Our morning
coffee is the fruit of the labour of millions of
workers and producers in the South. Unfortunately,
many of them earn paltry wages for work done under
very difficult conditions. Chances are, the coffee
you are drinking was grown by farmers who labored
long, back-breaking hours while exposed to harmful
chemicals in order to pocket a few cents.
In an attempt
to break the cycle of malnutrition, dependence,
illiteracy and violence, an alternative trade system,
known worldwide as "fair trade," has been
created. The products of this type of exchange,
encourage consumers and retailers to opt for coffee
which is "fairly traded."
This book
looks at the fair trade movement by examining the
issues surrounding the production and trading of
coffee. Using Mexico as an example, part one
describes the conventional coffee trade, tracing the
coffee bean's journey from the tree, through the
hands of several intermediaries in both the North and
South, to its final destination as a cup of coffee.
Part two presents the fair trade concept through the
example of the Mexican peasant organization which was
one of the first to embrace the fair trade system,
and which was also a pioneer in the production of
organic coffee. The third part explores the situation
of fair trade in North America, and provides
comprehensive sources and references for anyone who
wants to get involved, at any level.
Using the
example of the world coffee trade, this book shows
how our current trading system perpetuates poverty
and injustice, and explains how the alternative
system known as "fair trade" can break the
cycle of exploitation and environmental destruction.
Legions of people who produce our coffee suffer
abysmally low wages because of absurdly low prices.
Solving this problem, by buying with conscience,
would cost coffee drinkers almost nothing. To read Coffee
With Pleasure is to know that we
can change the world in simple, meaningful ways now.
--Paul Hawkin, author of The
Ecology of Commerce
Drinking a
cup of coffee usually entails taking a pause, rather
than adhering to a cause. But after reading Coffee
With Pleasure you will surely change your mind.
Incites change in consumer attitudes and thoughtful
commitment to a more equitable system of
international trade.
--Louis Sabourin, Director of Gerfi-École nationale
d'administration publigue (ENAP) and Former President
of the OECD Development Center, Paris
Table
of Contents
Foreword
Laure Waridel,
as a member of Action for Solidarity, Equality,
Environment and Development, was instrumental in
organizing the activist group, A Just Coffee, whose
aim it is to raise our coffee consciousness and
consciences, and opt for coffee which is 'fairly
traded.'
194 pages,
photographs
Paperback ISBN: 1-55164-190-9 $21.99
Hardcover ISBN: 1-55164-191-7 $50.99
Current Affairs
November 2001
Additional
information on fair-trade alternatives can be had at www.equiterre.qc.ca and at www.transfair.ca
