About
the name...
It
comes from a local family with the last name of Mosgofian.
Peter and Gale are highly involved in the shop and will
be seen pulling shots from time to time. They are nice people.
Not
just a cup of coffee
Mosgos coffee shop gives back to community
By: John C. Osborn
Posted: 1/17/07
The scent of fresh coffee lingered in the air and the sound
of voices rose and fell over soft music played on speakers.
To the left is a stage where bands played every weekend. Chairs,
tables and couches filled the space, most of the seating occupied
by patrons.
Tucked away next
to Westwood Market, another coffee shop rested. What made
this place different was not only its ownership, but the community
vision behind the creation.
Ron Alexander sat
outside at the table, greeting every customer who came toward
the door and wishing farewell to those who left. He knew customers
by name. Many stopped throughout the interview and exchanged
a few words.
"We can never
take our community for granted," Alexander said. "The
moment we do, we lose our hearts."
Alexander is manager
of Mosgos, a coffee shop about seven-months-old and a member
of the Arcata Vineyard Christian Community, a non-profit organization
that owns the shop. Before Mosgos, he worked in landscaping
and studied elementary education at Humboldt State.
"I knew whatever
I did it had to be kid-friendly," Alexander said.
The shop featured
an area with books up to a third-grade level and child-sized
furniture. Children-friendly movies are played every Sunday.
Raising the money
to get the shop started was a risk for many of the people
in the non-profit. "Many people had to put up their houses
and take out substantial loans," Alexander said.
The shop is staffed
by 25 people; all but four volunteers. Anyone in the community
can volunteer, but the shop rigorously checks each applicant
he said. "There's a fairly distinct atmosphere we're
trying to create here," Alexander said.
That atmosphere
is a place welcoming to everyone with incredible customer
service. "We recognize a need for kindness in the community,"
he said, "that's everything."
Todd Krider, a
shop patron, said he enjoyed the clean, comfortable atmosphere
of Mosgos.
The organization
also owned the neighboring Common Ground Community Center,
currently hosting Middle-Eastern and ballet-dance classes.
The wall separating the two places will be torn down once
money is raised in order to host larger musical acts.
"In time all
proceeds will go back to the community to promote art and
dance," Alexander said.
It will take about
another year before money will be available to fund planned
community projects, he said, "These shops are money pits
and it takes a bit to dig our selves out."
Providing scholarships
to Arcata High School students and going on outdoor-adventure
trips are among some of the plans. For children who want to
dance, the organization will provide 80 percent of the cost
for class and supplies, with no strings attached, he said.
Mosgos fused the
live music-performing atmosphere of Muddy's Hot Cup, the organic,
fair-trade coffee of Sacred Grounds and brought it to the
west-end of town. "We couldn't be doing what we're doing
without their standards," Alexander said. "It's
not a competition."
With Jazz on Thursdays,
live music Friday and Saturday and open-mic night on Sunday,
the shop is another venue open to all-ages. Many out-of-town
bands haven't noticed the shop yet, but many of the bookings
come from the open-mic night where there is a steady following,
Alexander said. "Because we are a new venue, folks don't
know we're here," he said.
Alexander shared
a story about a young woman who came to the store after hitchhiking
into town. A man picked he up and as time passed she grew
uncomfortable and didn't want to be dropped off at her home.
Instead, she told the driver to take her to Westwood.
"She came
into the shop because she knew it would be a safe place to
be," Alexander said. He heard from parents in the area
that they tell their children to go to the shop if they feel
unsafe.
"We're not
just a cup of coffee, its life," he said.
Alexander understood
the skepticism in the community about the shop being owned
by a church, but said there is nothing religious about the
shop or products served.
"We're not
a faith-based coffee shop," he said. "We don't give
you a bible with your mocha."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2007 The Lumberjack
Article Found Here
In
regards to shade grown coffee and in response to questions
from the greater community I sought more information from
our roster about what is in the coffee we offer at Mosgo's.
I want to thank Christopher West from Humboldt State University
for asking for more information about the coffee we offer.
Below are the responses to Christopher's questions. If you
would like to speak to Christopher about this issue email
me and I will pass your questions on to him. I cannot put
his contact information on our page without his permission.
I
am the roaster for Mosgos. After 12 years of sourcing coffee,
meeting a variety of farmers and familiarizing myself with
the socio-economic, environmental issues that effect specialty
coffee, I would certainly agree with your opinion and concerns
regarding shade grown coffee. As a matter of principle we
buy sustainablee shade grown coffee from growers who respect
and preserve their habitat.
The organic fair trade certified coffee at Mosgos is NOT sun-technified
coffee which accounts for approximately half of global coffee
production and relies heavily on chemical inputs. Mosgos is
paying a premium for third party verification of strict organic
compliance which is the antithesis of chemically dependent
sun farming and relies heavily on natural shade canopies.
You would be encouraged by the preponderance of specialty
growers that grow their coffee in bio-diverse natural shade
environments. In fact, specialty coffee varieties which grow
between 2000 to 7000 feet do not yield prolific crops and
rely on a strict ratio of sun-to-shade in equatorial temperate
zones. Specialty coffee plays an important role in off-setting
some of the damage done by rainforest destruction. Most specialty
coffee growers are small-scale family farmers who have an
economic incentive to protect their land.
Coffee shade environments vary around the equatorial belt
(between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn).
A Guatemala coffee growing region will look different then
one in Tanzania. The Guatermala region may have a traditional
rainforest environment with 5-11 types of indigenous trees,
while the Tanzania region might be a bit sparser with tall
native shrubs interspersed with a few trees, but will also
be shaded by natural cloud cover and the pitch of the mountain.
Brazil is currently an interesting case study: it is a big
culprit in sun-technified coffee farming yet the arrival of
Rainforest Alliance and demand for organic certification is
having an effect on farm practices; but, Brazil does not have
an abundance of shade canopy in their coffee growing regions
so there are efforts towards reforestration and the creative
organic method of employing mature coffee trees as shade cover
along with native trees.
Generally speaking, if you buy a cup of specialty coffee,
and I emphasize "specialty" (high-grown), anywhere
in this country, the odds are that the coffee was produced
by 2nd, 3rd or 4th genration small family farmers and grown
in a sustainable eco-friendly manner.
Sincerely,
Brooke McDonnell
Co-Founder
Equator Coffees & Teas
A
brief follow-up to your inquiry regarding biodiversity and
certification... We carry both certified (Smithsonian, Rainforest,
Organic, eco-cert, F.T. etc.) and non-certified coffees. We
do not ally ourselves exclusively with one camp and, instead,
practice a policy of inclusion and accommodation with growers
who farm sustainably and are good land and community stewards.
We examine our relationships on a case by case basis since
conditions vary from one region to another. The certification
symbols certainly make it easy for the consumer, which I understand,
but the coffee growing picture is much more nuanced, with
many passively organic growers, and others that practice integrated
pest management that would meet Rainforest Alliance criteria.
Some farmers plant on sparsely shaded sides of the hill due
to
cloud cover and fungus susceptibility. The attached photos
were taken on a recent trip to Panama and reflect the different
conditions on each side of the mountain range - The cloud
cover in Volcan is on the Caribbean side along with farm 1
which grows half its crop on a sparsely shaded section of
the farm; farm 2, on the Pacific side, grows amidst a more
densely shaded area on the mountain behind the plant nursery
we are walking through. In summary, there is a movement starting
in europe, headed by Utzkapeh (www.utzkapeh.org) to establish
an eco-ok certification for all growers that practice ecological
land management and conform to strict environmental standards.
Brooke
