Hurricane Valley Farm and Coffee By Design: Socially Conscious Businesses

Today, the students visited the Hurricane Valley Farm in Falmouth. They were hosted by Cultivating Community, an organization that teaches, educates and empowers newly arrived migrants in Maine through sustainable farming and connecting workers with their communities. One of the graduates of Cultivating Community the students met is John who is a Sudanese immigrant who has been a part of the organization for over 10 years.

Students were then split into groups where some of them picked potato bugs (which was quite the experience for them), others helped with pulling apart a fence surrounding part of the farm whiles others were weeding.

After visiting Hurricane Valley Farm, the students visited Coffee by Design, co-founded by Mary Allen Lindemann, who gave the students a tour of her facilities. Mary Allen was able to tell the incredible story of Coffee by Design, how she got her business started and the social and environmental impact she has been able to make in Portland and in countries where she acquires coffee – Burundi, Congo, Guatemala, and Ethiopia. She left the students with some inspirational stories and words for them to carry with them through any challenges and obstacles they are bound to face in life. She urged students to follow their dreams regardless of criticism.

The students then visited the roastery on-site where they were shown how the machines work to roast the coffee, the different temperatures used and the process from light to dark roast coffee. They also learned about how to brew coffee and they got to witness a demonstration of different brews. They learned about pour-over, plunger, and immersion, all different brewing methods that produce different tastes and sensations within the different coffee types.

Lastly, the students were able to spend some time in Portland to conduct last-minute market research for their final projects this Friday, which will sadly conclude their three weeks in Maine. However, since most of the students are almost done with their projects, they were able to explore the downtown Portland area, some of them were finally able to try local lobster rolls and do some last-minute shopping.