Sunday, June 15, 2003


more mainstream by the day

you know the world is swinging our way when the very conservative los angeles times editorializes on the need for the u.s.a. to take a stand in the coffee crisis (acrobat reader required) and rejoin the i.c.o.

after only 3 years, the once radical bccy point of view appears to be catching on! is this a dream, or what?

this issue has sometimes seemed a tad abstruse to all but my most dedicated long-time readers, i know. however, those people in la-la land do a fair job of explaining what's going on and why you should care. (log in as me: frelkins1, password).

further, they use all the arguments long-time readers have seen here before: human misery in africa, latin america; the increase in illegal immigration and illegal drug production; the damage to global security caused by fragile nation states that depend on coffee revenues as these countries slide ever closer to financial and social ruin; and the undermining of global economic structures and organizations as people watch their inaction or ineptitude.

i offer a lot more detailed background on the problems too: click here to see my i.c.o. and coffee purity info. you could pretty much spend an entire day following all the links and back links on this site to learn about the problem, i'm afraid. i shudder to think how much stuff on this a search of bccy would turn up. . .

but finally it seems the rest of the world is catching on. however, concrete action probably won't happen unless there is a grassroots movement among normal coffee lovers like us, people who voice their concern. what's the best way to do this? you could email your congressperson, demanding that the u.s.a. rejoin the i.c.o.

you can also join the scaa as a consumer member, giving us coffee lovers access to a trade group whose lobbying we can support. remember, in modern democracy, significant change is spurred when robert nelson, sandy mcalpine, and fine people in bespoke shoes like them roam the halls of congress. (plus, then you can come to the awesome coffee party later this month at the ever-wonderful dallis coffee!)

but no matter how you feel about people of this sort (we here at bccy love all, even tea drinkers!), the scaa has the wonderful asset of one ted lingle, who is the very definition of a stand-up guy. ted is an amazing person; i had coffee with him at ground zero not long ago.

but while all this high-level policy-wonk stuff is going on, the coffee farmers and workers are still in desperate need. that's why i personally think the most important action you can take is to buy more high-quality specialty coffee from your local independent coffeehouse/roaster and simply enjoy it. one of the most surprising things about our world is that just by buying good coffee you can really love you also change life for people in incredible ways.

and while you're enjoying your delicious gourmet coffee, consider making a donation to bccy's favorite charity, coffee kids. read about their microcredit programs and you'll see why they are so uniquely effective. . .

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