Do you ever come away after reading the Record and wonder how you can help people in need who live in some faraway country in South America, Africa or Asia? I don't mean relief aid, such as for the tsunami, but helping to provide long-term solutions. Are you frustrated by stories about corrupt dictators and pillaging businesses that rape the land and pay workers dirt wages? Do you find the arguments for and against globalization give you a headache?
Well sit down, put the kettle on and make yourself a pot of tea or coffee, because we are going to show you how the cup you are about to drink is a great solution.
The Presbyterian Record is sponsoring a competition encouraging fair trade coffee (and tea) consumption. By buying fair trade, you can make a real difference for farmers and their communities that will help them build stable, sustainable local economies. (See the ad on the inside front cover for details.)
The Presbyterian Church already supports the principle of fair trade through Presbyterian World Service and Development. So it follows that every Presbyterian church in Canada should serve fair trade coffee. Otherwise, we're not even paying lip service to the idea.
But what is fair trade, you ask?
Fair trade is what we all want: a fair, reasonable wage for our work, meaning that after a week of honest work, we can feed ourselves, save to buy a home, raise children, build a pension, care for aging parents. It doesn't require an ideology to point out that when farmers are forced to raise cash crops they can't eat for survival (such as coffee, cocoa, bananas) and then don't make enough money to buy basic food and shelter, that isn't fair.
That's where we all come in. Fair trade coffee, chocolate, flowers, textiles and other products are bought on the principle that the producers (farmer, weaver, etc.) receive a living wage in local currency. And coffee is a great place to start.
Coffee is one of the three most traded commodities and the second-largest commodity industry in the world, with more than 400 billion cups consumed each year (second only to water).
Cheap coffee — the stuff sold in big cans — is the result, not of free trade, but of greed and exploitation of human and natural resources. Cheap coffee production involves massive use of pesticides (it is the second most heavily sprayed crop), is the second-leading cause of rainforest destruction and is the leading cause of water contamination where grown. Kenya is a prime example. It has one of the most important, fertile agricultural regions in Africa. Tea and coffee are among its biggest exports. Yet deforestation and water pollution from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers are among its most formidable problems.
There's no excuse not to serve fair trade, which supports different birds, animals and other plants, pays the farmers and producers a fair wage and doesn't require pesticides. The coffee is not that expensive, it's the best-tasting, it can be delivered fresh-roasted in a matter of days anywhere in Canada and you know you are supporting God's people and God's creation. Besides, coffee has a spiritual past. Islamic monks brewed the first recorded cup of coffee in the 14th century, but it was so potent, they restricted consumption to times of prayer and meditation. (Which is no doubt why it remains the beverage of choice for university students!)
So what about free trade? "Fair trade is not free trade," one of our country's leading business editors once told me. He wouldn't get any disagreement from church and social justice critics — and that's unfortunate.
This editorial is being written during the Global Week of Action on Trade (April 10-16). There have been many meetings around the world involving church leaders, farmers, workers, traders and civil society groups in their countries by calling for fair international trade.
"Trade is important in addressing poverty," said one church official from Kenya. But free trade can help. As another church leader said, "There should be a level playing field between developed countries and developing countries." That's free — and fair — trade. The problem with most world trade is that it's not free or fair. Developed countries like Canada put up tariffs that block or hinder cheap imports of food and textiles to protect our more expensive domestic industries.
More importantly, we help keep other countries in poverty. "We believe that trade must promote human well-being, sustainable communities and economic justice, and that governments must be able to set trade policies to safeguard the rights of all people, especially those living in poverty," reads a petition to the World Trade Organization from the World Council of Churches and endorsed by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.
"The biblical standards for economic activity are justice and taking the side of the poor," says WCC general secretary Rev. Sam Kobia said. And he's right. Free trade is not fair trade — yet — but it should be. So drink up!
