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Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee each day, which contributes to the coffee bean’s status as the second most globally traded product after petroleum. Now, a recent report from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid has found that regular coffee intake can actually prevent heart disease in women. Coffee is a much needed cash crop in many countries with few other exports such as Ethiopia, Guatemala and Papua New Guinea, but the industry has also been plagued by reports of worker abuse and corporate rip offs. Rainforest and other endangered species habitat is often cleared for coffee plantation, making it an environmentally dicey purchase, as well.
So how do we get our morning cup without a side of guilt? How to decipher real world impact from a multitude of coffee labels after the jump.
By Alicia Erickson •
October 2, 2007
Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, annouced that they have converted their "private label Member’s Mark premium ground coffee" to Fair Trade Certified. The process from bean begins with 3678 small scale, independent farmers who then sell their beans to "democratically-run cooperatives for a set, guaranteed minimum price." This pool of beans from thousands of independent farmers is what composes the Member’s Mark brand. In conjunction with this announcement, Sam’s Club is offering a
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By Amy Stodghill •
October 1, 2007
Do you know where your coffee comes from? Next time you reach for your cup of joe, consider these three things before you drink.
- Fair trade. The fair trade certification label ensures that the workers or farmers who produce a product receive a fair price for their goods and have improved labor conditions. The fair trade label also often includes a measure of environmental sustainability and responsibly managed farms.
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By Brady Swenson •
June 22, 2007
Starbucks announced yesterday that it has reached a licensing agreement with the Ethiopian government regarding the marketing use of Ethiopia's well-known coffee producing regions, most notably Sidamo, Yirgacheffe and Harar.
This is the resolution to a row that Starbucks began last year when the Ethiopian government filed applications to trademark its most famous coffee names. Securing the rights to these names would enable Ethiopia to capture more value from trade, by controlling
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Brady provided a detailed description of the various Fair Trade labels and to which products they can be applied, but what is the real difference between them? Labels such as the TransFairUSA are applied to specific transactions, so you can be assured that the coffee or banana you are buying has met the Fair Trade criteria. However, this label does not ensure the company is committed to the goals and ideals behind Fair
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If coffee (or tea) is part of your daily routine, skip the paper cup and sleeve and bring your own.
Here's a few tips on features I find useful in a travel mug:
A leak-proof, no-spill top. Look for a lid that fits secure and has a snap-top closure (ie. something that covers the little drinking hole.) This feature will allow you to carry around a full cup without sloshing it
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Tedesse Meskela at the Chicago Green Festival
The Fair Trade coffee documentary Black Gold has been screening for over a year now but becasue it wasn't released widely I had not had a chance to see it until it was shown at the Chicago Green Festival a couple weeks ago - and I was impressed. The Village Voice called it "a model of patient
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By Amy Stodghill •
March 19, 2007
Dean’s Beans, a Massachusettes-based organic coffee company, has partnered with non-profit, indigenous rights organization, Cultural Survival, to present a weekly radio program for Guatemalan coffee farmers.
"Coffee Talk" will include information on global market prices, growing and processing techniques, and the benefits of organic crop certification. Dean’s Beans founder, Dean Cycon, wanted to reach out to rural, farming co-operatives with limited access to television, print media and internet and give them information and
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By Amy Stodghill •
March 10, 2007
Students at the University of Washington have recently launched a campaign to raise environmental awareness on campus.
Stickers saying, "Sustainability is Sexy" are meant to encourage people to bring their own mugs to campus cafes to reduce the use of paper cups. The UW goes through about 5000 paper cups a day. Small incentives are also being offered to encourage the use of travel mugs such as charging $1 for regular drip coffee [...]
By Patrick Donnelly •
February 5, 2007
Every morning over half of America wakes up to a cup of coffee. And most of us who drink coffee every day, we play it off like it’s no big deal. “I’m not addicted, I swear!” we claim very indignantly, offended at the thought of someone accusing us of such a thing. And yet every morning, without fail, we will stop at nothing until we get a cup of coffee into us.
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