It could be better..

Many of you have been following the Starbucks Challenge that has been going on for the past several months. This challenge is a push for the US's largest coffee chain to buy more fairly traded products. I found this article over at the The Institute for Humane Studies If you are sipping a latte somewhere in the vast Starbucks empire, you can rest assured that the corporation is moving steadfastly toward more environmentally friendly practices. Chief Executive Orin Smith says he has launched an aggressive plan to ensure that coffee purchased by Starbucks comes from farms that follow strict rules to reduce deforestation and pesticide use Now, I think if you ask many that are in charge of the Starbucks Challenge, you will find that this is not entirely accurate as the mermaids only have a minimal amount of Fairly Traded coffees. This company has the ability to really make a difference in coffee producing countries if they would just commit to buy 100% fairly traded products. The company already pays a premium on the coffee beans that it buys from Latin America and Asia, which it says provides an incentive for plantations to plant shade trees and limit pesticide use. Starbucks has paid an average of $1.20 a pound for coffee during the last three years, while the New York Board of Trade recently listed coffee at 77.7 cents per pound. These higher prices make Starbucks the company that everyone wants to do business with, which in turn gives it a great deal of leverage in how the coffee is grown. By 2007, Starbucks expects that 60 percent of the coffee it buys will meet C.A.F.E. standards, and after that Smith says it intends to keep raising that percentage. I am going to give the company the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe they are trying to pull things together and get back to business. I feel they have been trying so hard to take over the country -- maybe the world -- with their "corporate" coffee experience that they are forgetting that it is going to be important to take care of those who are actually growing their cash crop. They have done a great job bringing specialty coffee to America and I have to thank them for that. All I want to see if a better representation of certified Fair Trade coffee. You can find information about Fair Trade coffees at all Starbucks locations but it does not seem that the company really puts a priority on educating employees and customers. I do not believe that the lack of knowledge is the baristi's fault but the fault of the management. This needs to be a big part of the training/educating program for all employees. I feel this should be true for ALL coffee bars, houses, kiosks, and drive thrus. I hope this article is correct and something that is being attended to NOW! Lets see it... ..be bold Tagged: Fair Trade, starbucks, coffee, starbuckschallenge