Ethiopian Coffee Farmers – Still Facing Injustice
This short blog post brings in to focus the injustice that small farmers in Ethiopia still face – has anything really changed in the industry despite the efforts of the ethical trade movement and the exposure from Black Gold and others. We can make drive better trading practice but there has to be the will to do it from the industry and this needs to be driven be consumers.
CONNECT
There were parts in this drmocentauy that I really thought were interesting such as free trade and how coffee is utilized in different ways to improve lives. One of the negative things I noticed was that the farmers were being abused and mistreated by the large corporations. When we did that coffee simulation on the movie’s website, I was appalled at how much of the profit the farmers actually get. They work so hard and gain so little In relation to Mr. Lathan’s question “Does this make you angry at popular coffee chains, such as Starbucks?”, I’m not exactly angry because we’ve gotten so use to following this system that it’s become natural. But if you look at it from an ethical stand point, it is wrong and a change in this system is long overdue! I will admit there were slow parts in the movie where I dozed off during, but overall it was substantial.