With all the crap-ola I need to complete before graduation, I've been pounding coffee and expresso shots like it's my job. But it's not. Which is unfortunate since I need one. Anyway, I've been wired like a transformer on caffeine, and it has created within me the desire to emphasize the importance of fair trade coffee. Buying fair trade is a tiny deed with a big impact. Coffee is the largest source of export income and one of the most heavily traded global commodities for many developing countries. Twenty-five million coffee-producing families suffer due to inadequate income. They deserve recognition for the quality products they generate, that YOU consume on a daily basis. The "coffee-crisis," triggered by plunging coffee prices, devastated coffee-growing communities in developing countries for years. The price of coffee has since improved after hitting a 30-year low in 2001, however, many small-scale coffee farmers and their families still cannot earn a decent income despite higher prices. Basic expenses like healthcare, food, and education are a constant struggle. Is it too much to ask to buy fair trade coffee? Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization that creates solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice, works toward economic security for coffee-farmers and their families.
Check out the website for more info: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/campaigns/coffee
Word to the wise: Fair Trade Certified coffee is increasingly available at mainstream stores. Brands that sell fair-trade coffee include Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (I drink this, it's good), Starbucks, Equal Exchange, and Procter & Gamble's Millstone. Get you some! Only if you care about anybody other than yourself, that is...
Moral of the story? Don't be a jerk. Buy fair trade.
*photo is from oxfamamerica.org
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