About two years ago I was listening to a podcast mention a video documentary about the coffee industry. I wanted to watch this independent film, but it wasn't showing anywhere locally, so I had to wait for months until the film showed on the local PBS station. It aired at 11 p.m. I guess nobody thought that a movie about coffee was interesting.
The film was Black Gold, a documentary following the life of Tadesse Meskela, a representative of a coffee farm co-op in Ethiopia. In the film you see the harsh living conditions of the Ethiopian farmers, contrasted with the bubbly Starbucks managers. I don't want to give the movie away, but it opened my eyes to see the need for improving living conditions for coffee farmers. I almost broke down in tears after a scene where the poor farmers are crying out, "God please give us a good price for our coffee!"Starbucks recently made headlines in announcing that they are closing 600 stores. The sagging economy is likely drying up everyone's coffee fund. I wonder if this will affect the whole movement to make living conditions fairer.
God is concerned about making sure people get paid fairly. The Apostle James writes:
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. James 5:4-6
It's honestly frustrating trying to figure out if farmers are being paid fairly or not. When Fair Trade Certified coffee is available at Wal-Mart and the FTC price is supposedly* less than current coffee prices, I wonder, "How are farmers in Ethiopia faring?" Lord willing, I hope is to someday professionally roast coffee and use the business to improve living conditions and plant churches among coffee growing peoples. You can read more about my dreams at CoffeeMissions.org
* I am trying to find out if the current FTC minimum price per pound green is less than current coffee prices. If you know for sure, please comment.
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Coffee is one of the most
Coffee is one of the most favorite beverages of all times particularly every morning during our breakfast. Now that Christmas Season and winter is coming, coffee is the best drinks that will suit the cold weather. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, with the holidays being just around the corner. Many during this season may have to resort to fast payday loans. This is the shopping version of the feast of Bacchus, where people gorge themselves in malls and department stores like Wal-Mart all over the nation, and all over the world, for that matter, and the biggest chunk of it takes place on Black Friday, where shoppers descend upon the poor, maltreated employees of these stores like a plague of locusts, draining them of energy and killing all hope within for a normal life and psychological health with the varying abuses that the general public wreak upon the downtrodden proletarians that work in retail. Smart shoppers still go out on Black Friday, because it is the best day for deals in the holiday season, and probably the best time to get in your Christmas shopping, but getting it all done in a day costs a pretty penny. Now, be smart during the holidays, and don’t go on a hedonistic spree with your gift getting, but remember that if something unexpected should happen this holiday season, you can always beat the humbug by looking up fast payday loans. Click to read more on Fast Payday Loans.
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