Background Information on the "Coffee Crises" and the Fair Trade Coffee Movement

What are the Churches Doing?

What Can We Do at St. Johns?

Where Can I Buy Fair Trade Coffee For Home?

Some More Resources and Links

From Oxfam America

"People in the business call it a "coffee crisis," but most consumers are blissfully unaware that unstable prices and lack of direct market access are causing devastation, despair, and hunger for 25 million coffee farming families around the world. Even as the price of coffee rises from a 30-year low, small-scale coffee farmers still cannot earn a decent income, not to mention afford basic family expenses like food, healthcare, and education."  More ...

Episcopal Church

"When is a cup of coffee more than a cup of coffee? When it promotes environmental and economic justice in coffee-growing nations around the world. . .  About 500 congregations and dioceses, more than 800 individuals and at least one college -- General Theological Seminary -- have bought Bishops Blend."  More ...

Catholic Church

"Beginning in 1999, world coffee prices began a period of steep decline. By 2001, coffee prices had fallen to their lowest levels, in real terms, in a century. Prices were so low that most small farmers were selling their coffee for even less than what it cost them to produce it. The social and economic effects of what came to be known simply as “the Coffee Crisis” were devastating."   More ...

Methodist Church

"Coffee is big business -- it's the second most heavily traded commodity in the world. . . . Most small coffee farmers live in isolated communities in some of the poorest countries in the world. They usually sell their coffee through middlemen, known to Latin American farmers as "coyotes." With world prices in constant flux and coyotes offering the lowest price possible, farmers never know how much they'll get for their crops." More ...

Lutheran Church

"Coffee is big business -- it’s one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world. But for the majority of small-scale coffee farmers, the benefits are few. . . . Conventionally traded coffee involves a lengthy, and expensive, cast of middlemen between the coffee farmer and the consumer, each taking their share—or more—of the coffee price. What’s left for the farmers may not even cover their production costs or basic living expenses. Many farmers now are earning less for their crops than their great-grandparents did 100 years ago." More ...

Presbyterian Church

"Coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity in the world, after oil. Americans drink an estimated 320 million cups of coffee each day. That's 25% of the world's coffee imports, and 20% of the world's total coffee production. Some 20 million people near the equator depend on coffee for their livelihood. For the majority of small coffee farmers, the benefits are small. World prices are in constant flux, and coffee industry middlemen (known to Latin American farmers as "coyotes") offer farmers the lowest price possible. Farmers never know how much they'll get for their crops."  More ...

"Biblical teachings from the Old Testament and the Gospel of Jesus call upon us to love our neighbor, and certainly this implies just treatment for our neighbors, near and far, who produce needed goods. Our globalized economy brings all of us into relationship with distant producers and the conditions of those producers has become a pressing moral and ethical issue."  More ...

"Pursuing Justice One Cup at a Time"

(An article from the Washington Post on the Fair Trade Coffee movement in Churches). "Sipping the right kind of coffee is now a matter of conscience for the Quakers who meet in Northwest Washington, the congregants of Fairfax Presbyterian Church and the members of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Laurel."   More ...

We as the people of God can:

   try to build a better world "one cup at a time," and

   ensure that our neighbors and fellow members of the body of Christ -- those farmers who grow our coffee -- can put food on their tables even as world coffee prices reach historic lows

by:

   Using only fair trade coffee at home,

   Urging our local grocers to carry fair trade coffee,

   Supporting the use of fair trade coffee during our coffee hours and other functions here at St. Johns. How?

   Assure the members of our Hospitality Committee that you support their use of Fair Trade coffee at our coffee hour and at other functions -- even if it costs a bit more.

   St. Johns consumes a surprisingly large quantity of coffee each year. The church's coffee budget for 2005 did not take into account the extra cost of buying fair trade coffee. St. Johns is now using Episcopal Relief and Development's Bishop Blend Fair Trade Coffee at its coffee hour. We estimate the additional cost of using Fair Trade coffee is about $360 per year, or about $30 per month. Help us make up the coffee budget shortfall by pledging a contribution to cover the increased cost of buying Bishop's Blend Fair Trade coffee.

Locally

Look for these symbols when you buy coffee:

TransFair USA

Fair Trade Federation (FTF)

A locally based brand of Fair Trade Coffee found in many grocery stores in the Twin Cities area is Peace Coffee, in Minneapolis.

On-Line or Mail Order

   Episcopal Relief and Development's "Bishop's Blend" Fair Trade Coffee. About 500 congregations and dioceses, and at least one college -- General Theological Seminary -- have bought Bishops Blend, and now St. John's is using Bishop's Blend!

   Catholic Relief Services Coffee Map. Catholic Relief Services has a "coffee map" of mission-driven coffee companies that have made an institutional commitment to Fair Trade. Fair Trade is not merely a product for them, but a way of doing business.

   Catholic Relief Services' Sponsored Fair Trade Coffee. Click here for links to 9 Companies that sell Catholic Relief Services' Nicaragua Fair Trade Coffee

   Equal Exchange. Several of the largest church denominations have partnered with Equal Exchange to sell fair trade coffee, including:

   American Friends Service Committee Coffee Project

   Church of the Brethren Coffee Project

   Lutheran World Relief Coffee Project

   Mennonite Central Committee Coffee Project

   Presbyterian Coffee Project

   United Church of Christ Coffee Project

   United Methodist Committee on Relief Coffee Project

   Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Coffee Project

   The Heifer Project sponsored Fair Trade Coffee: Heifer Hope Blend

Fair Trade Coffee Bulletin Inserts, from the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio

In Nov 2004, the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio passed a resolution encouraging its congregations to use Fair Trade Coffee

Fair Trade Links, from the Church World Service

The Church World Service is the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States that belong to the National Council of Churches, USA