Bill, Thanks for the exhaustive breakdown of the issue. The fair traded coffee at Trader Joe's is not overpriced, nor that at the Green Line Cafe (which is equal exchange). I have also purchased Equal Exchange at Ten Thousand Villages in center city, where all the products come from the villages that make them and the profits go back to them. I believe that the Mennonite Service Committee is the organization that founded the 10,000 villages idea.
I don't think that it is a question of "good" and "bad" as you put it. There are two articles in today's Inquirer that highlight the "Outsider"- "Insider" inequity when it comes to writing (or circumventing) economic legislation. Both in the Business section, one concerns domestically produced wines, the other about the local Wendy's importing cheap foreign labor under a program designed for Cultural Exchange. Given the choice between free-traded or not, I'll still go with the free-traded and give it the benefit of the doubt. I will pass your comments along to Co-Op America and see what they have to say for themselves. In the meantime, thanks for the links to the Lutheran and Catholic sites, and I can't wait to try Café (why they name it Cafe Britt baffles me. Some of the worst coffee I've ever tasted was in London. My traveling companion explained that they achieve this by starting with the worst beans on the market and from there it gets worse. My advice: Drink tea while in GB). Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "William H. Magill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Joe Clarke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "University City" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 2:59 PM Subject: [UNKNOWN] Re: [UC] Tell Supermarkets to Offer More Fair Trade Products. > On 26 Aug, 2004, at 08:09, Joe Clarke wrote: > > Thought you all might be interested in this. Joe > > > <image.tiff><image.tiff>Your Action Requested: Tell Supermarkets to > > Offer More Fair Trade Products. > > > > Co-op America’s Fair Trade Supermarket Campaign is a grassroots effort > > to get supermarkets everywhere to carry more Fair Trade Certified™ > > coffee and other products. > > > > You may be wondering why, in the middle of an election year, we’re > > putting out a call to action on this issue. Well, what’s happening to > > coffee farmers is a story that needs to be told now more than ever. It > > is a story about how corporate roasters and mega-food retailers put > > profit over people and the planet, hurting farmers, consumers, and the > > environment. > > I'm not poo-pooing this idea, just pointing out that there is MUCH more > too this issue than is implied by the Coop-America bit. > > My understanding is that most of this "Fair Trade" stuff is just a > con... Just another "middle-man" who pockets the profits without any > of the profits flowing through to the farmers. > > "Fair Trade Certified" products are normally sold for premium prices, > yet the farmers get only a couple of pennies more than they would > otherwise -- an amount MUCH less than the retail price differential > would imply they should get. [see Oxfam's FAQ, which tap-dances around > this issue.] > http://www.oxfamamerica.org/campaigncoffee/art3391.html > > It is my understanding that there ARE religious based organizations > which, in fact DO pass along 90+% of the sale price of the Fair Trade > goods to the farmers -- not 10% as done by these other "so-called" > fair-trade operations. Two that I know of are the Lutherans and the > Catholics. > > http://www.lwr.org/coffee/index.asp > > http://www.catholicrelief.org/our_work/where_we_work/united_states/ > home_or_parish_based/fair_trade/coffee_project/index.cfm > > Both services work through Equal Exchange > > http://www.equalexchange.com/ > http://www.equalexchange.co.uk/ > http://store.globalexchange.org/eqex.html > > Other Fair Trade info sources: > > http://www.transfairusa.org/ > http://www.fairtradefederation.com/memcof.html > > Note also that Bucks County Coffee at 40th and Locust is one local UC > purveyor of Fair Traded Coffee ... although why anybody would want > blueberry coffee is beyond me ... [StarBucks is one of the outfits > cited as going through the "bad" middlemen.] > > Another approach is to deal directly with the producer in the foreign > country. > > My personal favorite is Cafe Britt -- a Costa Rican Coffee company. > Like Single Malt Scotch, their coffee all comes from their own > plantation. They are one of the only coffees in the world completely > produced in its country of origin: harvested, milled, patio dried, > roasted, and packed. -- Cafe Britt tastes like REAL Coffee. If you > like Laphroig, you'll love Cafe Britt! > > You can buy direct from them: > > http://www.cafebritt.com/ > > Salante` > > > > T.T.F.N. > William H. Magill > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ---- > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>. > > ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
