I WOKE up, smelled the coffee & decided to CHEW on a different kind of CHOCOLATE

Okay... so just try and say SEATTLE without thinking about COFFEE...  I think Seattle is actually referred to as the Coffee Capital of the World! Kinda CRAAaaaaazy! It is that one thing in the morning that I totally look forward to. I enjoy sharing it with friends, when it's cold out, when it's not, in the afternoon, in the evening, at softball games, well... the list goes on, cuz... I like COFFEE all the time! I'm almost sure that in the 'Coffee Capital of the World' there is a LARGE percentage of the other 563,373 people that are consuming coffee.

...after seeing this movie referenced in a few of my fellow friends... amazing BLOGS - I wanted to see what it was all about...  So, I purchased the Black Gold DVD from http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

 
  I felt a lot different about coffee after viewing this movie. In fact, I felt guilty for the conditions the Ethiopian farmers are trying to survive in! I felt like I have contributed to their dire circumstances! I really was completely clueless what the COST of my coffee was all about!  ...I still enjoy drinking coffee... But, I can honestly say as a CONSUMER with the knowledge and understanding of how the majority of the coffee is purchased and sold to me... I am going to purchase, drink, and enjoy coffee from a company with a CONSCIENCE!  I want to see this STICKER on it:

Seriously... we have a CHOICE! Why not purchase coffee that will NOT take away from the FARMERS. 

After watching this documentary I was ready to track down as many places as I could that sell FAIR TRADE COFFEE.
I went to Starbucks and saw this:

I went to Tully's and saw this:

I went to Cafe Ladro and saw this:

I went to Cupcake Royal and saw this:

I also looked at Safeway and QFC and I didn't find a very large selection - In fact, I just saw ONE choice.  I also went to COST PLUS WORLD IMPORTS the other day - thinking FOR SURE they would have both FAIR TRADE Coffee and Chocolate.  I found ONE bag of Fair Trade Coffee and NO Fair Trade Chocolate! :(  Unfortunately, it isn't just the COFFEE that we purchase that has such disgusting negative effects (EXTREME poverty, no clean water, no way to feed their children, no way to educate themselves, there is NO way for them to earn enough money to survive, human trafficking, child labor, slavery.....) on the people in Ethiopia or other 3rd World Countries...  Look at the BITTER side of CHOCOLATE!

....I guess I can understand the PASSION the people of Seattle possessed in November of 1999 when the WTO was meeting here!  Countries like Ethiopia DO need a voice, and for someone to listen and SEE what is happening with the Trading System... that it is NOT working for these countries! (violent free voices and advocates)

 

 

 Sooooo.... instead of purchasing this:

I'll be looking for something like this: As the first and only organic and Fair Trade chocolate factory in the country - THEO located right here in SEATTLE! :)

It may cost a little more for FAIR TRADE Coffee or FAIR TRADE Chocolate but YOU will be helping the farmers instead of HURTING them... YOU will be helping keep the children at home or in school with their family instead of being sold for SLAVES, working for FREE in the Cacao Farms! You will be helping to give these AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL people a decent (this word is used loosely - because what we think is decent and what they feel is decent, are not even close!) standard of living without HUMAN COST! Learn more about FAIR TRADE Coffee HERE and FAIR TRADE Chocolate HERE