February 14 was a day
of many emotions. I spent the morning writing out Valentine’s Day notes for my
classmates. We had decided to make baggies for each other and each write notes
for the others, much how I remember it happening in my elementary school. As I
wrote I allowed myself to think of what I love: family and friends, my partner,
places I’ve been, and experiences I’ve had. Others in the program used the
morning to go to Catholic Mass as it was also Ash Wednesday, the first day of
Lent. We have a very busy daily schedule so I know that the opportunity to attend
mass here was very special. I know that my emotions were running higher that
day, and I suspect it was true for others as well. It certainly contributed to
the wave of self-loathing that washed over me during our evening class as we
watched the 2006 documentary Black Gold about the global coffee industry and
its effects on famers in Ethiopia.
I could mention all the facts that the documentary
presented. Most coffee farmers in Ethiopia make less than two dollars a day. Under
five percent of adults have completed a high school education. Goods from Africa contribute one percent to
the World trade market. If that amount doubled the corresponding increase in
emergency aid would be fivefold. Seven million Ethiopians depend on emergency
aid. These facts are important to know, but they were difficult for me to
picture.
What captured my attention better than any fact were the
stories presented in the documentary: a mother and her emaciated child turned
away from a feeding camp because the child’s health is not poor enough to be
given emergency aid; a farmer who is destroying his coffee crop to plant chat,
an illegal, highly-addictive drug, because he can sell it for more money than
coffee and his family is starving; a coffee cooperative meeting where those
present agree to use what small profit they have made to build a school for
their children even though many will have to pay extra from their own
pockets.
But what can I as an individual possibly do to help a
coffee farmer in Ethiopia? Well, I drink coffee. Its time I start paying
attention to where that coffee is from. In my own home it can be as easy as
buying fair trade or direct trade coffee made in Ethiopia. I can also tell my
friends and family and ask that they do the same. On a larger scale I can
figure out where my home university gets its coffee. I can tell others at my
school and we can petition the administration to change its buying habits.
Impacts of consumers are felt around
the world. The individual purchases of a single consumer do matter. We as
consumers need to be more conscious of our buying decisions. Consider that the
extra money you spend buying fair trade options over store brands is helping to
provide food and education to impoverished families. We as consumers need to
influence the world trade market.
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