Twin Cities
Upcoming Events
“Ignatian Brew” (beer and coffee)
Featured Speaker: Fr. Stephen Pitts, SJ
Thursday, March 23, 2023
5:15 p.m. - Cocktail Hour
6:15 p.m. - Presentation
Bad Weather Brewing Company
414 7th Street W
St. Paul, MN 55102
While sipping one brew, learn about the importance of another brew in the lives of many would-be migrants from Latin America. Their lives embody the "coffee paradox": even though the price of a latte keeps going up, an increasing number of Latin American coffee farmers migrate to the US. Fair trade is not enough. Come to learn about the injustice of the coffee value chain, the challenges of being an agricultural producer in Latin America, and the way that a Jesuit-sponsored coffee cooperative in southern Mexico is helping indigenous coffee growers change their relationship to the coffee market.
Read about the coffee cooperative Fr. Stephen worked with, and the mission of the Jesuits in Chiapas here.
Complimentary drinks and light appetizers are included in the evening. Deep Roots food truck will be onsite for those who wish to purchase food.
Speaker Bio
Father Stephen Pitts, SJ, is a Jesuit priest of the Central and Southern Province. Before entering the Jesuits, he studied math and computer science at the University of Oklahoma. Since he spent four months on the US/Mexico border as a novice working in a migrant shelter, his Jesuit formation has brought him into contact with many migrants from Latin America. During theology studies in Berkeley, he completed a Master's in International and Development Economics at the University of San Francisco as a way to put his technical skills at the service of his migrant friends. For his master's thesis, he conducted fieldwork with Capeltic, a Jesuit-sponsored coffee cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. Next he worked for two years at Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, TX, four blocks from the US/Mexico border, where he continued to serve a migrant community. At present, he is completing a doctorate in Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, with a dissertation that will focus on the economic factors behind US/Mexico migration. He spent last summer in Chiapas doing follow up work with Capeltic.
