Seaside Visit

Last night was a particularly pleasant, almost cool evening, perfect for a walk in Seaside, Florida. Amavida Coffee, a fine little cafe in Seaside hosted, a South Walton Environmental Low Impact (SWELL) meeting. Amavida owner, Dan Bailey translated for members of the "La Concordia" cooperative in El Salvador who spoke about the ecological processes taking place in their coffee fields and the potential they have for improving their livelihoods. "Through building fair trade relationships, the families of ACOES have definite plans on how to improve their coffee production and quality of life for their community". It was an interesting program complete with visuals displayed on Amavida's new outside movie screen placed right alongside a busy walkway in the Seaside business district. It was kind of fun to see beach visitors walking by quizzically, as a group of area locals listened to two determined, gentle men from El Salvador speaking about their families, an ecological coffee processing mill, their hopes of better infrastructure, water storage, and reforestation. Seaside is the site of many diverse programs throughout the year. The town has always lead the way for innovative thinking and artistic expression along the 30A corridor and with Amavida, Dan is an active practicing force of positive action.