It may be surprising, but it's true. Right now I'm drinking the biggest cup of coffee I think I've ever consumed (the whole pot fit in one mug!) and it's delightful. I stopped drinking coffee for the most part when I started working at Starbucks, but recently have remembered how much I appreciate the taste. It's great. I just wish I could make it, drink it, and serve it without feeling bad about what this country's addiction to the beans is doing to the earth and farmers in so many parts of the world. I wish I could work at a shop where we only served Fair Trade coffee and I actually respected the company I worked for.
For those who drink coffee, this is what I want you to know: Coffee is the world’s second most valuable commodity, behind only petroleum. Currently the annual consumption of coffee around the globe is 12 billion pounds, with the U.S. alone importing over 2.6 billion pounds, or about 26% of world imports. For over 130 million consumers in the U.S., coffee is the one thing that they drink every day and some even spend hundreds of dollars on specialty coffee each month. Unfortunately, while we are sitting in cafes sipping our mocha java we are not thinking about the impact that our addiction is having on the environment and the economy. Coffee producers, like most agricultural workers around the world, are kept in a cycle of poverty and debt by the current global economy designed to exploit cheap labor and keep consumer prices low. Intensive coffee farming can also lead to pesticide pollution and deforestation.
Most people don’t realize that some 20 million families in 50 countries now work directly in the cultivation of coffee. Most small farmers sell their beans directly to middlemen exporters who take advantage of them by paying them below market prices for their harvests and keep a high percentage for themselves. Coffee is then sold to retailers at a price that is set by the New York Coffee Exchange. The price fluctuates, but generally hovers around $1 per pound (and Starbucks coffee is sold to customers for $10-$25 per pound). However, extremely low wages (around $2-3 per day) and poor working conditions for farmworkers characterize coffee plantation jobs.
The good news for coffee drinkers is that there's an organization called Fair Trade that works to pay coffee farmers a fair price for their beans and take care of their land. Fair Trade’s goal in helping small farmers helps guarantee that the benefits of organic farming techniques reach the farmer as well as the consumer and the environment. I don't normally just write a lot about statistics or try to convince people of different things on this blog, but I want people to be aware of the fact that coffee drinkers can enjoy different coffees that are good for the environment and helpful to the farmers if they only knew what was going on in the world of coffee production. Starbucks claims to be the largest buyer of Fair Trade coffees, but in reality, they only sell one or two Fair Trade Certified coffees, they rarely brew it as coffee of the day, and they are only the largest buyer of FT because they are the largest coffee shop in the world. If you compared the amount that Starbucks spends on FT coffees to every other coffee they buy/sell, it would be a very small number.Now, a normal person writing this would end the rant in "Let's all boycott Starbucks!" or something. I can't say that... but my response to that is "More power to you!" I'm stuck in a catch-22 in that I can't afford to quit my job, but I completely support those who want to boycott Starbucks. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about this today, when just 2 days ago I was defending Starbucks in a discussion among Caribou drinkers (and was really acting like the secret-coffee-snob that I am); I guess I wish I was as proactive as I think I am and actually tried to make a difference where I encouraged others to...
Hmm. Gives me a lot more to think about.
16 comments:
That's right - you preach it!
This is important. And if nothing else, we can begin writing letters to Starbucks demanding change.
Do you know how other coffee distributors (caribou, dunn, etc) measure up in their fair-trade sales? Do they sell fair-trade at all, or just Starbucks? maybe we could begin by boycotting the other chains...or maybe I just like starbucks.
Here is a website you might start at to research this topic: http://www.pcusa.transfairusa.org/ - strange enough, the website is hosted by the Presbyterian Church (which has also dropped its stocks in companies that are contributing to the mess in Palestine). But I don't see any further alliance between the two mentioned in the "about us" section.
I tried to find some information for you, Lynnea. Unfortunately, I didn't find much outside of the companies' own websites - and of course they're going to present themselves in the best possible light.
Dunn Bros, the shop I favor for a whole host of reasons (it has replaced Caribou in my constellation of home associations), released a line of Fair Trade coffee. But not all of their coffee is Fair Trade.
Caribou sells some Fair Trade coffee and some that isn't. But it "has implemented a program to set aside funds for every pound of coffee bought. ... the special fund supports clinics, schools, reforestation efforts and water-cleaning initiatives in coffee producing countries.”
I guess it is moving away from Fair Trade and towards Rainforest Alliance Certified, which is a similar program. In three years, half of their coffee will be certified through that program.
And Starbucks claims to be "committed to paying fair prices for all of our coffee. ... Starbucks pays premium prices that are substantially over and above the prevailing commodity-grade
coffee prices. In fiscal 2003, when prices for commercial-grade arabica coffee ranged from $0.55-$0.70 per pound, Starbucks paid an average of $1.20 per pound for all of our coffee."
It claims that the Fair Trade organization covers too few farmers to provide all the coffee Stabucks brews and sells, so they try to police themselves: "We use coffee purchasing guidelines, called C.A.F.E. Practices, which give preference to farmers who score high in measurements of economic fairness, socially responsible working conditions, and progressive environmental practices."
They also provide "financing that helps coffee farmers invest in their farms and hold their beans for sale at times of favorable market prices." And they help "build schools, health clinics, coffee mills and other projects that benefit coffee communities."
I'm not trying to favor Starbucks with all of that information - they just make it more accessible than the others.
Does this all sound like lies, Krista? What's the scoop?
It may be out of the way, filled with freshmen, and probably playing horrendous music these days - but Lisa's Cafe only uses fair trade coffee!
Soon, you'll be looking for the free range chicken, too.
I'm constantly in Starbucks' and I've never noticed signs or any indications of Fair Trade coffees. Do I just have to ask what the Fair Trade coffees of the day are?
Also, Biola's on-campus coffee shop only sells one type of Fair Trade coffee out of the dozen or so coffees that they buy. That's disappointing to me. There's a group on campus working toward getting *only* Fair Trade coffees. They say it only costs the consumer an extra 5 cents per cup. Is this true? If so, why would everyone not take this route?
Hey y'all, sorry for not responding sooner (if anyone cares to check anymore). I don't keep up with my own blog very well.
Lynnea, as far as other places go - Caribou sells one coffee that is FT certified. They also are partners in something called the "Rainforest Alliance," which apparently is another environmentally-friendly organization. I don't know a whole lot about them, though. I'm not too sure about Dunn Bros, either, but their coffee is disgusting anyway (Bryan will comment that he likes Dunn Bros, but he doesn't drink the coffee so he wouldn't care what it tastes like; and I still argue that the atmosphere in that old house is incredibly awkward).
I think because of the huge amount of coffee as well as several different kinds that Starbucks sells, they don't think it is possible to get many diff. kinds of FT coffee produced from the small farms that are providing it for other places. However, it seems like if Starbucks has SO much money and can afford to provide a free pound of coffee to each employee every week as well as health benefits, stock options, etc., they might be able to afford to create their own Fair-Trade-Coffee-producing farms in different regions of the world so they can have more than one kind to sell in their stores. Who knows. Maybe none of this even made sense.
I guess it's good that they try to help the environment/communities in different ways, but I think if they promoted Fair Trade coffee and brewed it more often in the stores and told customers how horrible coffee-farming can be on the earth, then people would be more aware of the cause and want to support Starbucks selling more FT coffee. Just an idea.
Brad, Starbucks doesn't brew Fair Trade coffee daily, but if you asked them for it they would be able to brew some for you in a french press (which would take more time, probably cost you a little more, and the employees would definitely hate you if it was busy). I don't know if it only costs consumers 5 cents a cup, but you're right, why wouldn't people want to support that? If you're into buying coffee by the pound to brew at home, though, it's a good way to go.
I it is funny that you cut off Bryan's defense of Dunn Bros before he could even make it. We are all so predictable these days. I agree that Dunn's coffee is disgusting, and I know that I have had one or two awkward conversations in that old house that I would love to blame on the atmosphere within it.
By the way, insert the word "think" between the "I" and the "it" on my last comment. Sorry.
I do love that old house, but part of the reason I love Dunn Bros. in general is that they don't do the cookie-cutter thing. Each store adapts to its environment and looks very different. The Excelsior store is one of the coziest places I've been to. And I like that the one in the Linden Hills neighborhood was connected to a used bookstore until the bookstore went out of business.
No, I don't drink coffee. But I've heard that each store makes it differently. So maybe a blanket criticism isn't justified. And as far as tea goes, Starbucks has crap for selection, and Dunn Bros. serves the best tea I've ever had (Vanilla Bean). So as a tea drinker, the choice makes sense. ... And Dunn Bros. serves wine!
Then there's the matter of supporting a smaller, local business over a global behemoth. (Although from an employee's point of view, Starbucks might be more appealing. You'd have to ask Kristel.)
Finally, Dunn Bros. offers free wireless internet access, which at Starbucks costs more than it's worth.
Dunn Bros. does have a different look and feel in each environment that they are in, but fact that "each store makes their coffee differently" is not really a good thing in consumers' eyes. People like Starbucks because the flavor is the same and there is consistency - if they get off a plane in NY or in Japan, their drink will taste the same, and people like that. Because Dunn Brothers roasts their beans in the store, you never know who is doing it and they don't always taste the same from the store on EP Road to the one by the mall. I don't like their tea (even Vanilla Bean tastes bland to me and I've tried it several times; I'm not saying that Starbucks tea is so much greater, but there are a few flavors that I enjoy) and I've never had success hooking up to their wireless internet. Maybe it's my computer.
I really don't care where others go to get their coffee, I just haven't had great experiences at Dunn Bros. and don't choose it personally.
Fight, Fight, Fight!
The new coffee shop that my roommate Paul works at (starting Wednesday) is called "It's a Grind" and it's the 2nd fastest growing company in California (after some software company that helps people file bankruptcy).
They serve no fair trade coffee. I wonder why, especially out here.
And I usually drink tea at Starbucks, but on the rare occasion that I get coffee it would be nice to know that the people who grew and picked it were well-compensated.
Come on, Brad, post something more controversial so I can also urge you to "fight fight fight!"
Well, I hate free Internet. I'd rather go to Starbucks and pay. Supply and demand. Yay capitalism!
(was that ok?)
Yup. Thanks for humoring me!
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