Amazing Coffee Conference !!!

Amazing Coffee Conference !!! Hi all !!! Wow....I have just had an amazing time at my first coffee conference in Long Beach, CA. The SCAA is the org that is holding its 25th coffee convention and the keynote speaker was David Robinson (son of baseball legend, Jackie Robinson) who owns a large coffee farm in Tanzania and organized a coffee cooperative with coffee farmers in his area. His speech was passionate, honest, and hopeful that the SCAA will seek to create special relationships with the farmers and encourage only the best quality coffee product that can lead to social and economic justice for all! David gave a big plug for "fair trade" but followed up with the statement that his cooperative opted to sell their coffee directly to buyers so they could start schools and give the $ to individual farmers rather than use profits to pay for certification for the fair trade branding. David felt that “fair trade” was widely accepted in Europe and the United States and therefore they would use all their profits to help their cooperative and David’s…. “Up Country” based in NY. I differed with David on his remark about fair trade having a solid platform for which to gain growing support and felt I needed to somehow talk with him and try to change his mind and seriously reconsider certifying their coffee with the fair trade logo. Yes, the immediate impact of de-funding community programs and investing in the certification program of “fair trade” has some short term struggling impacts, but when consumers become educated about equitable trading practices the long term benefits will make up for it.

After David’s eloquent and “feather-ruffling” speech (the board members of SCAA were stiffening their backs every time David used the term “social justice”) I waited until those who wanted to personally speak with him got their chance and I went up to him and introduced myself to him and thanked him for following in his father’s footsteps as a social justice advocate. I really admire David. I shared with David my thoughts on the fair trade movement in the USA and how still very unknown the concept is. Europe has been promoting FT since the 1950’s. We have only jumped on board in the late ‘90’s and I don’t believe it really took off nationwide until after the Seattle WTO protest in 1999. I made an impassioned plea to David to revisit the FT certification idea with his cooperative and informed him that FT commodities were recently under fire by the USDA to only allow the “organic” cert. on commodities from single-source farms (obviously poor coffee farmers need to form “cooperatives” to have any kind of selling power and having the organic stamp on their product which is recognized by wealthy consumers is crucial to help fair trade label be readily accepted). Major corporations like Star_ucks would like to see fair trade eliminated to keep their profits bloated, so getting “organic” standards to help with this endeavor certainly would help.

David was gracious in listening to me and considering what I was asking. I thanked him, shook his hand and wished him well. Never did I think the very next morning that I would have another “chance” encounter with him, but I did!

David was alone smoking a cigarette (he admits it is a terrible vice but one his still enjoys) looking over the railing from in front of the lovely glass convention center building onto the street. I slowly walked over and he smiled and greeted me. I was very glad to have had another opportunity to speak with him (alone this time) and engage in a more reflective yet casual way so that he could have another opportunity to get to know who I was…a seriously committed social justice activist…and why I am so passionate about the fair trade issue…to end global slavery. David was not familiar with the GMO food issue either and the new threat of the GM coffee bean being created by Nestle foods. This threat could directly impact David’s coffee plantation because the new bean called a “cologne bean” would be planted in Tanzania. All organic plant foods can become contaminated by GM plants therefore ending organic foods…PERIOD. I told David my coffee people from Sweetwater were at the convention and would rather have them explain the GM issue since they were better educated on this issue than I. I gave David the name of the film “The Corporation” and suggested he get this film and see it as it, in my opinion, correctly conveys how corporations operate and why they are a threat to both fair trade and organic foods and ultimately the social justice movement. I again praised David for being committed to quality coffee and social justice and hoped that we would meet again someday preferably in Tanzania.

I am on my way back to Melbourne after my nice break from my present reality. I am looking forward to opening up the shop this week until I close for the summer on May 20th. I hope you all will come by and see me…if only to just say hello before I go. : )

Namaste’