DRINK MY SWEAT by Jake Green - EXTENDED until 10th April 2023
On display, from Leytonstone Overground Station to Matalan, are ten images from three coffee producing regions: Kenya (Nyeri), Colombia (Huila) and Honduras (Pozo Negro).
In this selection of photographs, taken by local photographer Jake Green, we get an introduction to specialty coffee being produced in the some of the countries in which it is grown.
As an obsessive coffee drinker, Jake set out on a personal mission to trace the journey of coffee. In the project he humanises the process and illustrates the amount of work that goes into growing, harvesting and exporting coffee. There are numerous production processes and the work is tough.
The project title 'Drink My Sweat' is translated from the Swahili expression Kunywa Jasho Langu and can be interpreted as an invitation to enjoy the produce that is the result of hard work. We hope that considering these images will inspire you to slow down and savour the privilege of drinking high quality, ethically sourced and sustainably produced coffee and consider where our food comes from in general.
This exhibition has been made possible with the support of Network Rail, London Borough of Waltham Forest and the local Leytonstone business community.
1. Volcano
Finca San Francisco, El Salvador, 2019.
Location: Leytonstone Overground
Coffee trees planted on the slopes of dormant volcanos, rich with minerals and at high altitude.
2. Banana Leaf
Tolima, Colombia, 2016.
Location: Bridge at Leytonstone Overground Station
Banana plants are planted to shade the coffee trees in jungle like conditions. Mono crops like coffee can lead to a lack of biodiversity, but specialty coffee producers and small holders often combine a mixture of crops which complement each other.
3. Mauricio Serrano
Finca Buenavista, Gaitania, Tolima, Colombia, 2016.
Location: Bridge at Leytonstone Overground Station
At sunrise one morning, I went up into the coffee trees with the workers and asked if I could take their pictures. I asked this person his name but didn’t hear what he said as he disappeared up into the coffee trees and carried on picking. At the time I didn’t hear his name. By the time we came back from visiting other farms in the region all the pickers had left to go and work on another farm. It was only recently having contacted Astrid Medina, the owner of Finca Buenavista, that I found out his name.
4. Helena at Desk
NKG Mills, Ruira, Kenya, 2016.
Location: Matt Cup Coffee / Intercontinental Food Exchange
Helena works in logistics at NKG Mills in Ruiru. She is one of the unseen heroes of coffee production, it isn’t only about the manual labour of picking and farming.
5. View from Nairobi Coffee Exchange
Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya, 2016.
Location: Matt Cup Coffee / Intercontinental Food Exchange
Coffee in Kenya gets traded at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange where it is auctioned, adding a level of transparency for coffee farmers and co-operatives.
6. Dely Suyapa
Las Manzanas, Pozo Negro, Intibuca, Honduras, 2019.
Location: Flavas - Ferndale Road
This is Dely at her farm Los Manzanas. Her family have a couple farms in the Pozo Negro region of Honduras and are part of a collective of farmers working with Rony at Raga Coffee and Nordic Approach. Knowing exactly where coffee comes from is one of the defining factors of specialty coffee.
7. Sorting Coffee Cherries
Iyego Farmers Cooperative Society, Marimira, Kenya, 2016.
Location: Michael Road
Sorting coffee by hand is key to the excellent quality of coffee being produced by the Iyego Farmers Co-operative in Nyeri, Kenya. The sorted cherries are then inspected and weighed before being washed, pulped, fermented and dried.
8. Francisco Valequez
Pozo Negro, Intibuca, Honduras, 2019.
Location: Iceland
We visited the Pozo Negro area of Honduras which is becoming known for excellent coffee production partly as the result of a partnership between a farmers collective and Rony Gámez of Raga Coffee. Francisco was one of about ten farmers we met in Pozo Negro.
9. Eusebio aka Chevito
Xinacla Mill, Finca El Puente, La Paz, Honduras, 2019.
Location: Matalan
As the sun crept up over the hill on my last day in Honduras, I took this image of Chevito. He is working in the mill owned by Marysabel Cabellero and Moises Herrera. Their approach is quite different to many farmers I have seen. Rather than employing seasonal workers, they manage to give the majority of the workforce at Xinacla Mill employment all year round.
