Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Drink More Coffee, Support Local farmers in Africa at the same time

We have just passed the 60th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball celebrating the moment when he was moved up the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. I was reminded of a segment I saw on TV regarding Jackie’s son, David, who now lives in Africa. He has married an African woman and has become a coffee farmer. He has started a cooperative of local coffee farmers, called Sweet Unity Farms, and is working toward direct distribution of global marketplace, thereby allowing the revenues and profits of the coffee industry to reach the farmers in Africa.

Anyway, I just bought my first bag of whole-bean Tanzanian. $15 bucks with shipping & handling, pretty much what I pay for my coffee anyway, except now I’m putting more money in the hands of farmers in Africa doing the hand picking, instead of distribution companies. There are many ways to help affect the world, some of them as easy as buying coffee, so next time you need to replenish your supply, check out Sweet Unity Farms.

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