2008 Woodie Awards
What's in that cup of joe?
Maduka Ogba
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Opinion
The average American drinks two to three cups of coffee per day.
If you do not think this is a big deal, then let's do a little bit of math here (because we are Trinity students, after all). A cup of coffee costs $3.50 on average, according to a Wikipedia search for "coffee." So three cups of coffee per day costs $3.50 times three, or $10.50. For a week, we would have $10.50 multiplied by seven equals $73.50. For the 52 weeks making up a full year, the average American spends $80.50 times 52, or $3,822.
Yes! We drink that much coffee! However, after spending this much, the average American does not know where their coffee is coming from and where their money is going to.
Coffee is second only to oil as the most lucrative commodity in the world, yet the farmers who grow and harvest these coffee beans suffer from abject poverty. In fact, for every $3.00 worth of coffee you buy from our well loved coffee shops, one farmer gets about $0.03. He/she uses this to feed his/her family, send his/her kids to school (that is, if there is enough money for that), and with some luck, gets a tiny hut to call home.
It is very unfortunate that, although they know this reality, the administrators of these "big time" coffee companies are not willing to do anything about it.
However, there is hope! The peculiarity of the coffee industry is that we, the consumers, ultimately control the market. By saying this, I am not implying that we should all stop drinking coffee (that would be ridiculous, especially because we "need" this caffeine to study in this mentally challenging college).
However, as many of our colleagues have done, we can demand 100 percent fair trade coffee from our regular distributors. By purchasing fair trade coffee, farmers are guaranteed at least $1.26 per pound of coffee, an amount on which a family of five can be supported with adequate nutrition (Middlebury.edu).
You don't think it's possible to have all of the coffee served at Java City be organic and fair trade? Think again! Right now, more than 300 universities in the U.S serve fair trade coffee (NYU.edu). This was possible largely because the students demanded it.
I believe that liberal-minded college students should be given the opportunity to think critically about situations like this and make the best judgment on what the next step to take should be.
I urge you all to analyze this situation. Look for the "how" and the "why" of this social issue. Gather all the information necessary and make a decision. Come watch the screening of "Black Gold: Wake up and Smell the Coffee" on Feb. 23 and get more insight on where your coffee money is going to. I promise that when you do all this, you will be moved to, although cliché, make a difference in the Trinity campus.
Let us stand up against injustice! Let us stand up for universal love! We can make anything work as long as we set our liberal minds to do so.
If you do not think this is a big deal, then let's do a little bit of math here (because we are Trinity students, after all). A cup of coffee costs $3.50 on average, according to a Wikipedia search for "coffee." So three cups of coffee per day costs $3.50 times three, or $10.50. For a week, we would have $10.50 multiplied by seven equals $73.50. For the 52 weeks making up a full year, the average American spends $80.50 times 52, or $3,822.
Yes! We drink that much coffee! However, after spending this much, the average American does not know where their coffee is coming from and where their money is going to.
Coffee is second only to oil as the most lucrative commodity in the world, yet the farmers who grow and harvest these coffee beans suffer from abject poverty. In fact, for every $3.00 worth of coffee you buy from our well loved coffee shops, one farmer gets about $0.03. He/she uses this to feed his/her family, send his/her kids to school (that is, if there is enough money for that), and with some luck, gets a tiny hut to call home.
It is very unfortunate that, although they know this reality, the administrators of these "big time" coffee companies are not willing to do anything about it.
However, there is hope! The peculiarity of the coffee industry is that we, the consumers, ultimately control the market. By saying this, I am not implying that we should all stop drinking coffee (that would be ridiculous, especially because we "need" this caffeine to study in this mentally challenging college).
However, as many of our colleagues have done, we can demand 100 percent fair trade coffee from our regular distributors. By purchasing fair trade coffee, farmers are guaranteed at least $1.26 per pound of coffee, an amount on which a family of five can be supported with adequate nutrition (Middlebury.edu).
You don't think it's possible to have all of the coffee served at Java City be organic and fair trade? Think again! Right now, more than 300 universities in the U.S serve fair trade coffee (NYU.edu). This was possible largely because the students demanded it.
I believe that liberal-minded college students should be given the opportunity to think critically about situations like this and make the best judgment on what the next step to take should be.
I urge you all to analyze this situation. Look for the "how" and the "why" of this social issue. Gather all the information necessary and make a decision. Come watch the screening of "Black Gold: Wake up and Smell the Coffee" on Feb. 23 and get more insight on where your coffee money is going to. I promise that when you do all this, you will be moved to, although cliché, make a difference in the Trinity campus.
Let us stand up against injustice! Let us stand up for universal love! We can make anything work as long as we set our liberal minds to do so.
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