In a nation once plagued by Idi Amin’s reign of terror and intolerance, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Ugandan coffee farmers have come together to challenge historical prejudice and economic hurdles by forming the “Delicious Peace Coffee Cooperative.”
The cooperative has become a model for others, demonstrating how the interweaving of harmonious relationships with Fair Trade practices can substantially improve the lives of people who are economically challenged. In Delicious Peace, the Ugandan farmers opened their lives to the filmmakers for an intimate look at the struggles they face, the hopes they harbor, and the successes they have found.
Many lives in the world revolve around the coffee bean, the second-most traded commodity in the world. But coffee farmers face many challenges, from low prices on worldwide markets, to exploitative intermediaries and government policies that make exports difficult.
In 2003, a Jewish coffee farmer in a region of Uganda that has long produced some of the highest quality coffee in the world approached his Christian and Muslim neighbors and asked that they put aside their religious differences, as well as their pessimism about growing coffee, to create a new cooperative. Calling their brand “Mirembe Kawomera” (“Delicious Peace”), they partnered with an American Fair Trade buyer to bring this organic and kosher coffee to the U.S. market.
Today, as a result of good wages through Fair Trade, the farmers’ standard of living is improving, harmony is flourishing, and their message of peace and fair wages is spreading to their neighbors, as well as their coffee customers in the US.
Running Time: 40 minutes Grades 7 – Adult • Scene Selection • Closed Captioned • A film by Curt Fissel and Ellen Friedland
“Delicious Peace is a colorful and upbeat film that affords me an easy entry into discussion of some of the most difficult issues in social science: race, religion, inequality, and development. And it leaves students with a sense of agency and possibility–that regular people can make the world better, even in difficult circumstances. It’s a gift to offer students a story of hope told with eyes wide open.” -David S. Meyer, Prof. of Sociology and Political Science, University of California, Irvine
“Delicious Peace is, well... delicious! This documentary was a huge hit at Drew University where faculty, staff and students are engaged in development projects around the world. Delicious Peace is both informative and inspiring; the screening at Drew packed the house, and we spent a long time afterward discussing the film over Mirembe coffee.” -Jonathan Golden, Assistant Prof. of Religious Studies, Drew University
“At once a story well told and uplifting, Delicious Peace brilliantly explores the tenacity of one extraordinary man and the aspirations of the many who joined him on a path of interfaith empathy and discovery. This is a story that will hearten the work of all who envision a society where the fruits of one’s labor are assured through fair trade, cooperation, and the ingenuity that can be found when the human spirit is unencumbered by war and strife.” -Clement Alexander Price, Distinguished Service Professor of History, Rutgers University-Newark
“Delicious Peace is is one of the best films the AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival has ever shown that showcases international, interfaith, bridge-building collaboration between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Filmmakers Ellen Friedland and Curt Fissel have produced an intimate, thought-provoking portrait of ‘glocal’ culture, sustainability and social justice that will inspire and delight audiences.” -Pamela Lavitt, Director, AJC Seattle Jewish Film Festival
“The film superbly rendered the story.” - Walter Ruby, Muslim-Jewish Relations Program Officer, The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Winner Best Short Doc, New Jersey Film Festival Redemptive Storyteller Award, Redemptive Film Festival Best Documentary, Bronzeville Film Festival Best Spiritual/Faith Documentary, Fort Myers Film Festival
Official Selection Santa Barbara International Film Festival Sedona International Film Festival Wild and Scenic Film Festival United Nations Association Film Festival
