KW Now!

 

Sean and Amy Zister enjoy the taste of a great cup of coffee. And if you were to drop into their Seven Shores Trading company store on St Leger St., just off Victoria near Lancaster, in Kitchener, they will fix you a cup right before your eyes.

 

Seven Shores took their first shipment of Cafe Justicia (Fair Trade Plus) Coffee from Guatemala in December 2007. They decided to import this particular brand of coffee for more than its full bodied aroma and flavour. Their decision was based on what I decided to call Fairer-Trade Coffee.

 

We have all been bombarded with buzz words with the advent of the green, environmentally friendly, politically correct, GenXtra careful, but presently wasteful popular cultural social movements, (Phew!) that we don’t always stop and think about what a lot of these buzz words really mean.

 

Organically Grown Fair trade coffee means that the coffee itself is produced without harsh chemicals and the workers who produce it are paid a premium for their efforts.

 

 

The problem for some farmers is that you must pay up to $10,000 to qualify to sell your product under the “Fair Trade” designation. Yes, some can band together, form cooperatives, pay the distributors to distribute, but $10,000 is a lot of money in anyone’s hands and most of the farmers don’t have the financial safety net of being able to organize themselves into a unified voice or lobby. Then along came Café Justicia or “Fairer” Trade Coffee. It means the little guys can get a better price without forking out cash to be able to do so. That sounds “Fairer” to me.

(Please Note: Fair Trade Coffee is still very "Good"...Fair Trade PLUS just seems to be even better.)

 

 

Sean and Amy now receive 10lbs every 2 weeks. Seven Shores sells Cafe Justicia organic arabica whole bean coffee in a medium dark and dark roast at $14 for 1lb. The roast is done locally for the freshest and best coffee, AND the producers are paid approximately 60% higher than standard Fair Trade prices!

 

A true Guatemala treasure (the strictly hard bean) altura coffee has a crisp, robusta flavour boasting notes of mocha and spice. Sound good? It really is.

 
Looking For Justice

While I was visiting the store Sean showed me a video about the coffee industry. It’s called “Looking For Justice”

 

The video is about the coffee industry in Guatemala. The CCDA (An Indigenous Organization in the Highlands of Guatemala) since 1982 have been helping Guatemalan peasant’s access land and stand up for human and labour rights. They are providing an alternative to coffee farmers who work on Fincas (Industrial Coffee Farms) and Small Coffee Farmers who sell to Coyotes (middleman who impose low prices and cheat the farmers from their coffee production) by providing FAIR TRADE pricing for the coffee. The CCDA currently helps out 1800 Coffee Farmers = 7000 family members and in total 50,000 Guatemalans with jobs in rural development, processing the coffee from cherry form and building homes for families who live in subhuman conditions.

 

I think you’ll find the video fascinating. I know that I did; and it made me understand a little bit more about what Fair Trade really means.

 

If you have the opportunity, view it now; or come back anytime and view it either in this article or Seven Shores KW Now directory listing. Click Here to go there now.

 

And if you happen to be in Kitchener, drop into Seven Shores and see what they’re all about. Fair-er Trade coffee is just one small (but caring) aspect of their business.

(Below) View Video "Looking For Justice"