[Peace-discuss] coffee

[meghan krausch]

i see i have ignited a debate. i have a knack of doing that. this makes me 
think that the topic deserves a more detailed treatment than i was going to 
give it in the public i.

i will not try to write a long, clearly reasoned response right now, but i 
will say that 1) fair trade supports only cooperatives, which only disrupt 
the business of small farmes in that they are already being totally and 
completely exploited by the 4 companies that buy 70% (or so) of the world's 
coffee. 2) people are growing coffee. indigenous people and otherwise. it's 
not going to stop. fair trade is certainly not encouraging anyone to buy up 
a ton of land and throw someone off of it... in fact, it will hopefully have 
the effect of putting all of those landless, starving coffee pickers back to 
work, since right now, with the price of coffee actually below the cost of 
growing it, it is being allowed to rot on the plant. being anti-capitalist 
is all good and well with food in your mouth, but with no food and no 
skills, a well-organized, well-funded coop might just be the solution.

i have to clarify that in general i am against the liberal/consumerist 
schemes, but after visiting with coffee farmers who are enjoying the 
benefits of fair trade and those who are not, and looking at the facts, my 
mind was made up. the coop that i visited was run by and for Nicaraguan 
farmers. they are always actively looking to get new members. yes, it can be 
problematic, but so can unions. that doesn't stop me from supporting 
union-made goods over others. the fact is, we live in a capitalist society 
and we all buy stuff. yes, cutting down on your consumerism is good. but 
while you are buying coffee anyway, i think making it fair trade (where 
$1.20 a pound was paid to a coop instead of $.50 to a coyote) is a good 
idea.

fyi: fair trade problems include: not certifying domestic products because 
we ostensibly already have a minimum wage (but ask a migrant worker about 
it, please) and the dominance of American certification companies. also for 
a small business, the cost of certification can be high especially with the 
cost of organic certification (and sadly, many more people seem to care 
about that).

simply put: the best way to obtain anything is to grow/make it yourself, or 
buy it from someone you know personally for a fair price. but if you can't 
do that...

my more than 2 cents,
meghan

http://www.witnessforpeace.org/nicaragua/coffee.html

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