Still DSL-less, I’ve been biking around town from one free wifi spot to another — sometimes getting there before they’re even open.
That’s what happened yesterday, when I got the Santa Monica Main Library at like 11 am — The library doesn’t open till 1 pm on Sundays :(
But! The Bookmark Cafe — a lovely lil coffee shop in the outdoor rotunda of the library — opened at 11:30. Yey! I sat under the warm Cali sun typing away — the wifi was already on :) — with a cup of coffee.
The coffee here comes from Supreme Bean Roasters in North Hollywood. The Bookmark Cafe serves only organic blends.
But is the coffee fair trade? Well — Supreme Bean recently joined the growing ranks of fair trade licensed roasters, and currently have 3 different fair trade certified coffees — a Sumatra, a Peru, and a decaf blend. Often, they have more than 3, depending on what coffees have been delivered and what coffees sold.
The woman I spoke with at Supreme Bean said that while the stuff currently at The Bookmark Cafe isn’t fair trade certified, it would be easy for Supreme Bean to switch over — the Cafe just needs to requests it.
So I’ll be putting a lil note in the library suggestion box and seeing what develops. In the meantime, I got the names of a few places where Supreme Bean’s fair trade coffees ARE already being served, to be reviewed soon :)
The Supreme Bean website‘s under construction, but you can order their stuff from Whole Latte Love, or via phone: 888.288.JAVA.
The Bookmark Cafe. In the Santa Monica Main Library. 601 Santa Monica Blvd. Santa Monica. 310.587.2665. Mo-Th, 8 am – 9 pm; Fri, 8 am – 5:30 pm; Sa, 9 am – 5:30 pm, Su, 11:30 am – 5 pm.
Well, if it is organic, then it is fine with me!
In the growing trend of rating “labels”, I have to put organic in first place. So I am not really comfortable with e.g. fairtrade-coffee if it isn’t organic too.
The “organic” approach is more fundamental to agriculture (the way we treat the soil, the land, the animals and therefore the people), whereas the fairtrade approach deals mostly with trade.
And I have to tell that I am a fan of fairtrade – it is just a matter of priorities (in case of one has to decide).
Comment by Gernot — May 16, 2006 @ 7:04 am
organic production is costly for farmers. if they’re not able to get a guaranteed floor price for their beans that allows them to feed their family, send their kids to school, and sustain their farms, then what’s the point? without taking care of the family there’s no farm, no organic, etc. if you think fair trade certified is only about trade, please do a little research (http://www.fairtrade.net/sites/standards/sp.html)-there’s a lot more to the label than just the fair price (check the banned pesticide & agrochemicals list, the labor standards, farmer organization, etc.). the fair trade system also offers an economic incentive to go organic (a higher floor price) and what’s the point of buying organic coffee if it comes a source that exploits farmers & farm workers? would you be comfortable buying organic strawberries that were picked by mistreated migrant workers in california? of course taking care of the land matters greatly, but at the cost of farmer empowerment?
Comment by priorities — May 16, 2006 @ 9:24 am
Luckily, at least with coffee, it’s generally not an either or situation. Over 80% of fair trade certified coffee brought into the US is also organic :)
Comment by Siel — May 16, 2006 @ 10:28 am
sorry, Mrs or Mr priorities – organic is not some bonus or luxury for those who can afford (organic is costly? ask a “conventional” farmer about costs, ask what fairtrade-certification costs), organic is the fundamentally different way of producing food and not a matter of costs! but as you said empowerment – every(!) farmer or campesino can farm organic, if knowledge is provided and for organic food they will get a decent price – that’s empowerment for me (btw. there are no fairtrade strawberries available from California and there will never be – due to the fairtrade-system)
but go to flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonreg/) and you will see, that I am trying to promote fairtrade the best I can
peace to you!
@ siel: it’s no wonder, because if one cares one won’t be satisfied with “either…or”, only with “both…and”!
you are doing a great job!
Comment by Gernot — May 18, 2006 @ 1:13 am