Sachiko (far right), Gilbert (3rd from left), Courtney (2nd from left) with Global Exchange store staff.

The following was written by Global Exchange Fair Trade Store intern Sachiko Muraoka, who will be finishing her work here with us this week. We will be sad to see her go, but excited to see what great things she does next!

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On Saturday, July 23rd, the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store in Fair Trade Town San Francisco hosted a Fair Trade Talk with Gilbert Ramirez from CoopeAgri in Costa Rica and Courtney Lang from Fair Trade USA. Gilbert’s town Pérez Zeledón is the very first Fair Trade Town in Latin America.

Before the talk, we all enjoyed tasty Fair Trade Peace Coffee. Yum! Then Courtney started off the event with a brief introduction to Fair Trade.

Next, Gilbert shared his experiences with and visions of his coffee and sugar cooperative, CoopeAgri, which at the beginning had more than 300 farmers. It is located in Pérez Zeledón, a biologically diverse city in the central valley of Costa Rica. By 2010, about 12,000 members have joined the cooperative, 65% male and 35% female members.

The cooperative was established in 1962, before the Fair Trade movement was established. CoopeAgri started a Fair Trade development model in 1994. They are committed to producing sustainably produced coffee and sugar. For example, their coffee mill conserves the use of water and energy and they practice forest protection programs. Most of their coffee is exported overseas, especially since their coffee became Fair Trade Certified in 1994.

Their coffee sales have increased dramatically over time, but they’re hoping to grow much more moving forward. The cooperative exports their coffee to more than 70 countries but their coffee is not being distributed in the United States as much as Gilbert would like. At this point, CoopeAgri exports 70% of its coffee to Europe and 16 % to the United States.

Fair Trade coffee farmer from CoopeAgri

Gilbert told us that they are aiming to export more coffee to the US and that during his trip here one of his main goals was to explore how to make this a reality. According to The Coffee Book by Nina Luttinger and Gregory Dicum, 1.5 millon cups of coffee is being consumed worldwide every day and the U.S. represents one-fifth of it. Given that the U.S. consumes more coffee than any other country, it makes sense that this is a critical goal to coffee cooperatives such as Pérez Zeledón.

Although Fair Trade has been promoted as a means to equalize the economic gap between developed and developing countries, Gilbert mentioned that Fair Trade can offer more personal connections besides its economic and environmental impacts. Fair Trade brings a direct connection between producers from the community, and buyers and customers. This is possible in part because the Fair Trade model cuts out the middlemen usually present in the conventional trade system.

House (before) CoopeAgri Fair Trade premium funded renovation

The Fair Trade model also helps fund community development projects, thanks to Fair Trade premiums producers receive. CoopeAgri provides a variety of benefits to its members, including social security and medical, housing funds which more than 70 families have benefited so far, and education and sports programs for children.

House (after) CoopeAgri Fair Trade premium funded renovation

The cooperative also provides some social services for community members who do not belong to the group.

CoopeAgri will commemorate its 50 years anniversary next year. We all hope they will maintain and increase their positive development. These days it is not difficult to find Fair Trade coffee in the United States, particularly in a city like San Francisco, with its numerous markets and coffee shops providing Fair Trade coffee. But meeting directly with a coffee producer…so not common!

This event gave me a better understanding of and new perspectives about Fair Trade coffee and its positive impacts on one producer community. Long-term relationships between cooperatives, importers, and customers are important.

A big thanks to Courtney and Gilbert for participating in this event. I’m looking forward to tasting CoopeAgri´s coffee in the United States in the near future. ¡Muchas gracias!

GET INVOLVED:

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The coffee beans are purchased from purchased from small-scale farmers and cooperatives, and roasted by Thanksgiving Coffee Company, whose motto is ‘Not Just a Cup, but a Just Cup’.

The coffee beans in the Global Exchange coffees originate from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Uganda, and Nicaragua. The six new roasts carry such names as Justice Blend Espresso, Solidarity Vienna Roast, and Respect Decaf and are all shade grown, organic and Fair Trade Certified.

The importance of Fair Trade cooperatives is significant because it allows small-scale farmers to work together to sell directly in the international market. By cutting out the middleman, these farmers and their cooperatives are able to build long term relationships with buyers and negotiate better prices for better quality, as well as create local democratically governed community institutions.

Working together through their cooperatives, coffee farmers around the world are transcending a history of exploitation by some of the world’s largest multinational corporations, earning a fair price for their exceptional coffee and creating dynamic opportunities for community led development.

Global Exchange is happy to work with Northern California artisan coffee roaster, Thanksgiving Coffee Company. They are a family run company that has been roasting coffee for over 25 years now. They source their coffee directly from family farms and cooperatives, which they keep long-term trading relationships with. They work closely with the partner cooperatives to invest in the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of their communities while sourcing some of the most distinctive and finely crafted coffee in the world. Visit their blog to get a better taste of their Fair Trade work.

Don’t forget to visit the Online Store to get yourself a bag of Global Exchange Fair Trade Coffee.

Starbucks, TransFair USA and the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) today announced a groundbreaking initiative that builds upon the organizations’ shared history of support for small-scale coffee farmers. Starbucks, one of the largest buyers of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, will double its purchases to 40 million pounds in 2009, making the company the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the world. Marking a new phase in their nine-year relationship with Starbucks, TransFair USA and FLO will join Conservation International as key partners in the Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ commitment to ethical sourcing.

“Starbucks announcement to double their Fair Trade Certified commitment in 2009 shows tremendous leadership. This dramatic volume increase will have a far-reaching positive impact in coffee growing communities throughout the developing world – it will send kids to school, bring clean water to farming communities and enable struggling farmers to put food on the table,” said Paul Rice, president and ceo of TransFair USA. “Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ initiative empowers consumers to make ethical decisions about the coffee they drink, and support the farmers that produce it.”

Full press release.

(Cross posted at http://fairtrade.change.org)

Also see Global Exchange’s Starbucks Campaign.

Much thanks to the Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns USA, for putting together this great video clip from the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break that took place on World Fair Trade Day. A total of 12,128 people from different locations all over the US came together and collectively shared a moment to enjoy a nice cup of Fair Trade Certified Coffee, setting a record! Also, from May 3-18 was North America’s Fair Trade fortnight, and an estimated 50,000 people participated in over 200 events. Impressive numbers Fair Traders. That means that the movement is gaining even more momentum and the number of people becoming aware and supporting Fair Trade is continuing to grow. This is great news not only for people on the ground working to spread the word of Fair Trade, but it’s even greater news for those small-scale farmers and producers groups around the world that are benefitting from Fair Trade. Now let’s break the record for next year!

…and because we know you can’t get enough of looking at photos from the big day, here’s a link to the Flickr page.

The Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative, located in Uganda, is a prime example of how Fair Trade and coffee making can bring about peace and unity. Mirembe Kawomera, which means “delicious peace” in Uganda, is a coffee cooperative with members consisting of Bantu Jews, Christians and Muslims that are working together not only to encourage religious tolerance, but also to promote economic justice.

Starting in 2004, the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative began with lone coffee farmer, JJ Keki a Bantu Jew, who was determined to see his local coffee community succeed in the midst of the coffee crisis. He reached out to neighboring Jewish, Muslim and Christian coffee farmers to come together, despite their religious differences, and form a cooperative. With sheer determination and help from a US non-profit, Kulanu, the cooperative was formed and now has over 700 members.

The farmers sell their coffee directly to the Thanksgiving Coffee Company who helped make Mirembe Kawomera Coffee to be the first Fair Trade Certified Ugandan coffee to reach the US Market. The Thanksgiving Coffee Company have been able to pay the farmers four times higher than they were previously receiving, helping out the community incredibly. Both Thanksgiving Co. and the Mirembe Cooperative have recently received the Dr. John Mayer Global Citizenship award from the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership, with past award recipients including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The direct partnership of the Thanksgiving Coffee Company and the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative has enabled various community development projects to occur including investments in public health and education for the community. They have been praised for their “wonderful innovative and powerful efforts on behalf of alleviating poverty, creating accountable and sustainable trade practices, encouraging peace and promoting interfaith harmony,” according to the Tufts Institute’s Director.

How can you get involved? You can start by learning more about the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative here, which highlights the story of the farmers and the all the positive impacts that this union has brought forth to the community.

In partnership with Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Global Giving, the Global Exchange Online Store brings you coffee from the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative. Grown in the eastern region of Uganda on the volcanic slopes of Mt. Elgon. Two dollars from the sale of each package will be donated to the Nyaka School for Children Orphaned due to HIV/AIDS project in rural Uganda, providing free primary education and extracurricular activities to children who have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS. Help make a difference and grab a bag today.

Read More about the Tufts Institute Award given to Thanksgiving Coffee Co. and the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative.
Learn More about the Thanksgiving Coffee Company.

This December, spend your vacation harvesting social justice in Nicaragua. Take a Reality Tour trip with Global Exchange! Participate in a transformative travel experience with Global Exchange and work with a Fair Trade coffee cooperative to experience the other side of the struggle for social and economic justice.

Global Exchange is sponsoring several highly motivated individuals to travel to Nicaragua this harvest season and work with a Fair Trade coffee cooperative (CECOCAFEN). Fair Harvesters will live with a cooperative member family and work alongside farmers to harvest coffee, learning by participating in the daily lives of small-scale farming families and beginning to understand the meaning of Fair Trade producers. This is a unique opportunity, and Fair Harvest is not intended to be a tour or tourist visit, but rather to be a lived experience that will motivate the participants to be committed activists when they return.