Sitting on the balcony on a hot summer's day and sipping and iced coffee is something I quite enjoy. In the background, the birds' singing give the atmosphere around a somewhat calm and relaxing flair. But wait: I forgot to say that the coffee needs to be fair trade. It makes me enjoy the coffee even more and I can sit back and think: I have done (at least) something good. Even if I can't directly intervene in the sometimes very strange ways things work in the world, I can at least do my best and support better situations for often exploited farmers in third world countries. Did you know that when using fair trade coffee, you don't need to add as much coffee per cup as with ordinary coffee?
Germans love coffee. It is their all-time favorite drink. Each person living in Germany consumes almost as much as 5kg per year (about 2 cups a day). Quite a lot considering the fact that Germany is known for its beer and beer drinking inhabitants. Perhaps the whole story surrounding beer and Germany is nothing but a myth - at least it seems so when it comes to coffee.
Fair trade coffee is often organic. That means no pesticides are used on the coffee plants and, thus, no pesticide-contaminated debris are found. Despite the fact that pesticides are dangerous and as far as I'm concerned should be avoided whenever possible, they are sometimes even applied to the actual coffee beans (not just the plants) when those are dried before the roasting process. Apparantly, applying even more pesticides is supposed to prevent any fungi. So, what we get as consumers is a coffee with a cocktail of pesticide residues. I'm not sure this is what I expect when all I want is nothing but a cup of coffee.
Ever since the beginning of the coffee crisis in 2001, coffee is subject to a high price volatility. Caused by an overproduction of low-quality coffee, the crisis largely influenced coffee farmers. Whereas the price producers receive for conventional coffee is constantly changing due to supply and demand, fair trade coffee guarantees stable prices during the time of the long-term agreement.
All of this may sound very promising. But then next time we go grocery shopping and we see fair trade coffee beside concentional coffee. An then we look at the price. Which one would you probably get? Whether we buy fair trade or not does not directly affect us.
Just imagine you were not as lucky to live in a developed country. Imagine you lived in the countryside of Guatemala. You work on a coffee plantation (non-fair trade). Every day you get up early in the morning. The hot sun is burning already at this hour. All day long you do nothing else but pick coffee beans. You sweat, the sun is almost unbearable. Does the creek beside the plantation provide an excellent source of water? You don't have a choice. You're thirsty and the only thing you think of is water. You drink from the creek which is full of pesticides. But that you don't know. It's the same water you give to your children. One of them has been sick for a while now and doesn't seem to recover. You get less than 3€ a day and can't afford to pay the doctor. What would your future be like under those circumstances?
Germans love coffee. It is their all-time favorite drink. Each person living in Germany consumes almost as much as 5kg per year (about 2 cups a day). Quite a lot considering the fact that Germany is known for its beer and beer drinking inhabitants. Perhaps the whole story surrounding beer and Germany is nothing but a myth - at least it seems so when it comes to coffee.
Fair trade coffee is often organic. That means no pesticides are used on the coffee plants and, thus, no pesticide-contaminated debris are found. Despite the fact that pesticides are dangerous and as far as I'm concerned should be avoided whenever possible, they are sometimes even applied to the actual coffee beans (not just the plants) when those are dried before the roasting process. Apparantly, applying even more pesticides is supposed to prevent any fungi. So, what we get as consumers is a coffee with a cocktail of pesticide residues. I'm not sure this is what I expect when all I want is nothing but a cup of coffee.
Ever since the beginning of the coffee crisis in 2001, coffee is subject to a high price volatility. Caused by an overproduction of low-quality coffee, the crisis largely influenced coffee farmers. Whereas the price producers receive for conventional coffee is constantly changing due to supply and demand, fair trade coffee guarantees stable prices during the time of the long-term agreement.
All of this may sound very promising. But then next time we go grocery shopping and we see fair trade coffee beside concentional coffee. An then we look at the price. Which one would you probably get? Whether we buy fair trade or not does not directly affect us.
Just imagine you were not as lucky to live in a developed country. Imagine you lived in the countryside of Guatemala. You work on a coffee plantation (non-fair trade). Every day you get up early in the morning. The hot sun is burning already at this hour. All day long you do nothing else but pick coffee beans. You sweat, the sun is almost unbearable. Does the creek beside the plantation provide an excellent source of water? You don't have a choice. You're thirsty and the only thing you think of is water. You drink from the creek which is full of pesticides. But that you don't know. It's the same water you give to your children. One of them has been sick for a while now and doesn't seem to recover. You get less than 3€ a day and can't afford to pay the doctor. What would your future be like under those circumstances?