Lutherans Pursue Good Coffee, Fairly

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- After Sunday morning worship or during an evening church council meeting the deep, rich aroma and smooth, caramel-like taste of coffee can be invigorating for Lutherans.  But for some members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) coffee -- one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world -- is also a matter of faith and justice.
     According to Lutheran World Relief (LWR), some 20 million coffee farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America often struggle to make a simple living and lack adequate health care and education for their children.  One way Lutherans are supporting coffee farmers is by purchasing coffee directly from farmers in a process called "fair trade."
     In a conventional coffee trade, coffee beans are passed from the farmer to a "middleman," processor, U.S. broker, coffee company, food distributor, store and then finally to the consumer, according to Nancy J. Goldberger, editor, Lutheran Woman Today, the magazine of Women of the ELCA -- the women’s organization of the church.  
     "Everyone who has had a hand in the coffee trade has affected the value of that coffee, leaving very little in return to help farmers cover their harvesting expenses," Goldberger said.
     In January Goldberger traveled to El Salvador and met with a group of coffee farmers and their families.  "We stayed in their homes and learned about the realities of growing and harvesting a coffee crop," she said.
     Coffee was first grown in El Salvador as a cash crop in 1841 and quickly became a dominant export, she said.  As time passed those who ruled the land began exercising greater control over the coffee-farming business, pushing the majority of the population out of fertile valleys, Goldberger said.
     "For the coffee farmer today, selling a harvested crop can be tough.  In the free market, they may receive as little as 15 cents per pound," she said.
     Through fair trade, coffee farmers are earning more.  Fair trade works to eliminate the number of intermediaries between the farmer and consumer.
     "Because coffee is such an integral part of parish life, it makes a good entry point for a congregation to explore issues of economic and social justice," said Brenda Meier, parish projects and partnerships, LWR.  LWR is the overseas relief and development ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  
     "As parishioners learn about fair trade, they can also expand their knowledge to other trade issues and learn how they can make a positive impact for farmers and producers around the world, including right here in the United States," Meier said.
     This fall LWR, Women of the ELCA and Equal Exchange -- a U.S. worker-owned fair trade organization -- are launching a new challenge for Lutherans in 2003-2004 called "Pour Justice to the Brim: The 90-Ton Challenge."
     Last year, Lutherans were responsible for purchasing more than 45 tons of 100 percent fairly traded coffee, said Goldberger.  "What we would like to challenge Lutherans to do this year is to double their effort.  If one pound of fairly traded coffee was purchased last year, buy two this year.  If you told two people about fair trade, tell four.  That impact will be felt greatly.  It’s a very simple act that we can perform every day by raising our cups to support social justice," she said.
     The challenge is a way Women of the ELCA can uphold the Lutheran World Relief Coffee Project and Equal Exchange, said Goldberger.  Equal Exchange will track coffee sales from October 2003 to September 2004.
Lutheran Woman Today will feature stories about fair trade coffee and other fair trade projects supported by Lutherans.  The magazine will also track sales on its Web site -- http://www.elca.org/wo/lwt/ .
     In 1997 LWR and Equal Exchange became partners and launched the LWR Coffee Project.  The project is a "parish project that allows Lutherans to make consumer choices that better reflect their faith and values," said Meier.
     By choosing fairly traded coffee over conventionally traded coffee, Lutherans ensure that the farmers, who grew those beans, are "guaranteed a fair price for their crop which will cover the cost of production as well as provide income necessary for their most basic human needs -- food, shelter, education and health care," Meier said.  "It maintains the dignity of the farmer by giving them the means by which to earn a living rather than rely on charity and aid which is not a sustainable way to live."
     Meier said the benefit for the consumer is "a high-quality product" in exchange for their consumer dollar, and added that the quality standards for fair trade coffee are much higher than for the "canned" coffee available for lower prices.
     "The call to live faithfully can sometimes feel complicated and difficult to do.  Drinking fairly traded coffee is one simple way that we, as Christians, can do justice in our daily lives," according to Erbin Crowell, director of the interfaith program, Equal Exchange, Canton, Mass.
     Crowell said Equal Exchange was the first company in the United States to adopt international fair trade principles as part of the organization’s mission.
     "It is our hope that by maintaining a high standard for what fair trade can be, we will not only benefit more producers but show conventional coffee companies that fair trade works, while encouraging those companies that are doing some fair trade to do more," he said.
     Over the years, "Lutherans have been a vital part of this effort, helping us to spread the word about fair trade and the difference that we can make -- through something as simple as a cup of coffee -- in the lives of people" around the world, Crowell said.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news