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Australians are taking increasingly buying fair trade coffees, reports Australian newspaper The Age. The article reports that they’re now spending over $6 million a year on them, which is a huge increasing from the $143,000 spent in 2003 when Fair Trade labelling was first introduced to the country. It has grown from a niche market to expand to national department stores and retailers. For the full article click here!
Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s show Lateline Business recently had a report on fair trade, with a spotlight on economists arguing for free, as opposed to fair trade. Professor Sinclair Davidson’s objection to fair trade is that it “creates a situation where those farmers who are able to access the label are rewarded” and also that the fair trade labeling system is not monitoring as closely and as well as it should be. You can watch the news report and read a transcript by clicking here!
New Zealand is getting ready for its “Fair Trade Fortnight” , and it promises to be a huge affair. The country, it seems, is enjoying fair trade, with fair trade product sales in New Zealand rising $200,000 in 2004 to $4m in 2006 according to the Fair Trade Association.
The event, sponsored by a range of groups and organizations, is set up to promote fair trade issues and products through contests, concerts and whole whole lot of information. New Zealand popstars are lending their talents to the affair, while another organization is promoting the issue through a poster contest for children. Meanwhile, to coincide with Fair Trade Fortnight, New Zealand’s Worldvision offices became fair trade workplaces themselves.
Lutheran World Relief, an international non profit organization based on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, recently applauded the move by an international body to increase fair trade prices to coffee producers, according to a recent press release. In a meeting held earlier this spring, the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) Board has approved an increase in the social premium paid for Fair Trade coffee. The Lutheran World Relief Fund called this move a way to help ”empower communities to develop and grow the way they want to“.
The New York Times has an interesting profile on some coffee growing cooperatives in the troubled Chiapas region in Mexico. The article cites examples of successful co-ops in the region who have benefited from fair trade coffee prices, in turn using their incomes to fund better community programs, education, even in one case a new computer centre. However, the article also points out that some smaller growers might be getting pushed out of the market by the larger producers who are now increasingly getting into the fair trade market.
New to the world of green, organic and fair trade products? Confused about the different labels and certifications and what they mean? Toronto’s newsweekly NOW features a quick primer to help you navigate through the clutter and (hopefully) make good choices as a consumer, as part of this week’s ”Green Issue“. (Note: of course not making any consumer choice might really be the best ecological choice, but that’s another topic for another day…..) The article highlights certifications and label systems for a wide range of products, not just tea and coffees but pertaining to meat, fish and others. You can read the full article HERE!
As part of their series on green living, the Chicago Sun-Times writer Janet Rausa Fuller has a piece on Fair Trade Coffee. The article profiles Geoff Watts, buyer for Chicago-based coffee company Intelligentsia, who says “if you want to begin talking about sustainability, you really have to look at economic stability” linking sound ecological practices with fair prices for growers. The article also showcases cafes in the Chicago area providing organic and fair trade coffees.
Last week it was announced that Wolfville, Nova Scotia would become Canada’s first “Free Trade Town”. According to a story in the CBC, Wolfville Mayor Bob Stead said “the town has committed to using fair trade coffees, teas, sugars and other products in restaurants and at Acadia university“.
Moreover, Mayor Stead also said that local farmers will be better protected under this new certification, as the town will promote the “local” factor of fair trade as it applies to local growers.
If you’re a faithful person, and you attend your worship services and stay for coffee and socializing afterwards, ask yourself if the coffee you’re drinking is what God wants you to have. A small, but growing number of churches in Europe and North America are taking on fair trade, turning the issues into a matter of faith. In a recent artcile in the Baptist Standard, a retired United Church of Christ pastor says “buying coffee from a socially responsible company lets him be faithful to God“. In the same article, the pastor says that “from a mission point of view, from a theological, spiritual point of view, if there’s violence in the world then we seek to correct the violence.”
Transfair USA is the United States’ only fair trade certifying organization. Transfair works with companies and organizations around the US to help them meet fair trade product certification. Here’s an interview with Paul Rice, CEO of Transfair USA from the website www.worldchanging.com as he discusses his work, the challenges that lie ahead and his thoughts on some of the larger coffee companies and their status.
Today I spent the day with my wife. With our schedules this past week it’s been tough seeing her for more than an hour a day, so I savored every minute spent with her. Our morning started off at our local cafe, where I enjoyed something called a Decaf Peruvian Royal- it wasn’t the best coffee I’ve had, but it was a very nice brew for a mid morning drink. It’s a water-processed decaffeinated coffee (in a nutshell, using only water to decaf the bean, no chemicals) and the coffee itself was very very mild, and I found little aftertaste in it. The aroma was pleasant, perhaps a slight smokiness to it. I’d decided to forgo caffeine this morning, but the accompanying pastry more than made up for it – something called cocoa crunch or something like that – it was a muffin with shaved cocoa slivers and espresso beans.
The cafe is now showing artwork by an artist called Laura Lee Therrien. Hanging around the walls of the coffeehouse are papier mache masks made from recycled household materials – they include owls, beavers, birds, along with some more abstract creatures, most interestingly something called “The Grotesque”, a bat like creature in grey, with burlap wings.
