The Birds & The Beans
by Fred ClarkIt's a question even the best parents dread but can't avoid. Sooner or later, it's time for, The Talk.
"Daddy," the child says expectantly, "where does coffee come from?"
"Uh, coffee" says the nervous father, "Coffee comes from the grocery store."
"But how does it get to the grocery store?"
"Well, the, uh, the stork brings it."
"The stork?"
"Look son, why don't you ask your mother?"
For millions of coffee drinkers, it might as well be the stork. Coffee is grown thousands of miles away and who grows it or how it gets to us isn't something we're supposed to think about. As the price of coffee climbs steeply, consumers may grumble, but will continue to pay, unquestioningly. (This is, after all, coffee we're talking about, not some optional luxury.)
Coffee is grown in tropical countries like Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, and Indonesia. It is usually grown on plantations where workers often are not paid a living wage. To increase short-term production, coffee plantations have adopted unnatural models, growing row after row of coffee plants in the hot sun.
Coffee is naturally a shade crop. When grown in barren monocultures, like Iowa corn, it takes massive amounts of pesticides to keep coffee insect-free. Consumers of the final product are probably not in danger from these toxins, but they pose a serious threat to the health of plantation workers and local ecosystems. Natural, shade-grown coffee farms provide important habitats for migratory songbirds. One apparent reason for the decline of these songbirds in America is the proliferation of pesticide-soaked industrial coffee plantations.
Those coffee growers who want to do right by their workers and to care for their land face pressure from buyers to keep costs down. The buyers, usually large-multinationals, have nothing against workers per se, but like the consumers they supply, they just don't think about it, worrying only about getting the lowest possible price. A coffee grower who does justice to his workers and his land may get priced out of the market.
Many of these buyers, multinational corporations, have proven irresponsible in other areas. One of the largest coffee buyers is Philip Morris, the tobacco giant behind brand names like Brim, General Foods, Gevalia, Maxim, Maxwell House and Sanka. Philip Morris is the target of a boycott sponsored by INFACT in protest of the company's marketing of cigarettes to the poor in developing countries around the world.
Another large coffee buyer is Nestle, which as for decades been the target of an international boycott due to its irresponsible marketing of infant formula in poor countries. Nestle produces Cain's, Chase & Sanborn, Hills Bros., MJB, Nescafe and Sunrise coffees.
Fortunately, there are alternatives. At PRISM, we get our coffee from Equal Exchange, a fair trade company that deals directly with coffee growers. Equal Exchange buys delicious, organically grown coffee from cooperatives, providing a fair market for responsible, ethical growers. Because they deal directly with growers instead of commodities markets, Equal Exchange is able to offer a higher price to their suppliers and a competitive price to their consumers.
The Thanksgiving Coffee Company is another conscientious provider of organic coffee. Their goal is to "support those growers who have applied . . . methods to improve the environmental and social conditions within the coffee growing regions in which they operate." Royal Blue Organics, likewise, produces a variety of tasty, pesticide-free coffees grown by cooperatives in Latin America.
This article first appeared in the July/August 1997 issue of PRISM in the Shop & Save column. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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