Full Text and Background on Measure O Frequently Asked Questions

1. Farmers are in crisis. Millions of coffee farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia are facing poverty, starvation and loss of family farms. Many have fled their farms to seek work in cities or other countries. This is because global coffee prices have plummeted to all-time lows in recent years, far below the cost of production. This worldwide crisis has led to increased drug cultivation in Colombia and Peru. Fair Trade turns these problems around by ensuring a living wage and long-term economic stability.

2. Millions of farmers depend on fairness from major coffee consumers like us. Coffee is the world's second most valuable traded commodity - after oil- and the U.S. consumes a fifth of all of the world's coffee. More than 20 million coffee workers in 49 countries produce coffee. Socially responsible coffee allows us to trade equitably with all of these coffee farmers.

3. Consumers need verification and corporate accountability. Recent corporate scandals show that we can't even trust businesses to keep their accounting straight. Clearly, we need outside monitoring and certification to insure social responsibility in the coffee industry. Independently certified Fair Trade, organic, and shade grown coffee are products we can trust.

4. It will help save the rainforest. During the "Green Revolution" in the 1970s- 80s, the US Agency for International Development encouraged coffee farmers to increase yields by replacing traditional shade farming methods with open 'sun grown' techniques. This resulted in the destruction of over 1.1 million hectares of pristine rainforest. Shade grown coffee preserves the rainforest, maintaining biodiversity and climate protection.

5. We all miss the songbirds. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has identified deforestation from industrial coffee production as one of the major threats to songbirds in the hemisphere. Shade-grown coffee maintains the canopy of diverse trees that provide critical habitat for birds and other native species. There are half as many songbirds in North America as there were before the beginning of the technification of the coffee industry in Central America.

6. It will keep our shared environment healthy. Sun-grown coffee requires large amounts of pesticides and chemical fertilizers that poison the soil and water in farming communities. Organic production keeps the environment free of chemicals that wreak havoc on our soil and water and imperil the health of rural communities.

7. It's fair. Fair Trade Certification ensures that farmers receive a decent price over the long-term for their hard work and high quality coffee. Current world coffee prices are about $.50/pound for coffee that retails at $1/cup or $10/pound and higher. Fair Trade farmers receive at least $1.26 per pound for their coffee ($1.41 for organic), allowing them to cover basic needs such as food clothing, health care, and education.

8. It will increase consumer choice. Right now, consumers are largely restricted to purchasing coffee produced in ways that exploit workers and harm the environment. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of high-quality socially responsible, and competitively priced brands of coffee for businesses to choose from. Measure O will give customers the opportunity to select from a wide range of high-quality, socially responsible coffees.

9. Small farmers support this. Farmworkers are some of the most exploited laborers around the world. Fair Trade stops exploitation by ensuring a living wage, fair terms of employment, and safe working conditions. Farmworkers clearly understand the benefits of this measure. It is endorsed by Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers.

10. Berkeley is visionary in promoting economic, social and environmental justice. Just as Berkeley began a national movement by divesting from South Africa during apartheid, our city will now lead the national movement for Fair Trade, shade grown, and organic coffee. Measure O reflects the commitment of Berkeley residents to the environment and basic standards of fairness. In the future, we will look back with pride at Berkeley's visionary role in the transformation to a healthier environment and a more just society.

Who endorses this initiative?