Big Bend Gazette :: Health Tips: Fair Trade Coffee addresses worldwide poverty

This month, I am definitely thinking and writing outside the box for me. But the subject is one that has bothered me for a long time. Maybe you think of it too.

It’s the season for many requests to donate to charities. Or it used to be. Now requests come in from everywhere about every 2 months per agency, especially if we give a donation. I easily become confused whether the program ever received our donation since they ask for another so soon. The easy ones to keep track of are the disaster relief donations such as hurricane and tsunami relief, 9/11, special events, or the particular projects you do donate to on a scheduled basis. Much of charity goes to disaster relief and meeting emergent needs.

Sometimes I wonder if, from our home in Alpine, Texas, my husband and I could ever do anything that would address the root cause of worldwide poverty. It sounds hopelessly naive and foolishly ambitious. But in September we did find something called “Fair Trade coffee” that starts to address the future of the poorest of the poor. This program is international. It works at helping the coffee farmers in the poorest countries of Africa, Latin America, and Asia make a wage that allows them to feed their families and be part of co-ops that will improve their communities in ways that they decide are most important, such as establishing a local clinic. Global Exchange, an internet source on Fair Trade products, says “there is a consumer trend now in which more and more people care about the conditions of the people who produce the products they buy.”

Although there are many products that can be sold through the Fair Trade program, coffee has the biggest impact on world poverty. Coffee is actually the most heavily traded commodity in the world after oil. There are 25 million coffee farmers, translating into 100 million family members.

The Fair Trade Coop program guarantees at least $1.21 to $1.51 per pound for organic coffee. Conventional trade has paid farmers as little as 16 cents a pound and averages around 50 cents a pound. The farmers do not make enough on this to feed their families, and eventually look for other ways to provide for the household, including immigration.

Various churches have promoted this program and our church has recently provided us with the information and how we can do a small part by sharing our blessings with those in need in such a way that it will impact the basic cause of the poverty cycle.

We are always hearing and reading about how unfair it is to have this imbalance of money in the richer countries, while others cannot even put food on a table, but there isn’t much we can do about it as individuals. We are all part of the wealthiest 15% of the world that makes at least $9,000 per year and much more. Sixty percent of the world lives on $900 or less per year. That leaves 25% making $900 to less than $9,000 per year.

The Fair Trade program targets the poorest of the poor, the majority of the people in our world, who have little to eat and no medical care.

No one is trying to discontinue helping with disaster relief, supporting our favorite charities on a regular basis, or donating to special projects as they come up. But when you purchase coffee or chocolate, tea or hot cocoa that is produced by a Fair Trade cooperative, you support the program that works to raise the standard of living for those who cannot feed their families or obtain any type of medical care. Apparently there are at least 200 products worldwide that can be purchased to help the Fair Trade program, but coffee makes the largest economic impact.

And coffee is the first commodity in the United States for which there is an independent monitor that guarantees that producers were paid a fair wage for their product and work is done in decent conditions. Participating farmers are required to follow a list of rules on pesticides, farming techniques, and recycling, and to have their children enrolled in school.

According to the website Global Exchange, there are over 130 million coffee drinkers in the US and they consume 2.72 billion pounds of coffee a year. Around the world, 12 billion pounds of coffee are consumed. While specialty coffee houses and stores have multiplied at an explosive rate (around 12,500 in the US), Americans are paying extraordinary prices for coffee to drink in places with a “cool” ambience. None of this profit goes to the farmer. In fact, he/she receives low wages to keep most consumer prices down. If it is a bad year for the market, he makes less than he spends in production and other means of survival are searched for.

The picture is brighter for coffee farmers in the future. Starbucks is starting to sell the fair trade coffee in limited amounts, and is increasing that amount annually. But you have to look for the Fair Trade seal and ask for the fair trade coffee by name there. The seal will say “TransFair USA.”

All espresso served at the 5,400 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the US is fair trade. All McDonald’s stores in New England sell only fair trade coffee.

Sam’s Club sells 7 fair trade imports, including coffee. Besides the specific coffee label of the Fair Trade stamp (again, you have to look for that), the Sam’s coffee will have the Member’s Mark as well to show further endorsement. The director of house brands for Sam’s Club, said the company could afford to pay Fair Trade’s premium because they have reduced the number of middlemen (roasters, packers, traders, shippers and warehouses) involved, and buy directly from the roaster in Brazil.

If more groups could purchase this coffee for their offices, churches, and special events and if people would look for coffee identified as Fair Trade Certified for their own needs, we could truly contribute to changing the poverty cycle for millions of extremely poor people working to provide the basic necessities for their families. This is something we can do as individuals – even if who cannot go to an underdeveloped nation and volunteer to build a water system, teach agriculture techniques, or start up a medical clinic and train health care workers in the community. Very few of us can be Peace Corps volunteers, but most of us drink coffee and can afford to pay a fair price for it to benefit someone who is barely surviving.

Assuming you have not stopped reading this article yet, I hope you would like more information such as that which was provided to me when I attended the program on Fair Trade Coffee back in September. One question that arose was, “How do I know the money I pay for this higher-priced coffee is really going to a poor farmer to improve his life?” The answer we were given was that there are 2 organizations, TransFair USA and the Fair Trade Federation that are organized to audit financial transactions and formation of co-ops where farmers take their coffee beans and receive a minimum of $1.50 per pound of coffee beans.

Since then I have read that the umbrella organization is the International Fair Trade Association, which oversees programs in over 70 countries, some of which are church-sponsored. The coops they develop are guided by rules that require that a percent of the profit goes back into the coop so that local projects can be paid for, which will improve the health, education and sanitation of the community.

If you would like a presentation on Fair Trade, there are numerous sources you can tap into. You can call Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza in El Paso and talk to the coordinator named Nikki Hertel. That number is 915-545-1890. Our presenters were medical volunteers, Joe and Linda Michon at 915-544-9697. They can provide you with expert information and more resources. You can go to various websites such as www.cafecampesino.com, www.crs.org, and you can look up Fair Trade Coffee on the Internet.

There are lots of reasons to support Fair Trade Coffee: it is good for the environment and preservation of our worldwide rainforests, wildlife habitats are protected, and there is decreased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that would be used in large industrialized plantations.

It is also thought immigration problems would greatly decrease if husbands and fathers did not have to leave their homeland and search for jobs where enough money would be made to feed their families and meet some of their basic needs.

Women are treated as equals in the co-ops, empowering a group that is often oppressed in poor countries. One high-end coffee is La Feminista French Roast from Peru – farmed, processed, and marketed entirely by women.

But best of all a large segment of the poor of the world would really have better access to food, healthcare and education, and the cycle of poverty could truly be impacted.

I invite you to do your own research and think seriously about changing this one purchase on your grocery list, regular or decaf , and become part of an increasing number who are making a difference in worldwide poverty. Remember, you need to look for the Fair Trade Seal from TransFair USA or from the Fair Trade Federation on the package of coffee you buy. Once you can check out the facts, I know you can come up with more ways to spread this idea than I can. I hope you will join in the effort.

Note: Since I started working with this subject and asking around, I have found that Fair Trade coffee is served at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, and available from Front Street Books in Alpine, Twin Souls Café in Fort Davis, the Brown Recluse in Marfa, and Ivey’s Emporium in Alpine. Lisa Ivey has started serving the coffee at church functions. Further information is available from Big Bend Roasters in Marfa, website www.bigbendcoffee.com . Allison at La Trattoria in Alpine is another recommended resource for more information.

As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading this whole article! (Email address: joann_lister@sbcglobal.net)

Sources:
“What is Fair Trade Coffee All About?” www.GlobalExchange.org.

“Centro Mujeres de la Esperanza and Fair Trade.” brochure from this organization.

Social Justice Workshop by Dr. and Mrs. Joe Michon. September 15, 2007. El Paso, TX.

Downie, A. “Fair Trade in Bloom. “The New York Times. Oct.2,2007. (Go to: www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/business/worldbusiness/02trade)

Personal communications from Jean Hardy, Elaine Harmon, Lisa Ivey.