Send Starbucks a letter...from Oxfam

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo...ffee/starbucks

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/campaigns/coffee/starbucks

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As of today, more than 70,000 people have taken Oxfam's online action urging coffee giant Starbucks to review its position in relation to Ethiopia's attempts to claim ownership of that country's most famous coffee names.

The public has mobilized impressively since Oxfam revealed the obstacles faced by Ethiopia to gain more value from its high quality coffee beans.

Ethiopia, an extremely poor country that produces some of the best coffee in the world, is trying to gain greater leverage in a supply chain that is weighed down by injustice and inequity and biased against producers. Control of its coffee names through trademarking would give Ethiopia a fairer share of the profits of the global coffee trade.



the letter:

As a Starbucks customer, I'm concerned about your opposition to Ethiopia's right to own its coffee names. I am asking Starbucks to honor its commitment to farmers by signing an agreement with Ethiopia that recognizes the country's rights to the names of its coffees. If Starbucks and other companies sign such agreements, estimates suggest that Ethiopians could see up to $88 million of extra income a year.

Ethiopia ranks among the poorest countries in the world; more than 75 percent of its population lives on less than $1 per day. About 15 million people in Ethiopia depend on coffee to make a living, the majority of them growing their crop on small plots of about two and a half acres.

Meanwhile, coffee lovers pay up to $26 per pound for fine Ethiopian coffees because they're willing to pay for high quality and great taste. Ethiopian farmers, however, often earn just 5-10 percent of the retail value.

With this disparity in mind, the Ethiopian government launched a project to get legal ownership of its fine coffee names - Sidamo, Yirgacheffe, and Harar. By owning the names, Ethiopia will be able to occupy a stronger negotiating position with foreign buyers, capture a larger share of the market value associated with those names, and protect the reputations of its brand names. In a country with a per capita income of around $100 per year, that amount of money could have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Ethiopians.

As you know, Ethiopia approached Starbucks more than a year ago asking the company to lead by example and to discuss an agreement that would acknowledge Ethiopia's ownership of these names. So far, Starbucks has refused to sign the agreement, or even talk seriously about it with the Ethiopian government.

I want to see Starbucks do the right thing by the poor farmers who grow its coffee. I urge you to sign the licensing agreement and recognize Ethiopia's rightful ownership of its coffee names.

Quite. And while we're at it, I know they work hard in Indonesia but fuck it NIKES ARE STILL TOO EXZPENZIVE. Pull your fucking fingers out, or employ adults instead of kids, or employ more kids or ANYTHING. I'm dying here.

__________________
Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

if you don't like starbucks practices then stop being a customer or at least threaten to stop being one (which it doesn't say in that letter).

i'm just saying.

starbucks...why do people go there?

i want to sign a petition that MAKES starbucks resign....stop it already,creeps.

because Starbucks isnt going away.
why not embarrass them into practicing fair trade.

starbucks claims to support farmers in africa /south america through fair trade, with posters in their stores, but they don't.

I really, truly hate starbucks. I can't believe I ever went there and I won't ever again. I have the coolest coffee shop near my house and their stuff is 100% better and cheaper.

Oh, and like 30% of their profits goes to Israel.

regardless of their business ethics, or them playing their part in dumbing down the world's population, etc etc............

they do make a bitchin' soy latte.

I've never been to Starbucks. I think I never will! But not due to my anti-capalist poseur-chic leanings. Just don't drink coffe.
BUT what about the Indoneeesianz?

__________________
Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

Yeah
Ethiopian farmers don't make a Peppermint Mocha around the holidays.

Well. Other than that, I try my best to avoid Starbucks.

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I really don't care about those farmers, nor do I care much about Starbucks. So why am I posting? No fucking clue.

you know, you hear alot of awful shit about starbucks.
but where are the hard facts. can anyone produce a website that cites legitimate sources (not other ghetto tween run sites, or myspace links) to back up these claims about starbucks being in bed with philip morris, giving 30% of profits to isreal, screwing farmers, being globalization hogs, etc.

anyone?

i've found opinion based antistarbucks sites (ie: "starbucks sucks! they're corporate coffee", but without any citations, or research behind it.

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well we can keep our hopes up. unless they figure out some amazing strategy for paying for health insurance the company will go under. they raise the price by 5 cents a year because it's becoming increasingly harder for them to pay for health insurance for so many employees. and god is it ever great insurance. i paid 30 bucks a month for insurance that would normally cost me $173 a month. it is starbucks largest expense. on paper the company is quite amazing, their belief system is extraordinary but unfortunately it's practiced by people that aren't perfect. i loved the policies and procedures the company had, they just had shitty managers (district and regional alike).

oh they love to advertise how you get health insurance when you work only 20 hours a week. they neglect to tell you that they will schedule you 19.5 hours on purpose to make sure you don't get health insurance. i pray that company goes under. i just can't understand why it costs $8+ for two fucking espresso drinks. if I paid those prices for the amount of coffee i drank for a year I could buy my own damn espresso machine.

__________________
"How wrong it is for a woman to expect the man to build the world she wants, rather than to create it herself."

"I postpone death by living, by suffering, by error, by risking, by giving, by losing."

"I will not be just a tourist in the world of images, just watching images passing by which I cannot live in, make love to, possess as permanent sources of joy and ecstasy. "

-from the goddess that is Anaïs Nin

oh no, you go to starbucks, dont you?

the only FACT i need, in order to keep out of there, is that there are now 11,000 of them in the world. i usually decide to stay away when everyone starts mindlessly gravitating towards a new product. barely anybody even knew what the fuck starbucks was 10 years ago, but now... orchestral can't live without it! and lots of other people too!!

shit. 10 years ago, nobody had a goddamn cell phone either, but it's become "an important part of life" now. anyone ever really ask why? what's the big deal? i know plenty of people who do just fine WITHOUT starbucks or cell phones..

im scared of the world now, and where it's going.

i do not frequent the starbucks.
only when there are no other options.

and if we're all wondering, this is the coffee place i visit most often, and it's an organic co-op.



i hear you though, on the materialism and "i need!" attitude of americans.

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well it's not their fault. it's the skyrocketing of advertising in general, we're bred to think we need a great big slurpee from 711 or a $4 coffee drink.

they've gotten so ballsy, they're all in cahoots together, and we are the fucking lab rats.

edite- that coffee house looks way cool.

it is.
except sometimes they get really awful new-age types who frequent the place.

and oftentimes they screw up my order, and produce a chai latte, instead of a soy one.

i napped today, and had a bizarre dream about a person i think was you.

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I guess if you want I can look up a link about all of the protests in Atlanta when starbucks announced they were opening up a starbucks in little 5 points. (That's sort of our own little haight ashbury district btw.) It probably wouldn't have been a problem if that neighborhood had not been comprised of entirely independent businesses for 20+ years and there was a locally owned coffee shop next door. But you can't stop starbucks. They are not entirely to blame, but they sure did help fuck up the neighborhood.

Also, my cousin spent some time in China and there is a starbucks in the forbidden city. They can't keep their greedy little hands out of anywhere and it's pretty disgusting. If they would just recognize some boundaries I'd feel a lot better about them.

prett much yep. but then starbucks is interchangeable with any other huge corporation that we've all heard of, whether it's coffee or shoes or the latest internet provider. ads ads ads, commerce commerce commerce, blank stares from wide eyed adults. it's so funny too, when you work in retail. the customers are like at your beck and call. "oh well the latest sale items are over here, and as you can see we have a fine selection. i think you should try this one, it looks great with your hair. go to dressing room number 3 right nooooowwwwwww. Thanks for shopping with us."
And the people follow the rules.

Not all of Starbucks coffee is fair trade, but they do support framers with the fair trade agreement.









& I agree with orchestal. No one seems to be able to produce legitimate sources for their negative information.
& yes, I can live without Starbucks coffee & I don't even own a landline, let alone a cell phone.