Do you know where your coffee comes from? Do you know if it is fair trade? Organic? Arabica? What do you know about your coffee? Does it matter if you know anything about it?
This morning we are drinking coffee from The Fresh Market. I got to thinking about where the coffee comes from. Fresh Market tells its customers it uses Fair Trade and Organic Certified coffees. I have no reason to doubt them, but it you look through their marketing, it appears they are the ones who are making the arrangements with farmers and roasting coffee. They aren't.
Coffee Bean International(CBI) sells coffee to Fresh Market and other retail chains(i.e. Target) to sell to the public. CBI roasts about 10 million lbs of coffee per year. They strive to provide good relations with the farmers they work with. They work with the farmer to produce high quality coffee. They offered a tiered system of payment, so the farmer is getting a fairer price for their coffee. CBI is transparent with their economic transactions. They promote sustainable practices. Their partnerships in the communities create better economic and educational opportunities for the families living there.
Now you may not need to know where your coffee comes from, or if it is fair traded, or grown in an environmentally sound manner. It's important to me. For example - Walmart coffee mostly comes from Brazil on farms created out of the deforested regions in the country. In other words, part of the deforestation going on in Brazil is for industry and farming. This coffee is being produced in essence in created coffee companies, where coffee did not traditionally grow.
Again, this could or could not be important to you. I think there is a strong reason to support and promote sustainable growing practices, and entire rain forests do not have to come down for my cup of coffee.
Future posts will look more into this. I was just thinking about this during my morning coffee.
Charlie
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