The Ten Minute Activist
Easy Ways to Take Back the Planet
Good to the Last Drop?
America might be addicted to oil, but it's not the only "black gold" we can't get enough of.
The United States consumes more coffee than any other nation on the planet. It's our second-largest import in fact, second only to, you guessed it, oil. But how and why does coffee cost lives? To start, in 1989 the United States succeeded in abolishing the International Coffee Agreement, which had stabilized prices, in favor of free trade policies. Prices quickly plummeted from $1.20 per pound in the 1980s to 41 cents per pound today. This was a boon for the giant coffee corporations, who used their control of the market to force farmers to accept the lower prices without passing on the savings to consumers. In countries like Mexico and El Salvador, tens of thousands of coffee farmers have lost their livelihoods and face starvation because of the deregulated coffee market. In West Africa, farmers use slave labor in order to function.
You can opt out of this dirty business by searching for cafes and grocery stores that carry coffee produced under fair and legal labor conditions. Look for the Free Trade Certified label to ensure your caffeine comes without strings attached. If your local area hasn't caught on yet, fair trade coffee is available online at globalexchange.org.
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