Organic, Fair-Trade Coffee and Tea

After oil, coffee is the most heavily traded commodity in the world, and many houses of worship serve coffee at social events and following worship.

Coffee is normally grown in clear-cut fields with heavy pesticide use. This is bad for the ecosystems and for farming communities in developing countries, which lose tree cover, topsoil and biodiversity and which suffer from increased erosion and greater vulnerability to flooding.

Organic coffee is grown without the use of chemical pesticides. Shade grown, organic coffee beans are grown by farmers who have not clear-cut their fields in pursuit of a temporary increase in crop yield, and have instead followed more traditional coffee growing methods that protect the environment while also providing economic benefits to small coffee growers.

For a list of companies selling fair-trade coffee and tea in the US, see www.fairtradefederation.org/memcof.html#anchor180235.

Many denominational bodies have fair-trade coffee program, most working in cooperation with Equal Exchange or Pura Vida. The American Jewish World Service and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism also offer fair-trade resources.

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Upcoming Events:
 
Meeting the Sacred in Creation Retreats Offered in Hudson Valley, Pacific Northwest, Southeast in April, May, October 2007.
 
New Brunswick Environmental Health and Justice Tour, April 18, 2007.
 
Prof. Larry Rasmussen to Keynote April 23, 2007 Interfaith Environmental Conference with Drew Theological School.