Q1. Have you heard about 'fair trade coffee'? Would you buy that despite its more expensive price?
Q2. Do you like Starbucks coffee? Have you heard about the owner of Starbucks support the Israeli troops to kill the Palestinians? Would you go Starbucks after reading this article?
Q3. What do you think about the ethics of the companies? Do you think Korean companies have strong ethics? If you don't think so, what was your experiences?
About Fair Trade Coffee
Many coffee farmers receive prices for their harvest that can be less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. They are often forced to sell to middlemen who pay them half the market price, generally between 30-50 per pound.
Fair trade coffee sells for a minimum of $1.26 per pound.
This money goes directly to coffee farmers, not to predatory middlemen.
Fair Trade farmers are also insured access to credit at the beginning of the harvest season so they can support themselves during the "lean months" between harvests.
A typical Fair Trade farmer cultivates less than 3 hectares (7 acres) of coffee and harvests 1,000-3,000 pounds of unroasted coffee a year
More than 500,000 farmers around the world produce and sell more than 170 million pounds of coffee each year through the Fair Trade network. Over 100 fair trade coffee brands are sold worldwide in approximately 35,000 retail outlets (7,000 in the US).
About 85% of Fair Trade Certified coffee is shade grown and organic as small farmers have never had the money to purchase chemicals.
The first fair trade coffee label was started in 1998 in Holland under the name Max Havelaar and has since been followed by many others. In 1997, Fair Trade labelers formed an international umbrella group called Fair Trade Labeling Organizations (FLO) International, which defines the criteria for each product certified under the Fair Trade system, including coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, honey, bananas and orange juice.
There are now over 50 importers and roasters in the US the largest being Equal Exchange (www.equalexchange.com) who imported 1.6 million pounds of coffee last year.
... Unfortunately the supply of fair trade far outstrips the demand. Of the 170 million pounds of fair trade coffee produced globally only 35 million pounds are sold on the fair trade market. Coffee companies need to aggressively promote fair trade coffee.
Buying Fair Trade Coffee is Also a Way to Support Indigenous People
From Cultural Survival Magazine, Sept. 19, 2005:
"In countries that have large indigenous populations, indigenous farmers are the primary producers of coffee crops, and constitute the majority of the members of fair trade coffee cooperatives."
In March of 2003 activists and concerned consumers across the U.S. gave coffee giant, Starbucks, a wicked case of the jitters. As the company held its annual shareholders meeting in Seattle, activists protested outside while Starbucks headquarters were inundated with faxes, emails and phone calls. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) brewed up more than 2,000 faxes and emails, urging Starbucks shareholders to actually practice the business ethics the company so proudly wears on its sleeve. Ronnie Cummins, national director of OCA, said "Despite repeated pledges, Starbucks is still loading up its coffee drinks with rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone)-tainted milk, and buying coffee and chocolate produced under exploitative labor conditions, and in the case of cocoa plantations in Africa, workers who are actually slaves."
Protest Starbucks: National Week of Action June 19th-25th
Join OCA and Food and Water Watch June 19-25, to take the Starbucks challenge and protest or leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood. Let's educate Starbucks' patrons about Fair Trade and rBGH. Help us reach our goal of 300 actions!
Despite over five years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve milk from cows that are injected with genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST. Virtually every industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the sale of rBGH milk. Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious dangers to human health and the general welfare to dairy cows.
The time has come to kick rBGH off the market, once and for all. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to reject rBGH dairy products, we could effectively eliminate it from the market.
Similarly, while Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand.
1. Take the Starbucks Challenge! Hold Starbucks to their word. Simply visit your local Starbucks and ask: "Could I get a cup of fair trade coffee?" and let us know how it went.
2. Protest or Leaflet outside Starbucks stores. Download materials from the sidebar at right.
3. Be sure to let Starbucks know your thoughts, either online or with their postage paid comment cards available at their stores.