[La versión en español estará disponible pronto]
In the heart of the Mission District, Los Guardianes del Cafe at Red Cafe is a celebration of coffee growing cultures whose toil brings everybody’s beloved coffee into existence. The mural is a tribute to the people of the Mission District, many of whom were once coffee farmers themselves or hail from nations with rich coffee culture.
Coffee requires a rare combination of natural allies and tropical climate, which is why the “Guardians'' Scarlet Tangara and the Townsend Warbler, two migratory birds, are prominently displayed because they prey on insects that kill the coffee plant, helping the plants to thrive. They make the same migration as coffee, from Central America to California, while the Monarch Butterfly and honey bees help pollinate their flowers. It’s an intricate symphony of natural relationships that we must guard and preserve.
In the background, the Volcano Izalco, of El Salvador looms over coffee farmers in the fertile fields. A goatherd watches his goat in the meadow, symbolizing the discovery of coffee, which took place, according to a popular Ethiopian legend, when a bunch of goats ate coffee beans and began wildly frolicking. The goats’ behavior alerted the goatherd to the effect of the mysterious plant. Behind the Scarlet Tangara, two Palestinian farmers take a coffee break, symbolizing the ancient Middleeastern mystics who passed coffee onto the next generations. There is an unbroken lineage to today when coffee is the most consumed beverage on Earth, and people from all those places live in the Mission.
We must remember that this plant is not infinite, nor does it come to us without diligent labor and long migrations, creating a bond between the farmers who nurture the plant in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and those around the globe who enjoy coffee. Like the plant’s natural allies, those who produce coffee also migrate, and these traditions of coffee culture are intermingled in the mural, just like the Mission District, where a multitude of cultures blend and thrive together.
La versión en español estará disponible pronto.
¡Visítanos nuevamente!
