Supporting local coffee-farmers

[DirtDawg]

Strong espresso from Ethiopian beans. Extreme coffee ... Holy Shit! ... it's Fab!

[DirtDawg]

Strong espresso from Ethiopian beans. Extreme coffee ... Holy Shit! ... it's Fab!

Dear DD,

Each year, coffee companies make billions of dollars. Starbucks
alone earned almost $5.8 billion in net revenues during the
first three quarters of 2006.

Yet, for every cup of coffee Starbucks sells, poor farmers in
coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia earn only about $.03.
Even worse, while Ethiopian farmers grow some of the finest
name-brand coffees in the world - think Harar, Yirgacheffe, and
Sidamo - they don't see the premium profits those names command
among consumers.

Oxfam and a coalition of allies are asking Starbucks to sign
this agreement. According to one coalition member, control of
the name brands could increase Ethiopia's coffee export income
by more than 25 percent - or $88 million annually. This money
could go a long way to help lift millions of Ethiopians out of
poverty.

So please, help us convince Starbucks to sign this agreement
with Ethiopia. Poor farmers deserve a fair share of the profits.
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/starbucks_petition?rk=b1APf6S15SW-W

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That's interesting and I certainly support local farmers, but I can not sign that petition, as its first words are " As a Starbucks customer ...".

I have never in my life bought anything from a Starbucks shop or with Starbucks on the label, nor do I intend to. Their coffee is not my cup-o-tea. I like real coffee - not flavored varieties. It's ridiculous, though - how can a US company restrict a foreign country's right to use their proper name, in marketing? WTF?

A funny thing here, because I was going to post a link to the importer who I have used mostly, "Denali Cafe", but the link I use is broken and google doesn't seem to help.

This is the only other importer I have used, (other than a friend in Central America who sends me stuff, at odd times or when I ask about something. He's the coffee expert, not me.) is this one called "Orleans Coffee Exchange". I have ordered the top one and the bottom one and many from their Fair Trade Coffees page.

You bring up an excellent point, worth considering, but I think the customers, themselves, should rightly make their voices and their wallets do the work. My one hundred percent boycott has kept me from involving with Starbucks, too much, but now I wonder about the importer I use. Do they treat the farmers fairly? I don't know, but knowing how one facet of corporate America treated me, I doubt it, very much.

[driftingblizzard]

That's interesting and I certainly support local farmers, but I can not sign that petition, as its first words are " As a Starbucks customer ...".

I have never in my life bought anything from a Starbucks shop or with Starbucks on the label, nor do I intend to. Their coffee is not my cup-o-tea. I like real coffee - not flavored varieties. It's ridiculous, though - how can a US company restrict a foreign country's right to use their proper name, in marketing? WTF?

A funny thing here, because I was going to post a link to the importer who I have used mostly, "Denali Cafe", but the link I use is broken and google doesn't seem to help.

This is the only other importer I have used, (other than a friend in Central America who sends me stuff, at odd times or when I ask about something. He's the coffee expert, not me.) is this one called "Orleans Coffee Exchange". I have ordered the top one and the bottom one and many from their Fair Trade Coffees page.

You bring up an excellent point, worth considering, but I think the customers, themselves, should rightly make their voices and their wallets do the work. My one hundred percent boycott has kept me from involving with Starbucks, too much, but now I wonder about the importer I use. Do they treat the farmers fairly? I don't know, but knowing how one facet of corporate America treated me, I doubt it, very much.

I like America, but it's the world bully, as Scrapheap said. But I doubt that European companies treat those poor people in Africa any better...

Of course I now drink   

DD makes some very good points, as do you Lit.  And I should have read my own material more closely    as I wasn't trying to actually circulate the petition, just pointing out the plight of some of the exploited.  And it jogged my memory when you mentioned Ethiopia.   

[McGiver]

Strong espresso from Ethiopian beans. Extreme coffee ... Holy Shit! ... it's Fab!

Dear DD,

Each year, coffee companies make billions of dollars. Starbucks
alone earned almost $5.8 billion in net revenues during the
first three quarters of 2006.

Yet, for every cup of coffee Starbucks sells, poor farmers in
coffee-growing countries like Ethiopia earn only about $.03.
Even worse, while Ethiopian farmers grow some of the finest
name-brand coffees in the world - think Harar, Yirgacheffe, and
Sidamo - they don't see the premium profits those names command
among consumers.

Oxfam and a coalition of allies are asking Starbucks to sign
this agreement. According to one coalition member, control of
the name brands could increase Ethiopia's coffee export income
by more than 25 percent - or $88 million annually. This money
could go a long way to help lift millions of Ethiopians out of
poverty.

So please, help us convince Starbucks to sign this agreement
with Ethiopia. Poor farmers deserve a fair share of the profits.
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/starbucks_petition?rk=b1APf6S15SW-W

***********************************
Powered by GetActive Software, Inc.
Relationship Management for Member Organizations (tm)
http://www.getactive.com
***********************************

this should be a discussion topic with a thread of its own.

it shouldn't be buried in the what are you drinking thread.

[duncvis]

this should be a discussion topic with a thread of its own.

it shouldn't be buried in the what are you drinking thread.

It should. The conduct of the giant coffee processing firms regarding the farmers and middlemen they gouge has come under increasing public scrutiny in recent years and the Fairtrade movement has made some impact, but not enough.

I buy Buendia freeze-dried coffee - its grown, processed and marketed by the farmers cooperative, so all the benefits stay in Colombia.

[Litigious]

Sorry, guys, shouldn't I have moderated? 

[Litigious]

I merge it with the other thread.

[McGiver]

its not a big deal.

now we have two places to discuss this topic.

[Litigious]

Thanks, McJ.  +

[duncvis]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

[McGiver]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

Odeon?

your thoughts.



i am a stinker!

[Litigious]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

OK. I'll ask you guys before I do it the next time.

[McGiver]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

OK. I'll ask you guys before I do it the next time.

where is the fun if there isn't an occasional spontaneous action?

i mean, we won't spank you and send you to bed without your dinner....

[Litigious]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

OK. I'll ask you guys before I do it the next time.

where is the fun if there isn't an occasional spontaneous action?

i mean, we won't spank you and send you to bed without your dinner....

 

[DirtDawg]

Since we all agreed it was a good idea to take this discussion elsewhere I guess no harm done, but its usually a good idea to double check first. I doubt any of us mind.

OK. I'll ask you guys before I do it the next time.

Forgiveness is available in abundance. Permission, being hard-earned by nature, is in short supply, however and may even be in danger of depletion.

MOD:

I may have to proudly add that bit of cleverness to my sig line ...