Belfast Telegraph (subscription), United Kingdom
When US-style coffee bars arrived in our high streets 10 years ago, the main thing you had to worry about was getting the jargon right. Did you want a "tall skinny latte with wings" or a "double dry cap to stay"? Now we've sorted out the vocabulary, more of us are starting to worry about where the beans come from and whether the farmers are getting a fair deal.
The well-documented coffee crisis has seen thousands of growers, who traditionally work on small plots of inaccessible land, struggling to make ends meet. Despite our blossoming love affair with coffee, over-production of largely low-quality beans (particularly in countries not traditionally involved in coffee-growing), has led to a 70 per cent drop in prices since 1997. For many farmers, this means the difference between their children going to school and being able to afford basic health care.
More...
|
