Sipping on the last coffee that I
will have on American soil before traveling to Africa, I can’t help but think
of a film we watched in my Global Poverty and Practice intro class called “Black
Gold”. The documentary inspects the international coffee trade, depicting the
addicted dependency of “First World” countries on this caffeine source and the
inadequate compensation to “Third World” farmers and workers for their hard
labor. Following the travels of an Ethiopian manager of a cooperative in his
quest to find better prices for his coffee farmers (which is a coincidence
since I’m waiting to board my 14.5 hour Ethiopian Air flight), the film depicts
the issues of “fair trade” in the context of coffee – how the sale price of
coffee beans is a minute fraction of the price at which people actually buy
coffee. At $3.99, I can’t help but think that most of the profit from my
purchase of a medium sized French Vanilla coffee goes towards the person I see
in front of me and not the farmers who handpicked the beans that made this
black gold. This film truly changed my outlook on the rules of the game in the international
arena of trade, policy, and politics. I highly recommend it to anyone
interested!
As I look around at the people waiting to
board this plane with me, I remember how interconnected the world is now. At
this point in our lifetime, we (mainly in the Global North) have the privileged
opportunity to travel to almost anywhere in the world. International travel has
dramatically increased over the past few decades and this has led to some great
things such as the incredible ability to share knowledge and the rapid response
to deadly disasters. Yet, it also has allowed me to reflect on how skewed the
rules of the game are - how the people who work the hardest in the commodity chain are not the ones who get paid the most, how difficult it is for a country to develop without accepting aid with conditions on how to spend that money, and how the lucky chance of being born in a high-income country has led to so many privileges. Though I have no answer on how to fix the rules, I think acknowledging the
skewedness and advocating for and supporting the small choices such as buying higher
priced fair trade Ethiopian coffee could help change the rules of the game. As
the world becomes more and more interconnected and interdependent, it is essential
that we all understand the rules of the game and how to better help and work with one
another. My Global Poverty and Practice professor this last semester once
mentioned a theory on conceptualizing poverty that has stuck with me. Formed by
an anthropologist, the theory suggests a kinship model whereby if you think every
person in the world is part of family, you would never allow that person to
experience hunger or poverty; you would never let that person sleep on the
street or suffer from a vaccine-preventable disease. Because they are
family, you love them unconditionally and you care for them.
Just a thought….
Just a thought….