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Fair Trade Certified Coffee: Campaign for "Just Java"
Jorge Cuevas
Speaking Tour Proposal Request for Event Host
WHEN: The tour will take place during October of 2001. Once
commitments are made by groups, we will coordinate and confirm
an exact schedule.
WHERE: Engagements are available throughout the United States.
SPEAKER AND TOPIC: Jorge Cuevas, General Manager of Rainforest
Trading
Company, an exporter of Fair Trade coffees in Oaxaca, Mexico,
speaks about the situation of coffee farmers in the global economy
and the benefits of Fair Trade. Mr. Cuevas is an experienced
presenter on the subject of coffee, sustainability and social
responsibility. He informs audiences about how choosing to buy
Fair Trade coffee is an easy thing people can do to support economic
fairness and empowerment for farmers around the world. While coffee
drinkers enjoy their cups of hot java, many coffee farmers endure
a difficult life due to receiving prices for their harvest which
keep them in dire poverty. To improve conditions for coffee farmers,
under the ³Fair Trade Certified² label, coffee importers must
pay a fair price to farmers and work with democratically organized
cooperatives. Currently, groups across the U.S. are organizing
to promote Fair Trade and to motivate their local retailers to
offer Fair Trade Certified coffee.
PROGRAM: We envision a typical program to be a talk by Jorge
Cuevas followed by a question and answer session and an opportunity
for those interested to get involved in the Fair Trade Certified
coffee campaign. Other engagements such as Fair Trade Certified
coffee tasting, media interviews, events at cafes, meetings with
café owners, classroom talks, small group discussions and receptions
are also a welcome addition prior to a larger program.
FUNDING: $1,000 honorarium (negotiable) per event plus travel
expenses. We understand that some groups can provide more support
than others. Some partial scholarships are available. Our experience
has shown that seeking co-sponsors (e.g., among other departments
or groups) helps to share the costs and host responsibilities
as well as generates a larger audience for the event. As we do
not want cost to be a deciding factor in bringing such an important
event to your community, we will work with you on ideas and alternative
resources.
WE ARE ASKING EVENT HOSTS TO:
® Provide suitable venue arrangements (location and equipment
for the event). ® Publicize event within your community and
to the local media. (Global Exchange can provide assistance with
this.) ® Provide hospitality for our speaker, including food
and lodging (home stay is often okay). ® Provide transportation
to and from the airport and other events.
To book an event, please contact Global Exchange via phone at
415.255.7296 or email: fairtrade@globalexchange.org
Jorge Cuevas Jorge Cuevas is the General Manager of Rainforest
Trading Company, an
exporter of high quality Organic and Fair Trade coffees in Oaxaca,
Mexico. Mr. Cuevas has 6 years of experience in the specialty
coffee industry, in organic certification programs and in commercial
development for small coffee farmer cooperatives in Mexico. He
has served in the Environment Committee of the Specialty Coffee
Association of America (SCAA) since 1998 and has given several
presentations on coffee, sustainability and social responsibility
at SCAA annual conventions. He has a degree in International
Studies from the School for International Training in Brattleboro,
VT and is currently enrolled in a Certificate in Finance program
at UC Berkeley. He is a founding member and President of the
non-profit ³Iniciativa Fomcafé.
Fair Trade Certified Coffee
Coffee is the second largest import after oil, and US consumers
drink one-fourth of the coffee beans traded in the global market.
Yet while we pay a dollar for a cup of coffee or $10 for a pound
of beans, farmers receive only 30 to 50 cents a pound. That price
earns a family about $600 a year, an amount less than the cost
of production, pushing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.
Fortunately there is now an independent monitoring system to certify
that coffee was produced under Fair Trade conditions. To carry
the ³Fair Trade Certified² label by TransFairUSA, importers must
pay a minimum price of $1.26 a pound, offer much needed credit
at fair terms, and work with democratically organized cooperatives.
Fair Trade coffee promotes social justice by nearly tripling the
incomes of farming families in developing nations.
The recipients of Fair Trade¹s benefits are some 500,000 coffee
farmers organized into 300 cooperatives in 20 countries in the
Americas, Africa and Asia. One such group, PRODECOOP of Estelí,
Nicaragua, has undertaken projects such as building schools and
healthcare centers, as well as establishing training programs
in production techniques and legal matters. Nicaraguan farmers
working in the conventional market often lost their land when
world coffee prices hit rock-bottom, but the farmers involved
with the Fair Trade movement were able to defend their social
and economic gains. Fair Trade Certified coffee means community
development, health care, education, and hope for the future for
Fair Trade coffee farmers. Global Exchange has built a network
of activists, church groups, students, and environmentalists to
increase consumer demand for Fair Trade coffee in our communities.
Coffee is the first product in the United States with an independent
monitoring system for Fair Trade. Fair Trade coffee demonstrates
that there are alternatives to ³free² trade policies. A new national
movement is working to demand Fair Trade Certified coffee in our
own communities. More than ever before, people are waking up
to this socially responsible alternative to corporate-managed
trade. When it comes to our cup of joe, an independently-monitored
alternative finally exists‹one that sets the standard for environmentally
sustainable and socially responsible commerce in the global economy.
Global Exchange joined the Fair Trade movement in 1988 with the
opening of our Bay Area craft stores. Since then, Global Exchange
has built a network of activists, church groups, students, and
environmentalists to increase consumer demand for Fair Trade coffee
in our communities. Our most dramatic work has been focused on
Starbucks.
Coffee is the first product in the United States with an independent
monitoring system for Fair Trade. Fair Trade coffee demonstrates
that there are alternatives to ³free² trade policies. A new national
movement is working to demand Fair Trade Certified coffee in our
own communities. More than ever before, people are waking up
to this socially responsible alternative to corporate-managed
trade. We¹ve worked hard to get the Fair Trade product on the
shelves. Now we need to work just as hard to get it off the shelves.
When it comes to our cup of joe, an independently-monitored alternative
finally exists‹one that sets the standard for environmentally
sustainable and socially responsible commerce in the global economy.
--
Deborah James, Fair Trade Director Global Exchange
deborah@globalexchange.org
415.558.8682 ext.245
415.255.7498 fax 2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA
94110
www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee
www.globalexchange.org/economy/bananas
Check out Global Exchange's moderated listserves, updated weekly.
Human
Rights in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Palestine, California; Global
Economy campaigns on Fair Trade and corporations; and more: http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/lists.html
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