Ten Thousand Villages of Austin’s Blog

Ten Thousand Thanks to all who made our celebration of World Fair Trade Day possible! It was a beautiful Saturday in Austin, and Texas Coffee Traders kept things going all day by serving up their fine, freshly brewed, fairly traded coffee!

Thanks so much to all of you who came by the store this weekend. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and we can’t wait for World Fair Trade Day 2009! Also, a big thanks goes out to all of the local musicians who provided the tunes! Finally, a special thanks to all of our Villages Volunteers. The store would not be what it is without you. Thank you for all that you do to promote fair trade every day!

I’m sure some of you are wondering… did we break the world record for largest coffee break?! The numbers are still out, but we’re feeling confident. We’ll keep you posted!

In the meantime, come on in and support the pups at Ten Thousand Villages! …Taylor

Saturday, May 10, is World Fair Trade Day, and the Fair Trade Resource Network has organized the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break! Ten Thousand Villages of Austin wouldn’t miss it - the coffee break will be held Saturday, May 10, at 2pm CST. Come by our “coffeehouse” for a cup of free, fair trade coffee courtesy of Texas Coffee Traders, and help us set a world record!

In addition to the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break, Ten Thousand Villages of Austin has quite a day planned for World Fair Trade Day! We’ll have live music in the store all day, and you’ll have the opportunity to meet people in our community who are spreading the mission of fair trade. Our schedule of events is below… hope to see you there! …Taylor

SATURDAY, MAY 10:
11:00AM - Daniel Reonidas
12:00PM - Elizabeth Rainey
1:00PM - Texas Coffee Traders - Learn about Fair Trade Coffee!
2:00PM - Todd Rusch
3:00PM - Wynn Taylor
4:00PM - Jackson Michael
5:00PM - Meg Johnson
6:00PM - The LP’s

American culture has defined Starbucks as the cornerstone of the typical daily morning routine. Thus, it is imperative that its corporate executives design the perfect cup of warm, rich coffee that appeals to the caffeine-craving masses. However, not all Starbucks utilize the same methods in choosing their coffee distributors. According to the New York Times, all Starbucks locations in New England serve fair trade coffee. That’s peachy, but let’s face it: New England composes only a fraction of the country. What about the remainder of its branches?

Upon placing my order for a cup of Fair Trade coffee at a Starbucks in Fort Worth, Texas, I was met with a despondent expression and an “Eh…I’ll have to start brewing a new pot, which will take about 10 minutes.” I said that would be fine, and the barista moped off to do what seemed like a tiresome chore. Other people have had similar complications ordering Fair Trade Coffee. I’m under the impression that businesses operate by selling products that their employees will stand by, but perhaps I’m wrong.

Sure, the explanation my barista gave me is valid because the cost of keeping a pot of Fair Trade coffee on hand is illogical when looking at the sometimes low rate of customers who order it. Sure, in Austin, most vendors of Fair Trade coffee keep it on hand. But what about those who live in growing cities like Dallas/Fort Worth, where the Fair Trade bandwagon is not so accommodating?

As it is the only company licensed to serve Fair Trade Certified Coffee in 23 countries, it is vital that Starbucks educate their employees to at least know the basics - this involving that they do in fact offer Fair Trade Coffee and that they ought to treat it as they would the coffee of the day. The only thing that we as consumers can do is order it as much as possible, letting employees see for themselves that there is a demand for it. Coffee shops in Austin have begun to serve, sometimes exclusively, Fair Trade Coffee so who knows what fruitful results other cities will yield?

After the initial scare around the potential of a U.S. Department of Agriculture ruling to require each farm in a co-op to be inspected annually, a cost that would in effect put the small, organic farmers out of business, there’s now a reprisal.

The USDA issued a statement on May 1 (Labor Day!) that the rules for organic certification will not change, at this time.  The issue will be discussed further in the fall, where amendments will be addressed.

More: Coffee & Conversation

:Update–See below abstract of the e-mail update sent today, April 30, by Rob Everts, executive director, Equal Exchange (full text of the letter here):

In less than a week 3,150 individuals and 450 organizations signed on to the letter.

The USDA assured us that they had heard from us, and you, “loud and clear” and that in “two or three days” they would issue a statement that they thought would make us “happy.” They would not share any more etails other than to offer a little more explanation of how they perceived the issue.

# # #

I’m late to the news that last month the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a ruling that tightens organic certification requirements to such a degree that it pretty much curtails the ability of small grower co-ops to produce organic coffee, plus organic bananas, cocoa, sugar, and spices. (Good primer by Salon.com.)

To be certificated organic, a typical farm is subjected to an annual USDA inspection. However, given the immense logistical demands of inspecting thousands of farms in the developing world, a provision was made for an organic inspector to randomly inspect 20 percent of a co-op. Subsequently, the grower co-op would be responsible for self-policing for the remainder of the year; the following year, an inspector would inspect another 20 percent of the co-op–after five years, all farms in the co-op would be inspected.

The ruling will put an end to this group organic certification provision because it calls for individual inspection of each farm, a financial burden that almost all small-scale growers will not be able to bear.

Equal Exchange has a well-articulated rational against the ruling and a request for co-signers on a letter (PDF) to be delivered to the USDA. Unfortunately the deadline for signing is today, April 24. However, at this time, the Organic Consumers Association has a similiar letter you can sign here.

It makes my day to learn that Jane Goodall launched a new line of “chimp-friendly,” fair trade coffee to call attention to environmental degradation and fund raise for the Jane Goodall institute (JGI). The Gombe Special Reserve line will be marketed throughout the United States by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and 10 percent of the sales proceeds will go to the JGI.

Chimps don’t drink coffee; they won’t eat the fruit or leaves, or even linger in areas dense with coffee plants. That’s a good thing, says Jane Goodall. “Coffee can act as a buffer to protect chimps and people from each other,” and minimize the exposure to disease that threatens chimps, she says.

“I realized that some of the best coffee was being grown in the high hills [in Kigoma], but the growers weren’t making any money,” Goodall says. “How can we think of [making arguments for] saving the chimp beings if the human population around is clearly struggling to survive? There are more people than the land can support with current practices.”

Goodall has been a heroine of mine since my college days when I learned about her goods works through an anthropology elective.

Technorati Tags: fairtrade, coffee, goodall, Tanzania

Yesterday’s New York Times ran a human interest story about fair trade coffee in Chiapas. My two takeaways from the story:

• Raise of fair trade coffee prices to $1.51 per pound. “The price for Fair Trade organic coffee has long been fixed at $1.41 a pound and this year it will rise to $1.51 compared with the market price of about $1.08.”
• Expanding list of NGOs acting as middleman between growers and corporations.

Any discussion of fair trade coffee in the media is encouraging; but after reading the article thrice, I was still left with the lingering question of, “So, does the fair trade coffee model work?”

The thing is, fair trade coffee certification is not without its shortcomings. And I submit to you that any system based on “trust and respect” (one of Equal Exchange’s fair trade commitment) is inherently more difficult to quantify and standardize because it is bias towards basic human needs and relationships.

The commitment of fair trade coffee certification is largely three-fold:

• Minimum market prices for organic coffee;
• Ecologically sustainable farming practices; and
• Democratically-run farming cooperatives

As noted in the NYT article, a coffee farmer is now able to afford to send his daughters to college–an investment that will only be reaped in the long run–but, as also duly noted, fair trade cannot “solve all the problems of inequality here.”

And here lies the rub: An innate expectation that because fair trade is “good” it ought to alleviate poverty, make things alright, and level the playing field. Guess what? That’s not what fair trade delivers–at least not on a large scale.

The commitments of fair trade are a blend of practical and aspirational–most importantly, it serves as a lifeline for many farmers and families seeking better alternatives and opportunities. (And it takes the good works of many more unsung heroes in the coffee chain to support and sustain the fair trade model.) However, it is not appropriate to expect fair trade to be a long-term economical solution for the masses. Rather than comparing fair trade to insurance, I’d suggest that it is closer to on the job training that opens doors to different–likely better–opportunities given the stable wages and business skills acquired.

Bottom line for coffee drinkers: Educate yourself on the issues (here) and do ask for fairly-traded coffee at your local joint for your dollars will benefit those in the coffee chain (see below). Additionally, realize that just because something isn’t fair trade certified doesn’t mean that it is “evil.”