Black Gold
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Complimentary screening of the
documentary "Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee"
Where:
Suquamish UCC
When:
Tuesday, June 5th at 7pm
Multinational coffee companies now rule
our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the
industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most
valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But
while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos,
the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that
many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than
in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela
is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling
coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to
harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the
international market, Tadesse travels the world in an
attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and
Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players
that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent.
New York commodity traders, the international coffee
exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at
the World Trade Organization reveal the many challenges
Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for
his farmers.
Kelsey and Stacy Marshall, founders of
Grounds for Change Coffee, a family owned roastery based
out of Poulsbo, will introduce the film and be on hand
afterwards to answer questions. Grounds for Change
sources its coffee from the Oromia Cooperative featured
in this award-winning documentary. As is the case with
all of Grounds for Change coffee, the Yirgacheffe coffee
from the Oromia Cooperative is Fair Trade Certified by
TransFairUSA, Certified Organic by the Washington State
Department of Agriculture and is grown in shaded
conditions.
Complimentary samples of this coffee will
be distributed at the event.
