Willesden & The World - Fair Trade

But when you know that your cup of non-Fairtrade coffee comes from companies who, with a turnover of millions, refuse to give local farmers a fair price for their coffee so that we, the western consumers, can buy it cheap; you can’t help asking the question, “What price my cup of coffee?”

In a press release that came out in December 2003, about the crisis coffee farmers are facing in Ethiopia, Oxfam stated:

• Sara Lee, who make Douwe Egberts, have performed abysmally doing nothing to pay farmers better prices or helping them to diversify into other crops.
• Kraft, who make Maxwell House, are only marginally better but have still refused to buy either Fairtrade coffee or coffee that meets internationally agreed quality standards.
• Though Nestle supported the efforts of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) to solve the crisis, they still refuse to buy either Fairtrade or direct from the farmers.
• Procter and Gamble, who make the US brand Folgers were better than the rest but still do not have guidelines on buying coffee that would ensure at least basic living standards for farmers.

“The 2001 drought in Nicaragua was a disaster; but in conjunction with the ongoing crisis in the coffee trade, it was nothing short of catastrophic. The price collapse of recent years has gradually eroded what little security Nicaragua’s peasant farmers could once hope for... High quality coffee that sold for $1.60 per pound in 1999 fetched just 48 cents in February 2002 – well below the production costs of 75 cents per pound.”

“In Columbia, Vitelio Menza has been dependent on the coffee he grows all his life. At 48, he still struggles to provide for his family. Like millions of other smallholders, his fortunes and those of his wife, Maria Enith, and their four children have fluctuated dramatically along with the price he receives for his crop. Over the years the family has suffered illness brought on by malnutrition.”

A small price to pay for big ambitions!
The Willesden World Church Group have big ambitions: wouldn’t it be great if the Willesden area was the first Church of England Fairtrade area, in which all the churches were serving Fairtade coffee (and tea!) after church on Sundays? Wouldn’t it be great if the diocese of London was one of the first Fairtrade dioceses? Could we be part of a chain reaction across the dioceses of the UK? It is a big ambition but individually we would only have to pay a very small price. Then our cup of coffee surely would be worth something!

Some Fair Trade Products