Grace Leung - Brewing Hope

Newtown resident and Peoples Coffee fan Grace Leung recently completed her Masters in Environmental Studies at Victoria University. She sat down to chat with us about her experiences with fair trade co-operatives in Mexico and her thoughts on the future of Fair Trade.

Grace began her adventures with the Michigan-based project 'Brewing Hope', a student led movement that worked to improve producer-consumer relationships. The group of 12 students from University of Michigan were led by Chris Treter, a roaster from the fair trade advocacy group Java for Justice. Together they travelled to Chixilon, a small village about two hours from the capital of Chiapas in Southern Mexico. Here they planned to observe the manifold achievements of fair trade, its shortcomings and how to improve dialogue with the coffee producers.

What did Brewing Hope want to achieve in Chiapas?
Brewing Hope was formed with the intention of improving the human relationships that exist within the production and consumption of your daily cup of coffee. We went to Chixlion to see how consumers can help to encourage and support the fair trade process. It was really the personal contact that made a difference, bringing the story back to the Michigan community, who buy large amounts of coffee from these co-operatives in Chiapas. We also hoped to address some of the needs of the producers - problems such as medicine shortages, a need for more water tanks in the dry season, with funds raised by Brewing Hope.

What were the strengths of Fair Trade that you observed?
Chiapas has a longstanding culture of social organisation, which has provided strong foundations for the fair trade model. We visited San Cristobal de las Casas, the capital of Chiapas, which is an epicentre for the social and indigenous rights movement in Mexico, to learn about the wider context of these organisational traditions. I found that the most beneficial aspects of fair trade were not necessarily the increased income, but the support for communities to strengthen and organise. The social premium for workers, a core aspect of fair trade, helped make this happen. it also helped to build a new church, community hall and much needed water tanks in Chixlion. 

Many of the indigenous farmers in Chiapas had long been environmentally conscious, but having more time and funds meant they were able to act upon these concerns, for example instigating more sustainable water usage during the processing of the coffee. There was also a prexisting concern for using organic farming, with many farmers already relying on traditional methods  as part of a local concern for the environment and the well-being of the community. The Fair Trade social premium helped to pay for these farms to become certified organic, which in turn increased the value of the beans on the global market.

What are some of the challenges facing Fair Trade today?
At the time that I was in Chiapas, the global coffee price was catching up to the fair trade price. In this environment, co-operative leaders faced a difficult decision in sticking to fair trade, which requires a fair amount of initiative and organisational abilities. Local 'coyotes' continued to push farmers to sell their product to them, instead of directly to buyers in other countries. Their offer can be a tempting one, because local co-operatives don't always have the necessary infrastructure to market their beans, and even something as simple as a truck can make all the difference. Infrastructure is one of the many issues that continue to face practitioners of fair trade today, and there is still a huge imbalance that needs to be redressed. There could still be more benefits for producers, when you consider the small percentage that farmers gain from the (relatively high) cost of your daily flat white.