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Around
the world, coffee and fellowship come together where we share
community. A warm pot of coffee is often the centerpiece of
fellowship hour, celebrations and other gatherings. As the
second most heavily traded commodity in the world, coffee is a
direct link between our communities and the farming
communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia. *
CCCC
started using Fair Trade coffee after our first Nicaragua
Brigade returned in 2003. In Nicaragua, we were introduced to
the plight of coffee farmers and learned that there were
options in purchasing coffee that would treat coffee farmers
more fairly. Fair Trade is the name given to any business
that pays a "living wage" to the farmers, which means somewhat
more than the low price that coffee had dropped to as Third
World countries turned to coffee as an export commodity with a
glut ensuing in the world market. We also looked for organic,
shade-grown coffee, meaning no harmful pesticides and other
unhealthful practices that destroy the farmers’ land and
villages. Sustainable farming is a term often used.
The Fellowship Committee thought that we could afford to pay
the extra money to serve only Fair Trade coffee at church, and
offer household size packages at cost to the church. Buying
Fair Trade coffee is twice as expensive for CCCC as the
tradition warehouse store mega-cans, but the coffee tastes
better and the church thought "it's the right thing to do".
We started
ordering coffee from the company Equal Exchange, using Equal
Exchange coffee in pre-measured packs made for our large
coffee maker and selling their multi-colored packages to
church members at cost. Members periodically order cases of
coffee through us, as well.
Equal
Exchange has an Interfaith Program that the United Church of
Christ joined in early 2004, and now 10% of the profit from
our orders goes to UCC missions. (CCCC was one of the
churches asking for the UCC to join the Interfaith Program.)
Equal Exchange also provides farmers with resources for social
and community development with 20% of their profit, in
addition to paying a fair amount per pound for the coffee.
Beneficio
Coffee is another company that sells Fair Trade coffee to
church in our conference. Beneficio also returns 20% of their
profit to the farming communities and 10% the UCC’s OCWM.
While Beneficio Coffee does not provide coffee packets for our
church coffee maker, it does offer pretty blue packages for
home use.
Fair Trade
Coffee from both Equal Exchange and Beneficio Coffee is
available for purchase after church each Sunday at the
Fellowship Table or from the church office during the week for
$6 per bag. We sell whole bean and ground coffee, caffeinated
& decaf. Join us for coffee after worship on Sunday or at
church events and participate in CCCC’s small bid to make a
difference for Third World farmers.
*From the
UCC Coffee Project
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