08/25/2026
Escuela y Café is more than a coffee from Colombia… it’s a coffee creating opportunity for the next generation.
In the mountains of Totoró, Cauca, Colombia, students at La Escuela Buena Vista are learning coffee from the ground up through Escuela y Café, a program started by Colombia’s National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) that brings coffee education directly into rural schools.
For years, the program has introduced students across grade levels to coffee growing, processing and roasting, giving young people practical knowledge of an industry deeply connected to their communities.
The mission extends well beyond making better coffee. In parts of Cauca, coca cultivation and the violence associated with the illicit drug trade have created significant challenges for rural communities. Escuela y Café aims to provide young people with knowledge and economic opportunities within the legal coffee industry, creating another potential path toward a sustainable livelihood.
As students move through the program, their education extends beyond the classroom and into their own homes and communities. Younger students and their families can receive coffee seedlings to cultivate together, putting lessons about coffee growing and sustainability into practice with the support of parents and other family members. By the time those students reach high school, the trees can be producing meaningful harvests, giving them firsthand experience with the agricultural and economic side of coffee production. Income from those harvests can help support higher education or provide a foundation for young producers who may eventually choose to operate farms of their own.
Escuela y Café is currently available through Mighty Oak’s online shop, where customers can order freshly roasted bags for delivery, or purchase it directly from Mighty Oak at 28-01 24th Ave.
This particular harvest came from a small lot and will only be available for a limited time. Mighty Oak, however, sees this as just the beginning. The roastery is committed to growing its relationship with Escuela y Café, sourcing more coffees through the program in upcoming harvests.
