The North Carolina coffee mavericks of Larry’s Beans sent over a couple of bags of its organic, fair-trade java. After grinding up the beans in our hand-cranked coffee mill, I consulted our resident coffee expert (read: the hub).

A note: You won’t find the little fair-trade dude on the packaging; Larry’s Beans, along with Just Coffee, Dean’s Beans, and Cafe Campesino, split from Transfair USA in 2004, because it felt that the fair-trade movement was being “watered down” under the “increasingly corporate-friendly” Transfair system. Now part of a co-op of fair-trade, green roasters known as Cooperative Coffee, Larry’s Beans is audited by the international Fair Trade Labeling Organization, which ensures that payments are fairly distributed to each individual farmer—you can even track the origin of each bag of coffee, as well as how much each farmers’ coop was paid, by checking the bag’s lot number against the Larry’s Beans Web site. (How about those transparency cojones, Starbucks?)

All of Larry’s Beans coffee is shade-grown and certified organic (or transitional organic); 97 percent is fair trade, while the remaining 3 percent is the company’s Kauai Blend from Hawaii, where it says there is no need for fair trade.

Costa Lil Ricky
($9.95 per lb)

A mug of Larry’s Beans Costa Lil Ricky has a full taste that’s neither sharp nor overly bitter. Its nice aroma makes for a comforting blend—the perfect partner for an afternoon’s lounging—and its light, smooth feel makes repeated cups welcome in each sitting.

The Grand Turk
($10.85 per lb)

This dark blend by Larry’s Beans carries an enticing aroma in both bean and ground form that permeates a small apartment to make an effective lure to start your morning. The end result after brewing is a tasty mug that makes for a strong wakeup call for the senses. A little goes a long way for this blend, however, as I find repeated cups in a sitting can yield a caffeine overkill.

We also dug the fact that the bags (with designs that rocked my illustration-loving socks off) were resealable—a minor, oft-overlooked detail, but one that enables the packaging to be reused, even long after the last cup of coffee has been drained.

Related articles:
1. Gorilla Coffee
2. Hub’s Guest Review: Black Gold
3. Starbucks Keeps Ethiopian Growers Humble

WW@TH: Green Mountain Coffee + Jane Goodall = Happy Chimps

Photo by National Geographic Channel

The National Geographic Channel will be screening Coffee: Beans to Buzz on Thursday, Jan 4 at 9 pm ET/PT. (Repeats: Friday, January 5, 12am ET/PT and Sunday, January 7, 3pm ET/PT).

From the press release:

Coffee: Beans to Buzz traces the epic saga of a potent little bean with a revolutionary impact that has helped break down social, political and economic barriers throughout the ages. Trace the fascinating tale of international trade and intrigue, chronicling how coffee traveled from Africa to the Middle East and then to Europe and the United States. From the planning of the French Revolution in coffeehouses to how drinking coffee became a patriotic duty in the American Colonies after the British taxed tea, coffee has been part of history and cultural shifts over the last several hundred years. …

Coffee: Beans to Buzz also examines Brazil’s leading role in the coffee industry, producing a quarter of the world’s supply. It is said that one romantic Frenchman supposedly smuggled the first coffee beans to Latin America. That led to the eventual rise of coffee barons and contributed to the subjugation of Indians and Africans, the destruction of rainforests and, ironically, the evolution of both democracy and dictatorships.

Experts include: Gerry Baldwin, Director, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and Founder, Starbucks; Deborah James, Coffee Exchange; Corby Kummer, Food Writer/Editor, Atlantic Monthly; Nestor Osorio, Executive Director, International Coffee Organization; Mark Pendergrast, author, “Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World”; Jim Reynolds, Roastmaster, Peet’s Coffee & Tea; Donald Schoenholt, President, Gillies Coffee Company; Howard Schulz, CEO, Starbucks; Bennett Weinberg, author, “The World of Caffeine”; Chris Wille, Rainforest Alliance.

The hub actually received a press hamper with the release, a screener (which we will devour tonight and report posthaste), plus organic- and fair-trade-certified coffee and chocolate from Counter Culture Coffee and Global Exchange respectively. Well played, National Geographic. Well played.

Photo by Karie Hamilton/USA Today

Small-coffeehouse owner Penny Stafford sued Starbucks in September, charging that the Mermaid illegally maintains its “predatory monopoly” by barring other coffeehouses from occupying prime downtown high-rises in Seattle and Bellevue through exclusive leases with property owners. Since the federal antitrust lawsuit was initiated, Stafford has been plagued by hostile and anonymous telephone calls and e-mails, warning her to drop the lawsuit and slamming her for daring to attack Starbucks. “It’s as if I had insulted apple pie and America,” says Stafford, owner of the Belvi Coffee and Tea Exchange in Bellevue, Wash.

From USA Today: “Owner of small coffee shop takes on java titan Starbucks.”

Starbucks also drove Stafford and other coffeehouses out of business by buying coffee sellers and flooding neighborhoods with new Starbucks stores that even cannibalized the sales of existing Starbucks shops, the lawsuit alleges. “This is wrong, period,” Stafford says. “I’m not willing to leave the specialty coffee business because of Starbucks shutting me or anyone else down.”

Starbucks spokeswoman Sanja Gould says, “Starbucks denies that we have done anything improper, and we intend to rightfully defend ourselves. As Starbucks has grown, so has the industry, all of which benefits coffee consumers and the competitors of Starbucks.”

If you’re new to the Starbucks’ controversy, USA Today boils it down for you:

Starbucks is widely admired by Wall Street and other businesses as a well-run corporation, a mighty marketing machine and, until recently, a highflying stock. …

Starbucks also has been praised for its social and environmental acts, from donating millions of dollars to charities, to promoting “fair trade” export practices with Third World coffee bean producers.¹

But Stafford’s lawsuit symbolizes the distaste that critics have toward Starbucks. Few retail chains have been the target of such a long-brewing backlash from neighborhood activists, anti-globalization protesters, labor organizers and some consumers and small-business owners. Starbucks has been accused of being a corporate bully whose tactics hurt small businesses, erode the character of local communities and exploit the coffee bean economies of Third World countries.

Starbucks’ vast size and “aggressive real estate grabs” clearly alienate some people, says Bryant Simon, a Temple University historian and author of Consuming Starbucks, to be published in 2008.

“By being everywhere, they create markets,” Simon says. “But they also narrow the markets and limit opportunities for companies.”

The $11 billion U.S. market for specialty coffee keeps growing, with about 23,000 coffeehouses, reports the Specialty Coffee Association of America trade group. Spokesman Mike Ferguson says sales won’t peak “until there’s an espresso bar in every neighborhood.”

(Emphases are mine.)

Shop organic, fair-trade, and indie. To locate an independent coffeehouse near you, check out Delocator. (Also works for bookstores and movie theaters.) If you live in New York City or Jersey City, I have a not-yet-comprehensive list of shops here.

¹HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…

Related articles:
1. Starbucks Keeps Ethiopian Growers Humble
2. Hub’s Guest Review: Black Gold
3. Good Cup, Bad Cup
4. Fast Food Planet
5. Wake Up and Smell the Fair-Trade Coffee

Cartoon by C. Covert Darbyshire/The New Yorker

(For Siel.)

Photo by Spare Cloth at Etsy.com

I’ve been running the feed dogs of my trusty sewing machine ragged making reusable fabric gift bags from vintage Christmas fabric I found on Etsy for about a buck per yard. They’ll be going to family members who want a waste-free Yule.

Today on the Martha Stewart 12-month calender: Make apple and pumpkin pies. Um, I ATE a slice of apple pie last night, does that count? We’ll be offsetting our way to California to celebrate the slaughter of the natives, bearing gifts of organic potatoes and squash (for our pantry overfloweth). See you on Monday, my freaky darlings.

Related article:
1. Flying the Eco-Friendly Skies

Illo by Starbucks

From The Guardian: “Starbucks, the coffee beans, and the copyright row that cost Ethiopia £47m.”

Starbucks, the giant US coffee chain, has used its muscle to block an attempt by Ethiopia’s farmers to copyright their most famous coffee bean types, denying them potential earnings of up to £47m a year, said Oxfam.

The development agency said the Ethiopian government last year filed copyright applications to trademark its most famous coffee names—Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable the impoverished African country to control their use in the market and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.

The move would have increased its annual export earnings from coffee by 25 percent. But Oxfam said Starbucks, which enjoyed a 22 percent rise in annual global turnover to £7.8bn in the year to October, has acted to block Ethiopia’s application to the US Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO has denied Ethiopia’s applications for Sidamo and Harar, creating serious obstacles for its project.

Oxfam had a one-year cooperation agreement in 2004 with Starbucks which saw both provide support to coffee farmers in Ethiopia as part of wider attempts to reduce poverty in the country. But Oxfam now feels that the Seattle-based company’s attitude is questionable.

Phil Bloomer, Oxfam’s policy director, said: “Starbucks has made some progress towards helping poor farmers in recent years, but their behaviour on this occasion is a huge backwards step, and raises serious questions about the depth of their commitment to the welfare of their suppliers. By acting responsibly, they could set an example for others by supporting Ethiopia’s plan to help the 15 million struggling Ethiopian farmers who depend on coffee for their survival.”

This bit in particular caught my eye:

Starbucks insisted, however, that it was committed to paying premium prices to producers in more than 27 countries and its purchases of Ethiopian coffee had grown by more than 400 percent in the past four years. It said it paid an average of $1.23 (65p) per pound last year, 23 percent above average market prices.

Ah, but how would you know, Starbucks? According to your own Web site, you only have economic-transparency requirements for 59 percent of all coffee purchases. This means, contractually, you have no way of knowing how much of the “premium prices” you pay actually go to the farmers—and not to voracious middlemen—41 percent of the time. (Props, as always, to Green LA Girl for pointing this out.)

Under the fair-trade model, where transparency and direct trade are key, importers are required to pay a minimum of $1.26 per pound of coffee beans (plus a 15-cent-per-pound premium if it is also certified organic). Only 3.7 percent of Starbucks’ total coffee is fair-trade-certified, yet it accounts for 25 percent of the fair-trade coffee imported into the U.S. Obviously we’re talking about a company with the wherewithal to make a significant difference but is, instead, content to pay the minimum social premium for maximum public-relations benefits in a real-time, live version of Risk: Caffeinate & Conquer, while starving African infants are crushed beneath the spiked wheels of the capitalist war machine. In other words, “socially responsible” my flat, yellow fanny.

Tadesse Meskela, head of the Oromia coffee farmers cooperative union in Ethiopia, and who was featured in Black Gold, sums up the coffee crisis small-scale coffee farmers and farm workers at the very bottom of the supply chain are facing.

“Coffee shops can sell Sidamo and Harar coffees for up to £14 a pound because of the beans’ specialty status. But Ethiopian coffee farmers only earn between 30p and 59p for their crop, barely enough to cover the cost of production.

“We sell organic coffee for less than £1 a pound but that pound can make 52 specials in coffee shops selling for £2 each, meaning the retailer is selling it for £104. The people who are producing this in Ethiopia don’t have enough food, clean water or health centres.

“Farmers are losing out while others in the chain are making huge amounts of money. That is hugely unfair.”

Additional resources:
1. Oxfam Press Release

I know that this site is becoming a regular Ben & Jerry’s lovefest, but this news was too delectable to keep to myself.

From CSRWire: “Ben & Jerry’s announcement celebrates October as Fair Trade Month.”

Ben & Jerry’s announced today that it is expanding its Fair Trade Certified ice cream flavors, making it the largest ice cream and frozen food manufacturer to offer Fair Trade Certified ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s Fair Trade Certified line-up now includes: Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee, Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, and Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz. The announcement comes during Fair Trade month when TransFair USA and businesses across the country are highlighting the importance of Fair Trade Certified products to third world producers.

“Fair Trade creates stronger economic conditions, which help farmers feed and clothe their families, send their kids to school, get better health care, in general improve the quality of their lives,” said Paul Rice, founding President & CEO of TransFair USA, the only Fair Trade certification organization in the United States.

“With something as simple as choosing to purchase a Fair Trade product, people are making a powerful decision to dramatically improve the quality of life for farmers half way around the world,” Rice said.

Ben & Jerry’s is purchasing Fair Trade Certified coffee from a cooperative in Mexico; vanilla from Fair Trade Certified producers in India, with producers in Indonesia and Uganda under consideration; and Fair Trade Certified cocoa from producers in the Dominican Republic.

(Emphases are mine)

Now guys, what about fair trade and organic for the win? (Double the certification for double the fun.) Tell the company how you feel by leaving a note in its comment box.

Graphic by the Center for Science in the Public Interest

When you order a venti Starbucks Caffè Mocha, you might as well be sipping a 500-calorie McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese through a straw, says the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). A venti Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino, will hit you up with 650 calories and nearly a day’s saturated fat. That’s not a coffee break—that’s an entire meal frothed and whipped into submission and poured into a paper cup.

Java junkies will want to pore over the watchdog org’s roadmap to Latte Land (PDF), which shows you where the hidden calories and fat lurk in the offerings of several coffee chains, both large and small.

Some tips from CSPI:

• Go nonfat. A nonfat or soy cappuccino or latte is always a calorie bargain. Ordering a grande (16 oz.) nonfat cappuccino or latte with nonfat milk instead of whole saves all the saturated fat plus 50 to 100 calories.
• Skip the whip. At Starbucks for example, whipped cream adds some 120 calories and 7 grams of saturated fat that you could do without.
• Slash the sugar. Order sweetened drinks with sugar-free syrup or get them unsweetened and add your own sugar (about 10 calories per pack) or Splenda (0 calories).
• Look for “light.” At Starbucks, grande Frappuccino Lights slash the calories to 150 to 250 by replacing half the sugar with Splenda and dropping the whipped cream. A medium (14 oz.) Dunkin’ Donuts Latte Lite keeps the calories at 100.

[via Green LA Girl]

Related articles:
1. Fast Food Planet
2. Black Gold and Inconvenient Truths

Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.metropolitanevents.com
Saturday, July 15: 11am-7:30pm
Sunday, July 16: 10am-6pm
($10 per adult; $15 weekend pass; children free)

Everything 4 Coffee and Tea Festival is a two-day event dedicated to the growth and proliferations of the specialty coffee and gourmet tea market place. Bringing together over 40 vendors from international, national and local coffee and tea distributors, roasters and cafes, this festival allows participants to explore topics from brewing a perfect cup of coffee to choosing the best confectionery delights to have with your tea.

Details on the festival Web site here. The NYC Fair Trade Coalition will have a table on both days. Expect loads of tastings and samples. Want to get in for free? We still need volunteers!

Photo by New England Cooks

Below the fold is an e-mail I wrote to my workplace’s head honchos recently about the stinky, landfill-filling, fossil-fuel-sucking, brown-swill-brewing Keurig coffee-pod system we use that I LOATHE with every mitochondria-harboring cell of my being. (I also stuck a sign, cribbing a line from Anna, which said, “Paper cups do grow on trees. Please bring your own mug.” They’re probably changing the entry codes on the doors as we speak.)

Click here for more »

A “socially conscious bourgeois hedonist” from The Nation penned a rather puzzling, if not outright ignorant, denouncement of fair-trade coffee’s quality and flavor. After trying all of one blend. Yes, one. Uno. That means “less than two or more” for the folks playing at home. (It’s been my experience that people who feel the need to prequalify their statements with “I’m very socially conscious …” tend to be fuller of horse hockey than a glue factory, but that’s a whole ‘nother post, entirely.) And as Siel previously noted, fair-trade coffee has been winning taste awards for the past few years.

Of course, anyone who lauds Starbucks’ cow-pus-laced swill as “delicious” and “a positive legacy” probably also believes (erroneously) that the company trades fairly, while being in the lamentable position of one completely devoid of both imagination and taste.

Got tagged by Siel, who wants to try out a new blogtoy called Plugaid, about what coffee I’m drinking right now.

I’m really more of a tea drinker, but my mini household loves Gorilla Coffee’s Brooklyn-roasted organic and fair-trade Ethiopian Yirgacheffe blend. We also favor Equal Exchange’s organic Ethiopian roast, which is really rich and full-bodied without being overwhelming.

Do you want to join this conversation? Hit “Participate,” create a password, and paste the resultant code into a new post. (HEY CARA, TAG YER IT!)

Click here for more »

Black Gold, a documentary about the international coffee trade, will make its New York City debut at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival (June 9-12).

Check out the trailer on the movie’s Web site here. (Thanks, Scott!)

Speaking of movies, SuperAwesomeAlGore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, will be opening tomorrow in NYC at the Lincoln Square AMC and Sunshine theaters. (Join Green Home NYC and Solar One for discussion and drinks afterward; RSVP required.)

Yesterday my husband and I took a train down to Brooklyn, where we strolled around the Flatbush/Park Slope area, weaving in and out of shops that caught our (okay … my) fancy. Our real goal, however, was Gorilla Coffee, home of the 100 percent fair trade, Brooklyn-roasted java of the same name. The coffee was robust, full-bodied, yet not too bitter—I had the appropriately witchy “Evil Eye,” a concoction¹ not found on the menu, but so happened to be a special that day—procuring a nod of approval even from my coffee curmudgeon of a companion (who’s usually content to swill the foulest mud in his mouth just short of industrial-strength Drano.)

A bag of their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe blend (described as having a “big floral aroma with subtle berry notes”) didn’t have to do too many back flips before we let it follow us home across the Brooklyn Bridge. Sit! Stay! Play dead! Good boy.

For coffee this delish, all I have to say is “Welcome Simian Overlords!”

¹If you want what I had, ask for the Red-Eye espresso with frothed milk and a touch of caramel syrup.