Turn up the heat on Starbucks and Fair Trade
Posted by msterilinn on Jul 24, 2008
I am willing to sacrifice one of my most favourite indulgences of sipping on a delicious white chocolate mocha from Starbucks in favor of supporting small-scale coffe farmers struggling to support their families under deplorable conditions. Truly it has been a while since my last sweet cup, so I do not feel guilty knowing they are refusing to step up. Yet I am concerned enough about the situation to spread the word to folks willing to sign the petition.
According to the Organic Consumers Association, despite close to ten years of consumer and farmer demands, Starbucks has refused to increase their purchase of certified Fair Trade and Organic coffee to a respectable level. To date, only 6% of Starbucks’ coffee is certified Fair Trade. High quality certified Fair Trade and Organic coffee is readily availlable and represents a concrete way to support small-scale coffee farmers abroad.
Instead of committing to an accountable and respected third-party certifying system, Starbucks has created in internal “corporate responsibility” model that is expensive for coffee farmers, non-transparent and strictly voluntary. Starbucks’ has yet to fully committ to incoporating corporate accountable practices into their business model.
Starbucks calls its coffee worker-friendly — but in Ethiopia, a day’s pay is a dollar. For more information please visit Investigative Report: Promises and poverty
It is time to turn the heat up on Starbucks. Take action today! Sign OCA’s 2008 petition to Starbucks demanding that all espresso drinks be both 100% certified Organic and Fair Trade.
Take a few moments to visit Organic Consumers Association to learn more about this and other concerns that we, as responsible and caring consumers, need to be aware of. This is our planet, and we truly need to take steps to care for the earth and ALL the people who inhabit this world.
Was drinking a mug of expensive coffee yesterday (sitting in a hot tub, no less) when I read a profile of a man in South America making twelve cents a day carrying heavy sacks of coffee beans down narrow mountain paths. The guy was stunned when the writer told him the coffee would likely be sold for three dollars a cup….
Thanks for enlightening me about Starbucks. Usually you hear about all the community service activities they are doing and I wasn’t aware of this latest controversy.
You are most welcome sweetpea48. It is amazing how misleading some well known companies can be, yet when we dig a bit deeper we find the truth is not such a good thing at all. I do hope people are willing to look past their own personal comfort enough to help create changes for those less fortunate in other places. Sometimes ‘out of sight’ is ‘out of mind’. I would hope that if my family were suffering, folks would not turn a blind eye. We really are all connected.