Just Living: Fair Trade Coffee

Coffee is big business. It's the second most traded commodity in the
world behind oil and the U.S. imports in excess of $4 billion worth of
coffee every single year. The U.S. also consumes 1/5 or 20% of the
world's coffee, making it the largest consumer of coffee in the world.
However, what many Americans do not understand is that coffee farmers
often toil in what can be called "sweatshops in the field." In that
they're often paid less for their product than what it costs them to
produce it, plunging them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Thus,
they're unable to purchase the proper equipment and support their
families. However, when we purchase coffee that is fair trade we can be
ensured that the coffee farmer was paid a minimum of $1.26/pound by the
importer.

However, because coffee farmers are paid more for their product than
those not operating under the fair trade system, this cost is passed on
to the consumer. Thus, fair trade coffee tends to be slightly more
expensive than other coffees. Nevertheless, for many individuals who
purchase fair trade coffee they do so because it is an issue of justice
and loving their neighbor. For when fair trade coffee is purchased the
consumer can be ensured that the farmer who grew and harvested their
coffee beans was given a fair price for his product and can in turn
support his family and send his children to school.

For more information concerning fair trade coffee please see a list of
resources we've included below.

Films:
1)Black Gold: A Film about Coffee & Trade
Codirected and Coproduced by Nick and Marc Francis
http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/
2)Buyer Be Fair
Written & Directed by John de Graaf
http://www.buyerbefair.org/

Websites:
1)Equal Exchange
http://www.equalexchange.coop/fair-trade
2)TransFairUSA
http://www.transfairusa.org/
3)Global Exchange
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/
4)Fair Trade Federation
www.fairtradefederation.org

Articles:
"The Pros & Cons of Fair Trade Coffee" by Sam Kornell
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4738.cfm

Books:
1)Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival by Daniel Jaffee
2)A Cafecito Story by Julia Alvarez
3)Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee by Dean Cycon
4)Coffee: A Dark History by Anthony Wild

Just Living is a once a month series at New City Covenant Church. We take a few moments (less than 5 minutes) during our service to focus on simple ways to make a large impact for justice in the world. The notes and resources for Just Living are posted on our church blog.