If you’re interested in Fair Trade Coffee, then you’re bound to be interested in whatever Michael Sheridan has to say about the subject.

In an article in the May 2009 edition of InterAction’s Monday Developments magazine, Michael looks at issues underlying the production and future of free trade coffee. Our friends at CRS Fair Trade blog reprinted Michael’s article in full here.

A special thanks to InterAction for allowing us to share the article.

We spoke with Holy Names Academy’s vice president, Kim Mendez Dawson, the day the truckload of Divine candy bars arrived at the school.

Not only were students at this Seattle-based school excited about the upcoming candy fundraiser, it was their choice of fair trade chocolate that had them cheering from their seats. Divine Chocolate gives farmers in Ghana a healthier profit from their cocoa yields.

By selling Divine Chocolates, Dawson says, her students also made an impact on the lives of women, who comprise a sizeable percentage of the Kuapa Kokoo cocoa growers’ cooperative. The cooperative owns half of Divine Chocolates and women are encouraged to take part in the group’s decision making.

“As a girls school you are privileged and blessed. It doesn’t happen to everyone,” Dawson says. “To help change women’s lives is incredible.”

To order Divine chocolate or learn more about CRS’ fair trade program, go to CRS’ Fair Trade site.

- Kai Hill

This is a longer follow up to a post published Monday. Please note that voting ends Friday.

Our proposal to help family coffee farmers in Latin America adapt to climate change has been selected as a finalist in the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Climate Challenge!

Many thanks to all those who voted to support our project concept during the first round of voting. Now we are on to the second round, and you have only until Friday, April 3, to vote to make it a winner! (Note: click on the “Support it” button.)

The Issue.
Climate change is changing the face of agriculture all over the planet. Since a specific crop can only thrive under certain environmental conditions, the increases in average temperatures and the radical changes in rainfall are changing our understanding of what can grow well where—what we call “land-use patterns.” The outlook for coffee farmers in Mexico and Central America is pretty grim…
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CRS regional information officer Robyn Fieser filed this report from Guatemala:

Angel Benjamin “Minchu,” a member of organic coffee cooperative Santa Anita La Union, and Luis Rhor of CRS Guatemala evaluate a young coffee plant. Photo by Robyn Fieser/CRS

I must admit, the prospect of visiting a coffee cooperative formed by ex-guerilla combatants who fought during Guatemala’s 36-year internal armed conflict was exciting. It was enough to make me pack my six-month old and every toy I could find into the Toyota 4runner and head toward the country’s Western Highlands.

I knew Santa Anita La Unión was a community of 32 farming families which had received land the government distributed as part of the Peace Accords in 1996. The largely Mayan community, which grows organic coffee and bananas and runs an eco-tourism program, is well known among the Americans who come to Guatemala to help start cooperatives of female weavers and teach in local schools. There’s a certain mystique surrounding it. I’ve been told, for example, that it’s a model for how communal living cultivates self-reliance and alleviates poverty.
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Here’s another important note from our friends at the CRS Fair Trade blog:

Thank you for taking action to help CRS and CIAT research ways coffee farmers can prepare and respond to the changing climate. This will help coffee farmers maintain their coffee crop, their livelihood AND keep their delicious coffee flowing straight to your cup.

The voting isn’t over yet and the contest is close because, let’s be honest, there are a lot of great ideas that deserve some funding. Thankfully, you have 10 votes you can cast to support your favorites. Make sure you cast your votes by this Saturday when the voting will end.

Katy Cantrell from our Fair Trade blog alerted us to this intriguing offer:

“It’s no secret that I think our coffee partners are the best in the land, but if you need more than my word Nectar of Life has got it for you. They are launching a program called Feed The Farmers that helps folks in the U.S. affected by the recession still afford Fair Trade coffee, which in turn will keep a steady income flowing to coffee farmers. And yes! When you recommend 3 friends to join the program you get free coffee!” You can read more about this on our FT blog.

Here’s a note from our Fair Trade Friends. Voting ends Saturday.

We have taken the first step to responding to a recent climate change RFP from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and I am writing to ask you to make your voices heard and vote for the joint CIAT/CRS submission!
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My name is Michael Sheridan and I am the CRS Regional Technical Advisor for Agro-Enterprise in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Whew, that’s a mouthful!  Basically, I work to help small-scale family farmers build better trading relationships and compete more effectively in the marketplace.  I support a range of CRS projects in the region, but I am particularly passionate about one that started just a few months ago: CAFE Livelihoods (Coffee Assistance for Enhanced Livelihoods), which accompanies more than 7,000 small-scale farmers in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
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Do you support Fair Trade?  Love to drink coffee?  Take 30 seconds to support 7,000 farmers and vote for the CRS Coffee and Climate Change Initiative. 

It’s easy: 1. Follow this link to the proposal on Justmeans, 2. Click “Support It,” 3. Create a free account, 4. Promote the idea to your friends and family.

CRS and coffee farmers worldwide appreciate your support!

(Note: Voting ends Saturday, March 21.)

Here’s a note from our Fair Trade Friends. We plan to keep you posted on this for the duration.

We have taken the first step to responding to a recent climate change RFP from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and I am writing to ask you to make your voices heard and vote for the joint CIAT/CRS submission!
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