Miles Owen is one of the directors of Ecotopia. We told you a little bit about them and their facebook forest recently. In this guest post by Miles, he looks at the documentary “Black Gold” and discusses the importance of buying Fairtrade coffee.
Many people start the day with a few cups of coffee, or if you’re like our very energetic team at Ecotopia - a few pots of coffee. But have you ever thought where it comes from? If you haven’t checked out “Black Gold,” the acclaimed documentary that takes a look at the multi-billion dollar coffee industry and the poor farmers who cultivate the beans, then you should! You probably will never set foot in a large supermarket to buy your coffee again.
The film follows Tadesse Meskela, the General Manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he visits coffee-growing regions in Sidamo and Oromia, as well as a coffee processing center, a coffee auction house, and his union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa. He also travels to England and the US in an effort to promote Ethiopian coffee by eliminating the numerous middlemen.
With great frankness, Meskela uses “Black Gold” as a stage to describe the chronic situation Ethiopian coffee farmers face. When the price of coffee hit a 30-year low at the start of the Millenium, farmers struggled to feed their children and send them to school. Some quit farming. Others began growing a more profitable line - a local narcotic banned in the US and Europe. With their families malnourished and being forced to travel long distances to accept foreign aid, some farmers saw no alternative but to bring their families to government feeding centres.
So why do they call it black gold?
Coffee is traded as a commodity—just like oil or gold—and is second only to oil in commodity value. Because of the production surplus brought about by sun-grown coffee, the price of coffee has been chronically depressed on the world market, making it difficult for farmers to make a good living from year to year.
The price of coffee is rising, but little has changed in these communities. In Ethiopia, country that depends on coffee for about 40 percent of its export revenue, farmers make as little as 2.5p for every cup of coffee sold in Europe. Meanwhile, multinational coffee corporations collectively rake in as much as £160 billion each year, according to the film.
So why buy Fairtrade?
Fair trade organisations work directly with cooperatives of small farmers to eliminate much of the middleman costs and provide the growers with a stable price that ensures a reasonable standard of living. For instance, in 2004 the UK Fairtrade market guaranteed participating coffee growers a minimum of 126 cents per pound for arabica coffee beans, compared to a world market price of 52 cents per pound. Many fair trade organisations also encourage their growers to employ sustainable farming practices (such as organic and shade-grown).
Photo credit: jsbarrie
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Grandmother and former nurse Linda Sones sells organic cotton baby and children’s clothing and accessories, and natural, organic baby toiletries online at SonesUK. Her suppliers are all committed to various environmental and Fairtrade initiatives.
Fairtrade is an organized social movement and market based model of International Trade (Wikipedia). In a capitalist society profits rule and the scramble of wealthy countries to make money often results in exploitation of small scale producers such as farmers, craft and textile workers etc. who are left to exist on minimum wages without any hope for their and their families’ future. At present the rules of global economics are made by institutions such as the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Global policies are developed with input mainly from multinational corporations and little input from the public.
Fairtrade works by paying producers a fair price for crops plus a little extra to help community development projects. It also helps to promote social and environmental standards. Price is agreed according to local or regional context, is reached via discussion with all parties and covers not only the cost of production but enables socially just and environmentally sound production. It pays fairly and without gender bias so that women are properly rewarded for their work. It is suggested that many more farmers could benefit from Fairtrade if it were not for unfair trade rules that make it very difficult for poor countries to trade their way out of the poverty trap. For example tariffs which are a type of import tax are levied by many countries. A tariff of 500 percent on rice for example makes it impossible for poor countries to trade with Japan. The European Union and United States of America give farmers massive subsidies. Resultant over production is then ‘dumped’ on poor countries making it difficult for farmers to even sell their crops within their own country.
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Like it or not, xmas means shopping to lots of people. In an effort to minimise the damage caused by excess consumerism, we can choose to give gifts that have a lesser impact on the environment, aren’t made in sweatshops or even better, go for something handmade. Of course, the most eco-friendly thing you can do it not go shopping this holiday season, but if you’re not going to go that route, here are some suggestion for gifts that are a lesser evil.
Electronics & Gadgets
This is a good gadget. In Stephen Fry’s recent review of it he declared: “Eat Trevor’s dust, Apple!” The Trevor Baylis Eco Media Player plays music, video and fm radio, and also functions as a torch, sound recorder, photo viewer, mobile phone charger, ebook viewer and data storage device. You can even record your old LPs onto it. It has a dual power system, so if you’re away from your power source (in this case your PC/laptop USB port) for a while, who cares, just wind it up. You get 40 minutes audio play time for each 1 minute of winding. The Eco Media Player features a 1.8″ screen, and 2 gigabytes of internal memory, which holds around 500 songs, and can be expanded by adding an SD Memory Card. £169.99 £134.99. Free shipping with promo code FSCS25 until 21st December 2007. I’m getting one of these babies for my birthday in a couple of weeks time, can’t wait!
Here’s a little something for boys of all ages. The H-Racer is the world’s smallest hydrogen powered fuel-cell car, a futuristic toy car containing one of the most exciting and advanced technologies of the 21st century. With new advances in technology, hydrogen is on its way to becoming the world’s next fuel. The H-racer is the working miniature version of what is being developed in real-size cars of the future, which are also called “zero emissions vehicles”. I can just see boys and their dads falling head over heels for one of these. £74.99 including delivery.
The Eton FR200 Wind Up Radio with Flashlight is ideal for camping, gardening and even in emergencies. The radio has a heavy-duty, splash-proof ABS plastic case, a long-lasting rechargeable battery pack and gives you access to AM, FM, and 11 International Shortwave bands, so you can stay informed where ever you are, even in emergency conditions. Just one minute of winding will give you approximately an hour of radio operation. A gift that will appeal to geeks, hunks or grandpas.£23.99.
Fashion
Handbags and gladrags tend to make an appearance at this time of year. This gorgeous bag wouldn’t be out of place now or at any other time of the year for that matter. The Fairtrade felt Flower Bag is handmade in Nepal by local village women. It’s fully lined and zips up, keeping keys and purses safe. Buying Fairtrade gifts is a wonderful way to give back something at Christmas time to people who work hard for wages that are much lower than ours. £18.50 including delivery.
Food & Drink
Food is such a great gift not only because it brings pleasure to the recipient, but also because it’s something that can be all used up, there’s nothing leftover to go to landfill. And what’s more of a luxury than beautiful and delicious cake and deserts. Tom and Ant’s organic cakes are a feast for the eyes, the taste buds and the stomach. This Christmas Celebration package contains a 10″ cake of your choice and a large mixed desert box, including brownies, chocolates and fudge. £55 including delivery.
Gifts for the Home
This is such a cool gift that it won the Gift Association’s Eco-friendly Gift of the Year Award this year. The Sun Jar is a traditional Mason jar containing a highly efficient solar cell, rechargeable battery and three low energy LED lamps. During the day, put the jar in a sunny location where the solar cell creates an electrical current that charges the battery over a few hours. At night, this energy powers the warm coloured LEDs in the jar, the light of which is diffused by the frosted jar. The jar is watertight so the jar can be put outside to benefit from maximum sunlight. Makes an excellent garden light, mood lighting or night light for children. £19.95.
I hummed and hawed about putting this item on the gift list. It is a piece of furniture, and I’ve never bought anyone a piece of furniture for Christmas, but if you’re one of those couples who buys something together for your home instead of a gift each, or if you have a son or daughter (or friend) who’s just bought their first home, this may be just the thing you’ve been after. They’re called Rock’n'roll shelves, a unique shelving system made in Sweden from unbleached high density paperboard. They are paintable, washable, not inflammable and fully recyclable. I think you’ll agree that they’re also beautiful. £189.99 for a pack of 5 rolls. To make the pictured configuration you’d need two packs.
Kids Stuff
“He thought he could fly up in his spaceship and just grab the star. But his spaceship had run out of petrol last Tuesday when he flew to the moon.” A quote from How to Catch a Star, one of my daughter’s favourite story books. Rockets and spaceships play a big part in children’s fantasies, and this really cool Paperpod Rocket is eco-friendly too. It’s not just a toy rocket, small astronauts can actually fit inside it for planetary exploration missions. It’s made from recycled cardboard, is a blank canvas for budding artists to decorate and personalise, and can be folded away at the end of play. This really appeals to my motherly side, and to the side of me that likes a tidy living room once the kids have gone to bed. £29.99.
The Lorax is a classic in every way. Who doesn’t love Dr Seuss? And this is no ordinary Dr Seuss book, in this book Dr Seuss gets serious and spells out an ecological warning that is as relevant today as it ever was. A great book to get children into the ideas of environmentalism and earth stewardship (although sometimes I think it’s the kids that get it, and it’s the grown-ups who should be reading books like these). By buying a child a copy of this book, you’re passing along an important message in a most enjoyable way. £3.99.
This is the best value wooden kitchen that I’ve come across. I bought one for my daughter 18 months ago and it’s stood up extremely well to being played with on a daily basis. I heartily recommend this all-in-one kitchen for its durability, for being fantastic value for money and for being compact enough to be wheeled into a corner at the end of the day. The kitched includes cooker, hob, washing machine and sink. £79.95.
Book Recommendation
This great read has been the top-seller in our bookshop since I reviewed it back in June. In “How to live off-grid“, Nick Rosen goes into every detail of off-grid living. He provides not only the inspiration to get off the beaten track and find your own space, he also provides countless resources to help you do just what he suggests. To gather the information to write this book, Nick took to the road with his wife and baby daughter in a converted care bus fuelled by vegetable oil and sun. They toured the UK meeting with off-gridders of all sorts. Yurt-dwellers, communards, utopians and rural squatters were all on Nick’s path, all living happy and comfortable lives completely off-grid. Their stories are fascinating, inspiring and sometimes quite far-out. But they all have some lessons to pass on to those of us who until now have only dream about being self-sufficient. £9.09.
Stocking Fillers
Multi-Striped Organic Cotton Socks - treat their feet! £5.95 £4.75
Divine Fairtrade Milk Chocolate Coins - pennies from heaven. £1.99
Felt Finger Puppets (set of five) - These cute little guys will provide hours of fun for the little people in your life. £5.95 £2.35
Swedish Firesteel - For outdoors enthusiasts, these are really cool little gadgets. No need for lighters or matches. With one of these you can pretend you’re Ray Mears. £14.95 £11.95
Forest friendly Butterfly Castanets - For the littlest of people. Brightly coloured butterflies that make a delightful clackety-clack in small hands. £2.49 including delivery.
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