Coffee City
Melissa Allison follows the world's biggest coffee-shop chain and other Seattle caffeine purveyors.
Subscribe
Comments (0)
E-mail article
Print
Share
UW lecturer designing ergonomically sound baskets for Nicaraguan coffee farmers
Posted by Melissa Allison
PREV
COURTESY OF KATE STEWART/UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
A Nicaraguan coffee harvester holding one of the shallow, ergonomically unsound baskets that the UW's Kate Stewart wants to redesign.
After spending months with workers in Nicaragua, Kate Stewart decided the country's coffee farmers need new gathering baskets.
The ones they use now are large, shallow baskets held at the waist that "not only puts pressure on the back, but also forces them to reach out further to get the beans -- an ergonomic nightmare," according to an article by Elizabeth Sharpe at the University of Washington, where Stewart teaches graduate courses in ergonomics and safety at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
"Stewart hopes to change that situation by working with the harvesters to design a new basket that will allow them to do their jobs without getting hurt. The change will have a significant impact in Nicaragua, where coffee provides agricultural jobs and supports more than 45,000 families who own coffee farms," Sharpe wrote.
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 11:30 PM
Recently listed
Popular searches
Dec 10, 10 - 5:05 PM
Last blog post from Coffee City: Author of coffee history book to read at Starbucks Olive Way
Dec 9, 10 - 5:37 PM
Carly Simon case against Starbucks dismissed, again
Dec 8, 10 - 4:53 PM
Howard Schultz's end-of-year letter to employees: Dec. 2 saw record whole-bean sales in Starbucks stores
Dec 7, 10 - 2:56 PM
Lynnwood cafe bought, renamed; dozens more coffee shops still for sale
Dec 6, 10 - 1:04 PM
Kraft seeks preliminary injunction against Starbucks
- Ride-share cars: illegal, and all over Seattle
- Too early to claim Xbox defeat just from E3 buzz
- Everett may be left out of 787-10 plans
- Teen cyclist hit, killed in charity ride
- Report: NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes could move to Seattle if local deal fails
- Fasting woman to end attempt to ‘live on light’
- Seahawks’ offseason comfort index
- Supreme Court: Pre-Miranda silence can be used as evidence of guilt
- Weyerhaeuser pays $2.6B to snag Longview Timber
- Got a great buy on a cruise? That’s not all you’ll spend
- Game thread: Aaron Harang tries for better results in Anaheim 344
- Ride-share cars: illegal, and all over Seattle 155
- Sewage flood sends Mariners scampering, ends day on fitting note 106
- Everett may be left out of 787-10 plans 101
- Court: Ariz. citizenship proof law illegal 67
- IRS official contradicts claims about reviews 64
- Report: NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes could move to Seattle if local deal fails 63
- Mastros staying in France 45
- Court says pre-Miranda silence can be used 45
- Third start in four days for Mariners catcher Mike Zunino 43
- Got a great buy on a cruise? That’s not all you’ll spend
- Ride-share cars: illegal, and all over Seattle
- One tough old bird rules the parking lot
- Chambers Bay prepares for 50,000 golf fans and worldwide attention
- Weyerhaeuser pays $2.6B to snag Longview Timber
- Passengers missing flights because of Sea-Tac security lines
- Everett may be left out of 787-10 plans
- Fifth-grader’s poem wins national contest
- Report: NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes could move to Seattle if local deal fails
- WSU starts sperm bank for honeybees
