Starbucks says a lot about supporting small farmers through fair trade. But try buying a cup of brewed fair trade coffee in any American Starbucks and you’re in for some blank looks and a long wait.

Fair trade fights common forms of labor exploitation including human trafficking, child labor, and other abuses. No wonder Starbucks wants to promote the fact that they source coffee from fair trade certified farms. But walk into any Starbucks in the U.S., and it’s likely that you won’t see a fair trade coffee on the menu. Ask for it specifically and you’ll have to wait for a whole new pot to be brewed before you can even get your hands around a cup of it.

Former Starbucks barista Sam Greenblatt has started a petition on Change.org asking Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz to live up to Starbucks’ fair trade ideals by making a fair trade option brewed and available to every customer. Sign Sam’s petition to get a brewed fair trade option available to every American Starbucks customer, everyday.

Fair trade is able to improve the lives of small farmers by connecting them directly to consumers — through labeling that tells consumers where products come from and certifies the fairness of the exchange. Without fair trade, many coffee farmers can only sell their harvests for less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

Thanks to the enduring efforts of advocates, 100% of Starbucks’ brewed espresso sold in Europe is Fairtrade Certified. This means every cappuccino, pumpkin spice latte and caramel machiatto is ethically sourced as well as delicious.

It’s time for Starbucks to not just talk the fair trade talk, but walk the walk by making fair trade coffee options easily available in their U.S. stores. Sign Sam’s petition to get a brewed Fair Trade Coffee option available in every American Starbucks, everyday:

http://www.change.org/petitions/ceo-howard-shultz-offer-brewed-fair-trade-coffee-daily-in-us-stores

Thanks for being a change-maker,

Amanda and the Change.org team

Moka  on Friday, May 13th

Moka Cafe Fair Trade Los Angeles

Get coffee for $1 if you pose for a picture with a “I Took a Fair Trade Coffee Break” sticker.

We will post the pictures on Facebook on Saturday.

If you’ve been meaning to check out Moka, make it Friday!!!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moka-Cafe/109553842455776.

Moka Cafe is located at
55 S. Lake Ave., Suite 125 Pasadena, CA 91101

Check out the video above, a sneak peek at an upcoming documentary on the co-op. And you can find Mirembe Kawomera coffee at Thanksgiving Coffee. (Plus look for more on both the film and the coffee at our Just Lives Festival coming September 30 to the Hollywood Farmers Market!)

Their twelve ways:  Tea, Chocolate, Fruit, Sugar, Rice, Vanilla, Spice, Olive Oil, Wine, Sports Balls, Arts and Crafts, and of course, Coffee. How many do you buy Fair Trade?

Fair trade teas! You can get Choice bagged teas, or chilled bottles of Honest Tea in the refigerators.

Of course, there’s lots of fair trade coffee, mostly from Cafe Altura and Newman’s Own Organics.

Then there’s fair trade yerba mate from Eco Teas and Guyaki. I’m actually not a big fan of mate, but some people love it –

And fair trade cocoa from Dagoba –

Pick up a couple bars of fair trade chocolate from Divine and Endangered Species.

More dessert: Some of Ben & Jerry’s ice creams in the freezer are fair trade

There’s also fair trade sugar, just below the fair trade cocoa.

In the bulk area, you can get fair trade, organic basmati rice, both white and brown.

As you check out, you’ll see fair trade snack bars from Alpsnack and Maya.

And lastly, you can buy some pretty fair trade crafts from World of Good — They’re displayed on a stand near the cosmetics counter

Co-opportunity. 1525 Broadway @ 16th. Santa Monica. 310-451-8902. 7 am – 10 pm.

Now, the company’s expanded their fair trade ice cream offerings to include Vanilla and Chocolate

The Vanilla’ll hit Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops this month; the Chocolate in December. Both’ll be available in supermarkets and grocery stores in January 2007.

So — This means that Ben & Jerry’s is now buying fair trade coffee, cocoa, and vanilla from co-ops! Which is like yay!

And which also makes me ask — What ’bout the sugar? Cuz Ben & Jerry’s UK’s already using fair trade certified sugar for its vanilla ice cream.

Do we ice cream lovers in the US not deserve fair trade sugar? No fair!

In any case, I’m glad that an awesome and yummy company like Ben & Jerry’s is making fair trade a bigger part of its company. In fact, Ben & Jerry’s has info ’bout fair trade month on the front of its site.

So — I’m gonna write Ben & Jerry an email saying thanks, can’t wait for the new ice cream! And also — can I have some fair trade sugar with that, pretty please –

Independents

Surfas (Culver City). Get Monkey & Son coffee, wholebean. All fair trade certified, all organic — from a local coffee company!

The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa. (Culver City) This lil local shop roasts its own beans, in store. Many of its blends are fair trade — ask for it

Romancing the Bean (Burbank). They get their coffee from Volcanic Red. The organic beans are fair trade certified.

Chains
Java City. This NoCal based chain has a number of fair trade blends. Los Angeles has 1 location in the Wells Fargo building downtown

Trader Joe’s. Last count, they had 5 different fair trade certified options available at v. reasonable prices — Including a fair trade decaf blend! Most are also organic and shade grown.

Cost Plus World Market. You can get World Market’s own fair trade certified World Village Coffee.

Wild Oats. In addition to v. yummy fair trade chocolates, Wild Oats carries lots of fair trade certified Green Mountain coffees.

Whole Foods. Whole Foods carries a few smaller brands of fair trade certified coffees.

Peets. Peets has 1 fair trade certified blend.

Starbucks. The mermaid has 1 fair trade certified blend.

Borders. Borders sells Seattle’s Best Coffee, which is owned by Starbucks. Make sure you go for the organic fair trade blends (green packaging).

Lastly — Most major supermarkets do offer a few token fair trade certified blends.