beliefs that promote the international ideals of the United Nations and I am not aligned with either Republican or Democratic party values, despite being a proud American and a Kentuckian both values that I hold to the highest regard. Either way present day politics are a joke in my opinion and do not fairly represent the people, instead the corporations benefit with a voice, who have no vote but lots of money, such as the HOKC.

The fact of the matter is that the HOKC did not create the commission or the title of Kentucky Colonel, the HOKC does not credit the organizations that existed before they did around the turn of the 20th century and it is unfair to all those who were already commissioned as colonels to have to "activate" their membership to gain a privilege over what they already had and were given for life (based on an organization which provides no voting privileges or genuine member benefits).

The nomination process implemented under Governor Bevin in 2016 undermines and waters down the honor, integrity, privilege and validity from the legal jurisdiction of the letters patent issued by the Governor through the involvement a private charity like the HOKC or National Colonels as they may soon be called? Having an automated system involving the HOKC to produce a document that is valid as a "Letters Patent" is a significant statement on the behalf of the Governor which would clearly not hold any genuine legal authority for the title holder or their jurisdiction over its issuance making it an valid warrant or letters patent.

Formal Fraternal and Membership Organizations

Today like many other Kentucky Colonel organizations and brigades around the world we are an unincorporated loosely organized group of Kentucky colonels, that exist predominantly in the social media with members that truly believe in themselves as Kentucky colonels.

Some of the groups are independently chartered and organized professionally with statutes and bylaws, some of them even support the HOKC by sending a portion of their dues and donations to the National Headquarters for the Good Works Fund or by compelling their members to maintain an annual membership card from the HQ. They are all organizations that support Kentucky colonels (perhaps more so, because they are organized as member organizations) as their own independent fraternal efforts functioning as local organizations in Toronto, Hong Kong, Vienna, New York, Philadelphia, Italy, Florida and the United Kingdom. Many of their members are also our members or were inspired by our efforts online to develop their own civil society organizations.

Some of the better organized independent groups are the Kentucky Colonels Switzerland, the UK Brigade of Kentucky Colonels and the Kentucky Colonels of Central and Southeastern Kentucky. There are perhaps as many as 40 more organizations that have been formed by Kentucky colonels that are or were formed independently supporting the ideals inspired by their commissions as Kentucky colonels in their own communities, which is very honorable, purposeful to our global society and to the goodwill of the Commonwealth.

Reversing the Bevin Policy

The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels has no authority in law or within their charter that gives them the legal right to abuse power (currently), infiltrate online forums or to approach organizations such as ours with scare tactics, legal demands or attempts to dominate who and what "Kentucky colonels" are or are actually capable of doing. To influence the Gov. Bevin to only allow current annual donors of their private charity to make nominations was a big mistake and very unfair to the traditional and customary status of the Kentucky Colonel.

While a well-intentioned Governor Bevin may believe he made the process better by charging the HOKC with the mandate of vetting future colonels and making current Kentucky colonels more responsible by forcing them to donate to an independent private charity each year in order to continue to make nominations, or remain on the HOKC mailing list will not remain be allowed to remain. His maneuver was actually a move that compromised the entire ideal and the degree of honor involved in the receipt of the commission unless instituted by the governor's office independently and unilaterally as it once was without the unethical and unlawful involvement of the private HOKC charity or as they are known today Kentucky Colonels - National Headquarters.

While the state under Governor Bevin currently serves the HOKC organization and engages it as a private contractor, instead of the organization serving the needs of its colonels (as a non-membership prerequisite charity) has become awkward situation for other organizations that wish to serve Kentucky colonels, the meaningfulness of the ideal, to exist or to fully respect the commission as the independent high honor it once was. KCI along with these other organizations and groups will not consider that matter resolved until colonels "active" and "inactive," all of them, have their traditional customary rights restored, Gov. Bevin's policy reverted and the online nomination form removed or improved under the confidential control of the Office of the Governor or Secretary of State.

The fact as to whether we as Kentucky colonels personally support the HOKC which is legally a non-membership organization needs to be the decision of Kentucky colonels and those who choose to support their charity, not a condition of our service as colonels or recent activity with their particular organization. Becoming a Kentucky colonel is a lifetime appointment and proud honor that cannot be subjugated to a conditional status by a third party unless done so voluntarily.

What is next for Kentucky Colonels International?

I reserved myself from making any nominations during the tenancy of Gov. Bevin in the governor's office, first because of the suspension of issuing titles in 2016 and second because of the conditions he imposed on colonels to exclusively support the HOKC, which is an after fact option of the title and the honor. I have not supported the Honorable Order because of all I know about them, philanthropy and nonprofits in general, it promotes only programs for Kentucky in Kentucky. It is not a real membership organization and does not serve its members or their needs, however their charitable programs are very good and do help others, that is what is most important. The Good Works Fund provides much needed support to many charities and programs across Kentucky.

As a professional ambassador working overseas I decided to reserve these opinions during Governor Bevin's administration, one thing that I have learned as an ambassador is that mistakes made by government officials in policy or practice are never corrected until a new government takes its place.

Now perhaps under the new Governor-Elect Andy Beshear who will take office on December 10th we can convince him to revert Governor Bevin's nomination policy to create a more transparent model that better serves the needs of Kentucky colonels, takes into account the deed of the person being nominated, creates more accountability by limiting nominations and replaces the current electronic nomination method which has been taken out of the hands of the governor's office.

Meanwhile Kentucky Colonels International (currently one of our programs) has introduced an international registration program for Kentucky colonels to individually certify and register their titles in an overseas registry operated by our organization that provides registrants a non-state IDaaS (Identity-as-a-Service) credential to access online services through Google and other SSO (Single-Sign-On) providers. The project includes an international registration certificate and a lifetime membership card that is issued within 60-90 days of your registration three times per year, the first registration will take place in March of 2020, the signup form is online now. Most members will receive their IDaaS sooner than to their registration certificates or ID cards.

New Commission of Kentucky Colonels

Also Kentucky Colonels International has decided to form and charter an international commission made up of distinguished Kentucky colonels to protect and defend the great honor of the commission of being nominated confidentiality to the governor by another colonel as a goodwill ambassador to the Commonwealth for a meritorious or noteworthy deed that deserves the attention of the Governor. The new Kentucky Colonels International Commission (KCIC) currently includes members from several different organizations and civil societies that were established for colonels that are not directly affiliated or governed by the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

Currently serving on Kentucky Colonels International Commission are Col. Karen Cantrell of California, Col. David Wright of Venezuela, Col. David Younce of Oregon, Col. Maria Veneke of Sweden, Col. Luis Cruz Diaz of Puerto Rico, Col. Jon Meier of Utah, Col. Nicholas Wright of Kentucky, Col. Michael Sher of Toronto and Col. Crystal Rich of Chicago. Those interested in serving on the commission can join by registering their title and postulating themselves for consideration by the other members of the commission to participate as a member or on the executive council. Currently the only rule is that each member of the executive council must live in a different state or country. The findings of the commission will be published following debate and full understanding of the history and culture of the use of the term Kentucky colonels, preservation of the title of Kentucky Colonel as part of Kentucky tradition, the role of a Kentucky colonel after being distinguished with the honor and what the title means to each of them.

The special international commission has convened online using the secure IDaaS credential, it is open to all those who can prove they are Kentucky colonels and register their letters patent internationally. For those who do not need their title recognized internationally or the IDaaS credential the commissioners offer free membership to all Kentucky colonels using Facebook and are current voluntary members of Kentucky Colonels International and Kentucky Colonels on Facebook that have been commissioned.

Globcal International as the registration agent assures its colonels can be recognized outside of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and outside of the United States which will potentially bring additional prominence to those who participate with acknowledgement and recognition by other heads of state through our notification system. We also have hopes of establishing a fund for Kentucky colonels that wish to become involved in goodwill missions internationally representing themselves as goodwill ambassadors for the Commonwealth. Membership in KCI is free in the social media on Facebook to colonels who can prove they are colonels, donations are currently being accepted online at our website to improve our program, membership organization and online presence.

Starting an Indigenous Chocolate Factory

Original Chocolate from the Source

Piaroa Organic Wild (POW) Cacao from the Amazon

Globcal International is starting a new sustainable development project with Ecology Crossroads of Kentucky to help establish the first indigenous owned and operated chocolate factory in Venezuela under the observation and guidance of the international community through our organization.

Piaroa Organic Wild Cacao from the Guiana Highlands grown by the Guardians of the Forest.

The new venture will offer true wild forastero 'chocolate of origin' harvested and crafted by the indigenous Piaroa tribe of the Guiana Highlands in Amazonia's Orinoco River watershed, one of several potential original sources of the cacao tree. It is from the Orinoco and Black River (Rio Negro) that the tree may have made it's way north to the Caribbean, Trinidad including Mexico and south to Brazil by river, further through the indigenous peoples that have used and traded beans for thousands of years.

The project will be developed online as a crowdfunding campaign to form a social enterprise and will feature cocoa beans that are wild collected and harvested, then cured and sun-dried before being transformed into an amazing flavorful aromatic chocolate bar by members of the indigenous Piaroa tribe of Amazonas, Venezuela. The chocolate will be offered for direct international shipment using EMS (Express Mail Service) and made available through a distributors network for resale.

Cacao Piaroa

The Piaroa are new to the chocolate making scene, but they are not new to growing, harvesting or curing cacao beans, they have been propagating and planting cacao trees as a forest crop at least "since the late 1950's," according to tribal elders; they have been practicing ecologically sustainable agriculture for over 1,000 years. Cacao represents a major portion of their income with some communities producing several tons each per year. Agriculturally they are one of the most autonomous indigenous societies in Venezuela. The Piaroa also harvest other non-wood forest resources like fruits, nuts and honey as well as make handicrafts.

Traditionally (with cocoa beans) the Piaroa have not been treated fairly in the marketplace (selling their beans for a mere fraction of their value to predatory middlemen), this caused our organization to take an interest in their case in 2018. We were pleased to discover after doing research that their beans were being produced into premium craft chocolates by several bean-to-bar entrepreneurs in North America and were prized and cited with recognition internationally. Now because of governmental imposition into the cocoa trade it is difficult for anyone to purchase their beans.

"Knowing the importance and quality of their beans after receiving a sample and investigating other companies who have purchased their beans for making bar chocolate we came up with the ideal of them taking their operation one-step further by helping the Piaroa make the chocolate themselves here in Venezuela for international distribution and sale, which will ensure a them a fair-trade price to the grower and new work opportunities for the community." - David J. Wright

This year because government interference in the cocoa trade and changes to the local economy the Piaroa have not been able to find a fair price for their beans so they consulted with our organization to help them develop a crowdfunding project to both ensure them that they will get a premium price for their excellent beans in coming years and so they can earn more by producing the chocolate themselves, in our view by using the beans themselves they can increase the cacao farmer's income by 6x which is welcome news to the producers and creates new employment opportunities for others in the community.

Objective: Build a Chocolate Factory

The objective is to build a chocolate factory with international cooperation efforts and goodwill in the social media through a crowdfunding campaign to find investors, members and partners for the program.

The crowdfunding project we are developing with chocolate company involves the use of up 49% (49,000 shares) of the company being cooperatively (collectively) owned by independent investors while the other 51% will belong to members.The preferred shares are valued at $10 each and will be sold for $11-$12 each to cover funds transfer fees and crowdfunding commissions. The funds are needed in order to have adequate operating capital to start the business and operate for two years until such time the company can become solvent.

In a the business plan being crafted the preferred investor is offered a 15% return over their investment after one calendar year or they can wait until the third year to double or perhaps triple their original investment with when the company is valuated. The calendar year begins once the first 30,000 shares are sold, the equipment is installed and the factory is opened. We are looking to fund the program by May of 2020, begin the project before the end of the month and start producing chocolate by early July of 2020.

The other 51% of the company belongs to the De'Aruhuä Cacao Cooperative & Trust (in formation) through Ecology Crossroads who is legally responsible for the delivery, development and execution of project, providing management and oversight is our organization Globcal International.

The Piaroa recently brought us 2.9 metric tons of cocoa beans from the Amazon to the factory location in the city of Caracas, which will soon be under construction. In the coming months (now in less than 1 year) using state of the art stainless steel pots and high-impact chocolate molds the Piaroa will begin to make their own fine chocolate. Several members of the tribe will be attending bean-to-bar chocolate workshops in Venezuela to learn about making chocolate.

Its not unusual for Venezuela to offer such exquisitely good chocolate considering that it is believed the cacao tree holds its origins there, some say in the Orinoco basin which is where our chocolate originates. Different original cultivars and varieties of cacao are also grown throughout Venezuela. One of the oldest companies in Venezuela, Casa Franceschi has been growing and supplying cacao beans to European chocolate makers since 1830, they also have a genetic collection of different sub-species, varieties and strains used in the industry.

Chocolate is an excellent business, according to the Internet there will be over 130 billion dollars worth of chocolate sold this year worldwide, about 30 billion dollars of that is in the craft chocolate bar industry.

Chocolate as a Financial Solution for Globcal

Globcal International has been looking for a method of producing income without depending on donations and we think we found our way with chocolate as our fundraiser. For the past several years we have wanted to become more sustainable and earn a transparent income from our non-governmental activities, the problem has been that most of the programs we have offered are provided for those who have no money or in need our assistance. The time between program development and the effort it takes to subsequently raise funds often stalls or slows program formation.

The remedy is to have a constant source of funding (from business) so the organization can administer its programs quickly, efficiently and constantly develop new missions. Our involvement in the chocolate business will help us create such an annual funding source, fill social needs and being in a profitable business with the indigenous Piaroa tribe which will complement our international non-government organization profile with the United Nations.

Join Us as an Investor

We believe these are the best cocoa beans in the world, there are many factors that we can attribute to their taste and special flavor as well; unlike other cocoa beans these beans are from 'wild' forastero cacao trees, the trees do not receive any pesticides or chemical fertilizers, moreover they are harvested and cured using natural ecological methods.

Join our chocolate factory venture with the Piaroa tribe in a 'forest-to-bar' single-origin organic chocolate business. Our organization is providing operations and oversight management as well as operating the marketing/sales aspect of the business. Private shareholders and members are being accepted now by Ecology Crossroads, preferred shares are $10 each via Credit Card or by PayPal, investors can buy from 100 to 1,000 shares to become a shareholder or a member. You can read more about the opportunity online at the De'Aruhua Cacao website.

An invitation letter was delivered to all Globcal International members in late September several of them have signed onto the program development as investors or members including Maria Veneke-Ylikomi, Luis Cruz Diaz, Maya-Lis Wright, Nicholas Wright, Xi 'Alfred' Ng, Sonia Ceballos, and Clay Gordon; thank you all for joining the project. We are still expecting others to join us. You can learn more about the project and how the project came to be and how it is shaping up on their blog,

Price of a Plate of Food - World Food Day

October 16th, 2018 marks World Food Day, an International Observance promoted by the United Nations and recognized by Globcal International. This article by Herve Verhoosel, Senior Spokesperson at the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and is republished from the Inter Press Service, News Agency to observe World Food Day.

True Cost of a Plate of Food Around the World

How much would you expect to pay for the most basic plate of food? The kind of thing you might whip up at home – nothing fancy, just enough to fill you up and meet a third of today’s calorie needs. A soup, maybe, or a simple stew – some beans or lentils, a handful of rice, bread, or corn?

In the rich Global North – say, in New York State, USA – such a meal would cost almost nothing to make: 0.6 percent of the average daily income, or US$1.20.

In parts of the developing world, by contrast, food affordability can shrink to the point of absurdity: in South Sudan, a country born out of war and disintegrating into more war, the meal-to-income ratio is 300 times that of industrialized countries.

It is, in other words, as if a New Yorker had to pay nearly US$348.36 for the privilege of cooking and eating that plate of food.

How do people in South Sudan afford it? It’s simple. They don’t.

An FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission (CFSAM) visited South Sudan in 2011 to estimate cereal production and assess the overall food-security situation. (Photo UN)

This is not a unique issue to South Sudan. Across the board, food is becoming ever less affordable in poorer countries that are subject to political instabilities.

Lack of access to food, and the costliness of it, have many causes: climate extremes, natural disasters, post-harvest losses, or bad governance, all of which can damage- or even shatter- farming supply chains and markets.

But, one overriding cause stands out: conflict. At WFP, we’ve long known that hunger and war are tragically symbiotic. Which makes it that much harder to eradicate the one without ending the other.

The 2018 edition of WFPs Counting the Beans: The True Cost of a Plate of Food Around the World index, now spanning 52 countries, underscores this clear correlation between food affordability costs and political stability and security.

The index looks at whether food costs for the original 33 countries analyzed in 2017 have risen or fallen, and compares costs for the same meal in some of the world’s poorest places with one of its richest, by using a New York baseline to highlight vast gaps in global food affordability.

In many countries, it was found that food affordability measured in this way has actually improved since 2017. This is situational, thanks to strong economic growth, political stability, and/or a better rainy season- or in the case of southern Africa- humanitarian assistance helping to offset the effects of severe drought.

Though despite such progress made in many countries through the past year, food costs are often still intensely disproportionate in relation to income. This is the case across much of Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and, to a lesser degree, of Latin America.

Among the countries surveyed for the study, Peru tops the list with the most affordable plate at the NY equivalent of US$ 3.44, just 1.6 percent of per capita income, vs. what that same plate would cost in New York, amounting to 0.6 percent of per capita income.

While Laos and Jordan are close runners-up to Peru, other countries have deteriorated. Almost invariably, these are nations where peace has been (further) eroded by violence, insecurity or political tension, including South Sudan- where the cost of a plate of food has soared from the exorbitant 155 percent of daily income in 2016 (USD $321.70) to 201.7 percent of daily income in 2018 (USD $348.36).

It now costs twice the national daily income to buy a plate of food in South Sudan. Northeast Nigeria took second to last place, at USD $222.05, or 128.6 percent of daily income in 2018, up from USD $200.32, or 121 percent of daily income in 2016.

These abysmal numbers highlight the vast gaps in global food affordability, where 821 million people go hungry while elsewhere one can get a simple nutritious meal with a just a handful of change.

The fact that this still occurs defies both reason and decency, and it’s why we – the World Food Programme and other humanitarian partners – are there.

However, the impact of WFP and other humanitarian actors in saving and changing lives cannot be sustained without political investment, good governance, transparent markets, and wider partnerships.

Societies cannot lift themselves out of the poverty trap if families are continuously priced out of providing their children with the nutritional meals essential for them to develop into healthy and productive adults, if climate degradation continues to threaten food security and development gains, and if protracted conflicts continue to destroy societies and force young talent elsewhere.

With a concerted global effort, the international community can achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and end hunger and malnutrition. Governments must engage with and support their developing country counterparts in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and disaster risk reduction.

The private sector must embrace that turning a profit can go hand in hand with advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through employing young people to boost incomes, sourcing from smallholder farms, and through working alongside leaders to strengthen supply chains.

The shocking and outraging numbers in this year’s “Counting the Beans” index highlight that peaceful societies and affordable food go hand in hand. We have the modern technological capacities to end world hunger, but first we must end the conflict that fosters it.

Together, we can work towards reversing the figures in this year’s index, and ensure that in the future, nobody will have to work a day and a half to afford a simple meal.

Fair-Trade Award Winning Coffee from India

Indigenous Indians Fight Deforestation Threat with Gourmet Coffee

Article by Rina Chandran, Reuters

Once forbidden by colonialists from cultivating coffee, indigenous people in southern India have won a prestigious award for their bean, which they farm while fighting deforestation.

Adivasi indigenous peoples harvesting coffee in the Araku Valley in India 

Araku Valley Coffee won gold in the Prix Epicures (Award) in Paris earlier this month. The beans are grown by Adivasis - or “original inhabitants” - of southern Andhra Pradesh state through a cooperative set up by the Naandi Foundation.

The organic farming model has benefited more than 45,000 Adivasi families, with profits from the high-grade coffee put into schools, healthcare and other needs of the remote community, according to Manoj Kumar, who founded Naandi.

The initiative has been a success because it built on the strong connection that Adivasis have to the forest, he said.

“They fully embraced the concept of biodynamic farming, because it is a holistic approach that benefits the eco-system, and is in tune with their traditional beliefs of caring for the community and the forest,” he said.

“This is not just about food security; it is also about pride in living without government handouts, and conserving the forest,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation over the phone.

The Adivasis are also countering deforestation by planting millions of mango, papaya and orange trees to provide shade for their coffee crops, as well as in other areas, with support from the Paris-based Global Livelihoods Funds.

While India has pledged to keep a third of its total land area under forest and tree cover, a growing population and increasing demand for land for mining and other industrial activities are placing greater stress on forests.

Activists say a new forest law favoring commercial plantations would undermine indigenous rights over forests and lead to more logging.

Coffee estates thrived in the Araku valley’s cool climate during the British colonial period, but Adivasis were prevented from growing it and did not take up the crop after independence, according to Kumar.

That changed after the Naandi Foundation began working in the region 18 years ago, first setting up schools and healthcare facilities, and then helping to organize a cooperative to farm and market coffee.

Araku Valley Coffee soon commanded high prices in global auctions, and opened its first cafe and shop last year in Paris.

But the real challenge for the Adivasis is not picking coffee beans the right shade of red or deciding on a marketing plan; they face a more existential threat as forests disappear, Kumar told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“The Adivasis have such a deep spiritual connection with the land and the forest,” he said.

“Taking that away from them is taking away their life.”

Report (Article) by Rina Chandran @rinachandran. Editing by Jared Ferrie. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.