The Idealist says, “Only pick red”

Picking cherries at UCC

I go back to who I was about a month ago. I’ve always gone against the rule that if it’s ombre orange to red, you can take the cherry. The reason that it will be rotten, the next time they do the next round on that section is just not enough for me. I’d say, it still isn’t the ripe color, so why take it? 

(I currently work in 2 farms) One reason why I wanted to work in an established farm is to see how they do things, why, and learn from how smooth their operations are. When I got to UCC, I knew they had standards. It is a Japanese company, and I trust how the Japanese culture is meticulous with what they do. 

Maria is the farm manager, and she told me to start learning with picking and so that’s where I’m currently at. She showed me how to pick, how to use the hook, take dried cherries, remove leaves or sticks from basket, or any green that falls and to only pick red.

I love that she asks me of that, because I am very strict with the color difference of when it’s orange, red-orange, red or burgundy. So then on my first day picking, I decided to just take all the red or burgundy from the trees. I filled 3/5 of the burlap sack for that 8hr shift. I was so slow but it’s okay cause I either get $11 / hr or .85/lb, whichever’s higher. Eh. I really didn’t care about the money. 

The next day, I picked again and Maria told me to take even the orange and ombre red - orange. She gave me the reason that my first farm gave, (which I can now fully accept). The conditions were: 1. If it’s soft and easy to squeeze, it will go through the pulper, 2. If the skin comes off when taken from the stem, it’s ripe enough. 

I found an article regarding picking this color range and it said that the differences of the color of ripeness also gives a good character in the end. I also realized that labor is very low, we don’t have much pickers and so we have to take advantage of every day that they come to pick on the farm. It will be hard to find pickers who are meticulous with color, even so when they get paid by the pound in most farms. Lastly, we need to find a sustainable way of keeping up with the coffee production even on large scale. 

I still believe though that the idealist view of picking only red can still be done on micro-lots. This can be done with full control. I’d honestly want to try having a section of trees in which I’d personally pick. 

However, we must assess what the farm looks like, resources, and goals,  before we judge their practices. I could still see some wrong in picking, but since I’ve been doing the job for a while, I was able to understand why we do what we do & make only reasonable changes.