Coffee For Sale (Or: So Many Wins!)

So my exams are done and there are only 68 days until I leave, which can only mean one thing: time for more fundraising! I mentioned selling coffee a while ago, but now I've got enough of the details sorted out to actually tell you about it. Basically, I'd like to sell 340g bags of coffee from an Ontario-based company called Equator Coffee. The four roasts I'm selling are are : Bolivian Yungas (bold), Columbian Fondo Paez (smooth), Nicaraguan Matalgapa (mellow) and Peruvian Decaf (mellow).

Hey, look - they're all from Central/South America! That's not by accident, you know. Here are three reasons why I'm really excited to be selling this coffee:

1. It's fair trade. 
Normally, coffee prices can fluctuate on a monthly basis, much like prices for other kinds of crops. Because it's harvested (usually) annually, a lot of farmers have to take out loans at the beginning of every year to cover their costs until the harvest. If the price of coffee is no good when the harvest comes, it can be hard to pay off the loan and pretty much impossible to make a profit. Additionally, most of the money consumers pay ends up in the pockets of importers and other people in the middle instead of actually going to the farmer. With fair trade, farmers are guaranteed a minimum price that never falls below an established number, which provides them with a lot more stability and opportunities to invest in the improvement of their standard of living. The fair trade system also involves democratically-run farmers' cooperatives that allow workers to collectively own equipment and facilities. (This info is from here and here.) When you buy this coffee, you're really supporting the farmers who grew it.

2. It's organic.
This means no chemical fertilizers and no ucky pesticides. For a lot of people, this is a priority; for others, it's a bonus. Either way, it can be nice to know that the farmers put fewer chemicals into the environment so that you get to put fewer in your body.

3. It's shade-grown.
I had never really considered where coffee was grown until I started looking into selling it. Basically, coffee tastes better when it's grown in the shade, but it's easier to harvest when it's grown out in the open in neat little rows. Unfortunately, neat little rows mean cutting down a lot of trees, which in turn means destroying a lot of habitats for birds. (This is why shade-grown and "bird-friendly" go hand in hand.)

In case that giant pile of text scared you, here's the gist: buying this coffee is good for farmers, trees, birds, your body, my fundraising and your coffee cravings! There are so many wins!

Would you like some? Do you know an office that would like some? I don't want to do the fancy order form thing like I did with the cookies, so please just send me an email letting me know how much of what kind and I'll have it all in the next 2-3 weeks! (Regular is 12.15/bag and Decaf is 12.85/bag.)