Liza on coffee
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=99562#comment
BLOG | Posted 07/06/2006 @ 1:54pm
In Search of a Damn Fine Cup of (Fair Trade) Coffee LIZA FEATHERSTONE
One of the most promising mini-trends is the growing popularity of
Fair Trade coffee (now you can even buy it at Wal-Mart!). That label
means that the coffee was grown under fair labor conditions, and that
the small Third World growers received a decent price for it. I just
ordered some through Global Exchange, from the Cloudforest
cooperative, which sounds like something dreamed up by a satirical
novelist: grown by autonomous cooperatives of Mayan Indians in
Chiapas, in the shade (better for the forests and soil), it is
organic and bird-friendly. Yes, bird-friendly. (A friend moved away
from Berkeley after someone tried to assure her that no birds had
been harmed in the production of her coffee. That’s understandable;
Berkeley in all its aromatherapized, self-realized, self-
righteousness could drive a gal crazy, but…I really like birds.)
The Cloudforest coffee sounded just about perfect.
Unfortunately, it sucks.
For coffee lovers, Fair Trade can pose a dilemma, because, sadly,
much of it doesn’t taste very good. As someone who falls asleep
looking forward to the fresh smell and taste of my morning coffee, I
take this problem seriously.The Cloudforest coffee is about as
flavorless as any coffee you’ll find; even many gas stations, diners
and offices aspire to a higher quality these days. So I’m continuing
my search. I’m confident that there are Fair Trade blends out there
that could inspire me to get out of bed in the morning. To that end,
I’ll be organizing a tasting panel of coffee enthusiasts and will
keep you posted on their findings.
I can just hear the objections. “Isn’t this rather trivial? After
all, Fair Trade coffee is a human rights issue.” But that’s, of
course, exactly why it’s so important that it succeed in the
marketplace. To do that, it has to taste good, and appeal to socially
conscious bourgeois hedonists like myself. Delicious coffee has
become mainstream over the past decade. That’s a positive legacy of
companies like Starbucks, and you can’t beat them by selling crap. A
politics that overlooks pleasure has no future, and that’s why I will
never again — sorry, Chiapas farmers — buy the Cloudforest coffee,
a bland blend only the most devotedly burlap-clad politico could love.
July 22nd, 2006 at 10:40 am
Liza has it all wrong. The non-profit that distributes the z-cooperatives’ coffee under the Cloudforest Coffee took a hit when the year’s coffee crop was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina flooding in New Orleans last fall, so they had to scramble to find fair trade substitutes. But the really really good coffee is coming in again. Order some from http://www.cloudforestmexico.org