00 Sample Essay Coffee - Grade: A- PDF

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A psychology paper that was an assignment given to us after midterms. Mine was about the effects of coffee on a students mental health....

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1 Running Head: THE ETHICS OF COFFEE

The Ethics of Coffee: Promoting Fairtrade as the Ethical Choice Ms. Anna Example ID: 20205555 Zayed University 1237 words

Look at the example research paper below. Highlight these elements of the paper; The thesis statement The topic sentence(s) of each supporting paragraph. The points made in each paragraph;  Point  Information  Explanation

2 THE ETHICS OF COFFEE The past decade has seen a significant rise in global levels of coffee consumption with Finland, for example, currently consuming 10kg per person, per year (International Coffee Organization, 2014). Indeed, according to statistics released by the Global Coffee Association (2015), we are drinking more coffee than ever before. Increasingly, small retailers are being replaced by large high street chains such as Starbucks and Café Nero and the traditional morning cup of tea in the UK by a Cappuccino or Latte. This increased consumption would seem like good news for farmers who supply coffee beans. However, competition between major coffee chains means that this is not always the case. Small-scale growers in countries such as Vietnam and Kenya are often forced to accept an unfairly low price for their coffee beans (Rickman, 2012). One answer to this has been the establishment of the Fairtrade Foundation, which aims to ensure ‘better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade’ (Fairtrade Foundation, 2014 para 3) for farmers. Fairtrade supports small coffee producers in a number of ways; for example, it sets a minimum price at which coffee can be purchased from the grower. As well as defending farmers’ rights, this organization promotes environmentally friendly practices. Therefore, consumers should buy only Fairtrade coffee due to the economic benefits for growers, the positive environmental effects, as well as the potential impact on business practice. One reason to buy Fair Trade (FT) coffee is the economic benefit provided both to the farmers and the communities in which they live. Firstly, with regard to the individual grower, because FT guarantees a minimum price for his produce, the farmer has the opportunity to make a profit and to achieve a more stable income, even in times of financial uncertainty. This was particularly important during the global recession of 2008, when many small growers were forced to close due to fluctuations

3 THE ETHICS OF COFFEE in the market and a fall in commodity prices while those who had previously joined an agricultural cooperative were protected and able to continue trading (Jeffrey, 2012). Indeed, Global Coffee Association (2015) claims that FT farmers can earn treble the income of most coffee growers. Choosing FT coffee, then, can result in a direct economic boost for small coffee farmers. Secondly, with respect to the wider community, in places where the main source of income for the population is coffee, profits made by the farmers can be injected into the local economy, boosting other businesses and enabling authorities to improve the local infrastructure in the form of better educational and medical facilities (Morrey, 2013). A key example is that of the Mexican city of Oxoaca, where the local coffee cooperative has helped to establish a healthcare service and agricultural training program (Rickman, 2012). FT even offers its farmers a financial bonus for investment in community projects, such as schools and transport (Morey, 2013). In other words, buying FT coffee can have a widereaching positive economic impact. It has also been argued that choosing FT over regular coffee can have positive effects on both the environment and, as a result, on farmers’ health. With regard to the farmer, one environmental benefit is a result of FT’s strict code of agricultural practice. An example of this is that growers are encouraged to use organic methods to produce the coffee, methods which tend to have a lower impact on the soil (Peters, 2010). The fact that FT farmers receive a reasonable price for their produce means that they are less likely to seek cheap, environmentally harmful ways of producing their coffee. A further benefit to the environment is that FT coffee plants must be grown in shade as this reduces the need for chemical fertilizers and filtering the carbon dioxide which could worsen global warming. Moreover, the presence of small farms makes it more difficult for businesses to clear trees from large areas of land,

4 THE ETHICS OF COFFEE reducing the likelihood of deforestation (Peters, 2010). Thus, the environmental benefits of FT coffee are many and varied. Regarding health, the simple fact that FT coffees are often grown organically means that the consumer may not be exposed to the large number of chemicals present in regular drinks (Anderson, 2008). Moreover, there are also health implications for those physically involved in coffee production. For instance, not only will those working on farms using organic practices be sheltered from the sun by trees (Anderson, 2008), but are also less likely to risk the threats to health posed by the use of chemicals such as those used in regular coffee farming, frequently causing skin rashes and even cancer (Williams, 2014). In addition to the economic and environmental advantages, a further reason to buy FT coffee is that it provides a much-needed challenge to the major coffee chains mentioned earlier in this paper and removes the need for ‘middle-men’. Firstly, with regard to the challenge to big business, one effect of globalization is that brands such as Costas and Starbucks have been able to spread throughout the world, dominating the market and largely able to set product pricing at whatever level they wish (Fursdon, 2015). These giants are able to buy from producers for at very low prices (Jeffrey, 2012) and can then sell on to the consumer at a much higher price, ensuring significant profits for the company. However, FT coffee provides the coffee-drinker with the opportunity to make not only a quality-based, but also ethically-driven choice and thus influence the way in which larger corporations do business. In other words, if companies such as Starbucks see their customers showing a preference for FT coffee which has been grown using traditional, environmentally-friendly methods, bought from the farmer at a fair price, this may lead them to improve their own treatment of their own suppliers or to support the FT organization. In addition, with respect to removing the need for ‘middle-men’, FT cooperatives enable the grower to deal

5 THE ETHICS OF COFFEE directly with the manufacturer without having to negotiate with anyone else. For example, in the article ‘10 reasons to buy Fair Trade’, Litenov & Madely (2007) claim that outside the FT system, coffee ‘can be bought and sold up to 150 times before it reaches your cup’ (p. 124). This process is not only slow and complex, but also costly for the grower (Roth, 2014). In contrast, as previously mentioned, FT organizations sell directly to the coffee manufacturers, making the process simpler, cheaper and fairer for the producer. In conclusion, coffee consumption has risen exponentially in recent years. With globalization, coffee outlets are spreading throughout the world to meet increased demand. However, the power of large coffee retailers has put pressure on the grower to work harder to produce coffee, which may then be sold at an unreasonably low price. This essay has argued that consumers should buy Fair Trade coffee for economic and environmental reasons. It has also suggested that purchasing FT coffee may encourage major coffee companies to improve their business practices and reduce the need for growers to deal with ‘middle-men’. In the opinion of this writer, if the consumer continues to purchase non-Fair Trade coffee, the financial plight of coffee growers around the world will be exacerbated. It is therefore recommended that governments promote Fair Trade through public information campaigns and that consumers put ethics before cost when choosing a brand.

6 THE ETHICS OF COFFEE References Anderson, S. (2008, June 30). The caffeine is the least of it; chemicals in coffee. The Enquirer. Retrieved from http://www.enquirer.co.uk/environment/2008/6 Fairtrade Foundation. (2014). Who we are and what we do. Retrieved from http://www.FTF.org/main/whoweare Fursden, A. (2015, May 5). The Power of the Retail Giants. http://www.oldtown.edu/economics/reports Global Coffee Association. (2015). Recent Trends in Consumption. Retrieved from: http://www.gca.com/statistics/2014-15/ International Coffee Organization. (2014). Trends in Coffee. New York: Beansbooks. Jeffrey, J. (n.d.) Looking out for the Little Man; Defending small tea and coffee producers. Retrieved from http://www.protestandreform.org/internationalissues./coffee Litenov, C. & Madely, R. (2007) 10 reasons to buy Fair Trade. Retrieved from http://www.ft.org/promotions/10reasons Morrey, S. (2013). Fairtrade: Helping communities produce with dignity. International Development, 15(3), 5-13 Peters, F. (2010). Sustainable Farming and Coffee Production. Sustainable Agriculture 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.sustainable_agriculture. co.uk / 2010/3 Rickman, A. (2012, Feb 2). Dying for a coffee: The dark side of our coffee culture. The Daily Post. Retrieved from: http://www.post.co.uk/society/feb. Roth, L. (2014, Dec 20). How the coffee market really works. The Independent. Williams, Z. (2014). Coffee and Tea Production in Asia. London, Fleet Press....