2004 Fair Trade Coffee Fiesta
April 12 – April 15
Organized by the Fair Beans Campaign
Monday, April 12th 2004
4:30 p.m. Coffee: Grounds for Despair or Grounds for Hope?
Robert A. Jones conference room
A presentation by Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds: the History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World. He will examine the social and political issues that have accompanied coffee from 1500 to the present, and he will address the current coffee crisis and the implications of Fair Trade. Sponsored by the Sociology/Anthropology Department. Refreshments and Fair Trade coffee will be provided.
Tuesday, April 13th 2004
7:00 p.m. Mining Fair Trade: Fair Trade Coffee as an Economic Alternative to
Social and Environmental Destruction in Northwestern Ecuador
Robert A. Jones conference room
Julia Davidson '04.5 will discuss her experiences in northwestern Ecuador in May 2003 and the role that Fair Trade coffee played in the success of an anti-mining movement. AACRI (Asociación Agroartesenal de Caficultores Río Intag) is a Fair Trade cooperative of artisans and coffee farmers located in northwestern Ecuador in an area that is known as la Zona de Intag. It was formed in 1998 in part to provide an alternative source of income that would free local residents from economic dependence on a proposed copper mine. Because of the success of this, along with other alternative projects in the area, the communities in la Zona de Intag have been able to reject a proposed copper mine that would have caused significant environmental and social destruction. This locally-run cooperative is just one example that illustrates the social and environmental benefits of the Fair Trade industry. Fair Trade coffee and refreshments will be provided.
7:30 p.m. "The Strength of the Indigenous People of Mut Vitz: Producing Fair Trade Organic Coffee in the Highlands of Chiapas".
Robert A. Jones conference room
This film looks at the lives and work of organic coffee farmers of the Mut Vitz Coffee Collective. The Mut Vitz Cooperative began in 1996 and currently has more than 1000 members. The video was filmed by two members of the collective and traces the entire organic coffee production process: from seedling to transplant, from cultivation to the roasted bean. It shows the challenges that the collective faces in processing their coffee for market and their achievements using the Fair Trade model. (Tzotzil and Spanish, with English subtitles, 27 minutes, 2000).
Wednesday, April 14th 2004
5:30 p.m. Open dinner with Cesár Zeledón
Weybridge House
Come enjoy a home cooked meal at Weybridge House and have an informal discussion with César Zeledón. Spanish skills are not required, but please bring a bowl and a spoon.
7:00 p.m. Making a Difference: Fair Trade and Coffee Production inNicaragua
Robert. A. Jones conference room
A talk by César Zeledón, will address the impact of Fair Trade coffee cooperatives in Nicaragua and Fair Trade's role in the global coffee market as a whole. César Zeledón is a member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of Northern Coffee Cooperatives (CECOCAFEN) and the Managing Director of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives Augusto César Sandino, San Ramón (UCA San Ramón). He has helped found coffee cooperatives and has united many existing cooperatives in order to increase their access to legal rights, markets, and technology. The presentation will be in Spanish, with translation, and will be followed by a reception. Sponsored by Amnesty Internationl, MISD, EQ, the New Left, Progressives, Sociology/Anthropology Department, Environmental Council grant. Refreshments and Fair Trade coffee will be served.
Thursday, April 15th 2004
9:00 p.m. Fair Trade Coffee House
Forest Basement
Come listen to great music, sip Fair Trade coffee, unwind, and help paint a coffee-related mural.
For more information contact Emily Hayes, ehayes@middlebury.edu