October is Fair Trade Month (in addition to being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, strangely, National Popcorn Month) and in observance of this, Peace Coffee will host an appearance by Monika Firl, Coffee Farming & Production Liaison of Cooperative Coffees, and Teresa Ortiz — a local activist, organizer, immigration expert and former Director of el Centro de Derechos Laborales (Immigrant Workers Rights Center) at the Resource Center of the Americas — this Thursday at Common Roots Cafe.
Common Roots is, of course, the restaurant and bagel bakery that went into the old Soba’s location, at 2558 Lyndale Avenue South, and uses organic, locally-sourced ingredients. Peace Coffee actually is the for-profit arm of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization devoted to promoting and supporting sustainability, family farming, and fair trade.
“Back in 1995, we were working with some Mexican coffee farmers who were getting screwed,” says Jim Harkness, president of the IATP. “We decided if we’re telling the world to trade fairly, we should put our money where our mouth is and show that it can work. So one day a container load of coffee beans showed up and we had to figure out a way to sell it.”
Unlike a lot of do-gooder coffee projects, however, Peace Coffee is premium stuff. Rich, soily, nutty arabica beans. It consistently wins taste tests. Peace Coffee defines fair trade this way: No one human becomes obscenely rich by making another human disgracefully poor. Here’s proof that the world can operate with dignity and produce high-quality products, if everyone is operating above board.
Monika Firl and Teresa Ortiz at Common Roots Cafe
Date: October 18th
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Call 612-871-2360 for more information.
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