Believing in Coffee

As a first generation college graduate I often get asked, “What are you doing for work?”.  When I tell people that I work in coffee, they look puzzled by my choice.  I believe people see coffee just as a popular beverage and a commodity.  They don’t understand the magnitude at which coffee influences the world.  Coffee is the second most valuable traded commodity, behind oil and above steel, and contains a rich story of culture and politics.  The story of coffee can be exploitive or empowering and beautiful.  I work in coffee because I know that its implications are far reaching and it can be a great driver of social and economic change.

USFT

I was introduced to the world of coffee in February of 2006.  I attended the third annual United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) Convergence inDenver,Colorado.  USFT is a national student movement that promotes fair trade principles, products and policies.  At the convergence students, like myself, met Fair Trade farmers, heard their stories, learned about fair trade’s impact and were given the tools and support to go back to their campuses and share with others.  While there, I had a conversation with a farmer who told me that after selling only 25% of his product fair trade he was able to provide enough income for his family so his children could return to school.  He looked into my eyes and said, “You have a unique opportunity to share with others what I have shared with you.  It is so easy for you as a consumer to direct your purchasing power towards socially responsible products which are changing the lives of people like myself.”  I felt empowered by all that was happening.  I was surrounded by hundreds of students across the country and dozens of farmers from around the world all gathered to discuss the magnitude of coffee in the world and how it can be used as a vehicle for social justice.  Hearing story after story about the ways in which fair trade had changed people’s lives, I broke down crying because I knew that I was now part of a movement to do something that was bigger than myself and there was no turning back.  I learned how EASY it can be to shift my economic consumer power, towards goods that make a huge difference in the lives of people who grow the products I use regularly; like coffee.  I knew the importance of voting with your dollars and I wanted to tell the world.

CHANGE initiative (that's me all the way to the left)

I returned to Durango inspired and motivated to do my part.  The first thing I did was get fair trade coffee brought into the campus.  I then became an Oxfam America CHANGE leader and spent the next 3 years traveling the country going to conferences and teaching about Fair Trade and other social justice issues.  After graduation I applied to work at Desert Sun Coffee Roasters.  At the time, I didn’t know anything about roasting coffee, but I knew the ins and outs of Fair Trade.  Upon learning about how Desert Sun does Fair Trade I was again baffled and inspired by the movement I was in.  Once more I found myself feeling lucky to be doing work that I truly believe in; work that has a positive impact on the lives of others.

How Desert Sun does Fair Trade

I don’t consider myself an activist as much as an advocate for the things that I believe in.  I do think that in some small capacity, I have the ability to make a difference in the lives of other people by the actions that I make, however small that may be.  Even if it’s just using coffee as a vehicle for social justice, I remain inspired because I feel like I’ve done something.

~ZacharyRay~

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