So popular became this
drink that only petroleum surpasses its value in the world
market. With an annual value of some $36 billion (in 2001),
its similarities to petroleum end there. The extravagant lifestyles
that most petroleum producers enjoy stands in stark contrast
to most coffee producers who are engaged in a daily struggle
to simply get by. With a long history of boom and bust cycles,
the coffee market most recently crashed in 1995 — about
the same time that the specialty coffee market began to enjoy
considerable profits and popularity. Caused by a massive surplus
in the production, this crash is lasting far longer, and its
consequences more severe, than anyone could have predicted.
With over half of the world's coffee produced by small family
farmers on less than 13 acres — many with far less —
the impacts have been extreme.
Current coffee prices are
less than even the production costs for many farmers throughout
the world and yet still the largest companies in the industry
continue to make millions of dollars every year. With no money
for labor during harvest, children are being pulled from schools,
the most basic social services like health care and education
are eroding, debts are skyrocketing and family lands are being
sold at a fraction of their value to pay creditors. With the
land that once sustained them gone - both in cash and food
crops - farmers are moving into a cycle of poverty that has
deep and lasting consequences for millions of people and entire
countries.
The EcoTeach Answer
While the Fair Trade and
Organic movements have been a step in the right direction,
neither one individually addresses the long-term, systemic
issues plaguing coffee production. Organic certification nets
farmers a much higher price for their crops but involves a
three-year process that cuts their production up to 40% by
some estimates. To an already struggling farmer who is wary
of the future stability of such a move, it is a change that
represents a huge gamble. For most, just beginning this three-year
process is, financially, the beginning of the end. It also
represents a truly massive change in the way things have been
done for some farmers' entire lives - a change not easy to
swallow without education and consideration and respect for
these cultures.
Likewise, Fair Trade certification, while an
excellent and admirable program, is often too high a bar to
set for smaller farmer organizations that are interested in
improving their position but need to take incremental steps
that will allow them to get back on their feet.
At EcoTeach, we seek to take the best of both
programs, insist on Shade Grown practices, and then seek the
best coffee within that arena. We are seeking farmers, cooperatives
and less organized farmer collectives who show a true and
lasting desire to do the right things and keep as much of
the labor (roasting and bagging) as possible in Costa Rica
to keep profits and jobs within the communities we work with.
We look for environmental stewardship. Like
CoopeDota who has just installed new dryers this year that
burn the skins of dried beans —called castillas
(parchment) — instead of wood for fuel and will save
150 acres of trees annually while reducing pollution output.
We look for socially conscious organizations
like farmer cooperatives that assure health care, low interest
loans, supplies and education to their members on health issues
surrounding the use of pesticides and herbicides. Our partners
provide organic alternatives and encourage their increased
use wherever possible.
Most importantly, we look for a commitment
to long-term change. New, coffee-specific certifications like
Utz Kapeh
addresses the full range of issues for coffee producers and
will become part of our program in the Spring of 2004 from
the farmers of CoopAtenas. Utz Kapeh represents a rather attainable
entrance level for certification but immediately puts farmers
on a conveyor belt of positive and lasting change that comes
incrementally, minimizing upfront costs to farmers yet introducing
sustainability through education and cooperative efforts.
And after all of this, we ensure that at least
$1 from every single bag we sell is given directly back to
Costa Rica through the EcoTeach Foundation and its many education
and conservation initiatives. Sea
Turtle research and conservation, reforestation,
volunteer projects, community service, educational supplies
and opportunities for the local populations — these are
but a few of the projects your purchases will help to improve
and expand.
The US consumes 20% of the world's coffee.
As such, we wield amazing power on the global stage by simply
making responsible purchases and creating higher demand for
responsibly and sustainably produced products. EcoTeach is
proud to have been able to do the research directly in Costa
Rica and to have met individually with many farmers' groups
to assure you the most responsible options in your coffee
purchases.
Now the choice is yours.
To order your coffee
online, select the Order Coffee
Online button.
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