Nick Feris started The Rum Collective six years ago to form a community to educate the public about the molasses or sugarcane juice-distilled spirit. Rum, commonly associated with fantastical tales about pirates and treasure, has an even darker side to it than its swashbuckling ancestry. With much of the sugarcane for rum production coming from tropical regions like the Caribbean, along with Central and South America, the reality behind the sugarcane working conditions can be harrowing—and in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, those circumstances have become life-threatening.
“The conditions for sugarcane workers are extremely dangerous,” Feris says, explaining why his rum appreciation collective is boycotting specific brands of the drink. “Workers must face rats, scorpions, high temperatures, humidity and the occasional injury via machete.”
According to the La Isla Foundation (LIF), a public health non-governmental research organization, 75 percent of deaths in men ages 35-55 from 2002-2012 in Chichigalpa were linked to chronic kidney disease (CKD). The organization is avidly trying to show the link between CKD and those who work in the sugarcane fields.
CKD, due to nontraditional causes, is commonly caused by intense labor formed in unbearable conditions, many of which the sugarcane workers face.
LIF studies have shown that workers at Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua have reported working up to 12 hours in one day, without breaks and minimal access to clean drinkable water, Feris says.
Grupo Pellas, a corporation operated by Nicaraguan billionaire Carlos Pellas, owns more than 25 companies including Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua, which is based in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. Compania Licorera manufactures Flor de Caña rum and serves as one of the main employers in the town of more than 49,000 people.
In addition to providing a plethora of information about rum and offering educational courses throughout Seattle, Feris and The Rum Collective are throwing two separate fundraisers to fund money for Profesionales para la Auditoria Social y Empresarial (PASE), the legal civil society working with the La Isla Foundation to combat unfair working conditions for sugarcane workers in Central America.
For LIF, its mission is to work at “the intersection of public health and human rights,” addressing the epidemic of CKD of non-traditional (CKDnT) causes among these workers, while facilitating research and bringing the issue to light in the eyes of the public and local and national governments. The organization is also turning attention toward the work of PASE, who will receive this funding to advocate for the social security entitlements of CKDnT affected workers and their families.
In a collaborative effort with The Rum Collective and other rum-based fundraisers, the group aims to use the funds raised to continue their research and legal work being done in Nicaragua. According to Feris, if the organization goes under, sugarcane workers will not have legal representation. “In Nicaragua, people have been dying making Flor de Caña for 10 years,” he says, noting that Grupo Pellas is not using its own assets to resolve its workers issues.
The Rum Collective’s two Seattle events will be held May 5 at Taste of the Caribbean restaurant and May 25 at the Nectar Lounge. A $20 cover will get patrons in to enjoy a DJ spinning reggae music and Jamaican dancehall tunes throughout the night on May 5th and authentic Caribbean bites and music from the Latin band Pan American on May 25th. Special rum drinks will be concocted through the night as well, brought to guests by local restaurants and Seattle-based cachaça distiller Novo Fogo.
Feris emphasizes 100 percent of the proceeds will go to PASE and guarantees no Flor de Caña will be filling glasses at the fundraisers.
Tacoma Cabana and Rum Bar and other rum businesses sparked a social media firestorm when they poured out bottles of the rum and refused to offer it at their establishments. The boycott caught on and reached the ears of news organizations such as Vice, Eater and The Guardian, who then wrote pieces about the sugarcane worker conditions in Chichigalpa.
Although the fundraisers are a start, Feris says there is a lot to be done in the fight to improve conditions for Nicaraguan sugarcane workers. Raise a glass in Seattle to help make a difference – ¡salud!
Since the publishing of this article, a representative from the Nicaraguan Sugar Estates Limited has clarified that the company is donating funds to La Asociación Chichigalpa por la Vida (ASOCHIVIDA), an organization established to provide support and assistance to those affected by the disease.
