here's another i wrote about fair trade coffee

Hessian bags line the ground, overflowing with red berries. Farmers chat amongst themselves, carefully pulling each berry off, as if their lives depend on it. With grins on their faces, they haul 60-kilogram bags up the steep green hills that surround them and their villages.

Isolated from the realms of modern society, the only way to access these tiny villages is via muddy slopes that resemble a riverbed rather than a road. Trucks and Ute’s with no windows have seen better days as they carry the bags down to the city centre.

This is a day in the life of Papua New Guinean coffee farmers. Every day they struggle to survive, with the coffee they carefully farm their only source of income.

Coffee farmers all over the world struggle to survive, being paid a bare minimum price for the beans that are their livelihood. In Papua New Guinea it is no different.

Schools with no desks, health centres with no beds and families with no money. This is the life that they have come to know. But all that is about to change.

Introducing Fair Trade, an initiative that will allow coffee famers and other agricultural farmers to be treated as equals in the global trading market.

This initiative has only recently been introduced to Australia, but has already had enormous success in Europe, with the same endeavour planned for the rest of the world.

Coffee Connections is one business playing an enormous role in the highland coffee farms of Papua New Guinea.

Their warehouse in Goroka, PNG is filled to the roof with hundreds of bags of coffee beans, ready to send off to café’s and restaurants, many based in Melbourne.

“Coffee Connections saw the opportunity for growth in the international market and sponsored its collection of contracted organic farmers to form a co-operative movement so as to benefit from the premiums,” says Coffee Connections’ Marketing Manager, Craig McConaghy.

As the beans are washed and sorted by hand, they are almost ready to enter they highly competitive coffee market where one kilo will usually sell for less than we consumers pay for a single cup.

“Small coffee farmers in PNG lack the cohesion, the funds and the acumen to put it all together without the help of a benevolent sponsor,” says McConaghy,” PNG does not have a marketing problem, just a production problem. The Government has forgotten about them.”

Around 85% of coffee grown in PNG is grown on small farms of less than two acres, a tiny granule in the global coffee market. There are four major coffee roasters in the world (Kraft, Nestle, Procter & Gamble and Sara Lee), that combined, buy almost half the world’s coffee beans each year, often paying farmers the lowest possible price.

But organisations such as Oxfam are on a mission to change this through campaigns such as Make Trade Fair that raise awareness in the general public.

Oxfam Australia’s Trade Campaign Manager, Jeff Atkinson says that Fair Trade is definitely a step in the right directions, but will by no means alleviate poverty.

“We try to raise awareness of the fact that many of the producers of the products we buy live in poor circumstances and get a very low price for their products,” says Atkinson, “Our role is to promote the idea and to hopefully increase demand for Fair Trade certified products.”

Women and their children sit in a large warehouse, coffee beans strewn across the floor, as they sort through millions of beans, only keeping the perfect.

As the coffee beans are loaded into ships containers bound for café’s and restaurants all over the world, Gavan Hogan from Five Senses Coffee in Melbourne is awaiting his next shipment.

In a room no bigger than a garage, bags and containers of coffee beans line the walls. The aroma of roasting coffee floats out into the street and the sound of the coffee grinder whirring can be heard from outside.

The coffee lining the walls comes from all over the world, from Dominica to Kenya and Costa Rica to PNG. Five Senses deals directly with PNG coffee farmers, giving them an above average price for their beans.

According to Hogan, “The initial motivation was to send back money to PNG and coffee was the medium through which we did that.” Having lived in Goroka, the coffee centre of PNG, Hogan was aware of the dire situation the coffee farmers were in and acted upon what he saw.

In the beginning, they imported only a few bags of coffee at a time. Five Senses now imports container loads of beans and sells them on to café’s and restaurants across Melbourne.

“When we buy the coffee we pay for it upfront and part of the money we pay for fair trade coffee goes towards infrastructure and development in the village or in the area where the coffee comes from,” he says.

Fair Trade has created a unique trading system that does not just consider economic benefits but also focuses on the benefits to farmers in third world countries.

The extra money the farmers are receiving, although only a small amount, has led to vast improvements in healthcare and education, and has also contributed to economic independence.
For McConaghy, who lives amongst these farmers, he can see the positive impact Fair Trade is having on the economy.

“The money that villages earn from coffee growing, goes towards special items such as school fees and extra family items.”

According to Dr Anna Hutchens from the Australian National University, Fair Trade “demonstrates that an alternative model of trade, in which small producers are respected and empowered rather then exploited, is possible.”

Dr Hutchens goes on to explain “that international trade can benefit those at the very bottom of the economic ladder if certain principles and practices are prioritised.”

In Melbourne alone, thousands of cups of coffee are consumed of every second of every day. If you look down any bustling city or suburban street, it is clear the coffee industry is thriving, with café’s and coffee bars lining the streets.

Statistics from Oxfam reveal that eight per cent more coffee is currently being produced than consumed. Although the current growth rate for demand is around one per cent per year, supply is increasing at a rate of two per cent, which is no match for the small family farms in PNG.
Unlike major coffee producers such as Brazil, where mechanised coffee farms stretch as far as the eye can see, each farm in PNG is normally one or two acres.

Plastic sheets are spread across the ground all through the villages, covered in tiny white beans waiting their turn to become the next espresso.

“Despite its rapid growth, the Fair Trade market is still a very small percentage of all world trade,” says Dr Hutchens.

A significant reason for the small percentage of Fair Trade products is the high barriers to entry set by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation. It can take up to two years for a company to be certified as Fair Trade and there are forests of paperwork to complete.

“There are high barriers to entry, such as costs and compliance issues into the fair trade market,” says McConaghy.

The number of Fair Trade products available is dramatically increasing each year, but the majority of regular coffee drinkers are not aware of the millions of lives they affect with every cup of coffee they consume.

“As consumers learn about Fair Trade and become more discerning about the goods they buy, companies are pressured to meet the demands for Fair Trade products,” says Dr Hutchens, when asked about consumers’ knowledge of the initiative.

International coffee companies such as Starbucks strongly emphasise their ‘socially responsible’ coffee but are still as yet to jump on the Fair Trade bandwagon.

One regular coffee consumer, Amanda Cooper was taken aback when informed about the Fair Trade campaign.

“I’ve never really thought about where my coffee comes from,” she says, speaking for millions of other coffee drinkers around Australia.

“If I was made more aware of Fair Trade, I would definitely buy it because the small farmers need to be supported, like in any industry.”

For Hogan, the Fair Trade movement “allows people who drink coffee to feel good about the purchase they make. People who are socially aware would buy fair trade coffee over other sorts of coffee.”

According to McConaghy, “When you get that marketing package together, then people in those consuming nations sleep better at night in the knowledge that they are perhaps making a contribution to those who are not as well off.”

McConaghy also believes that Fair Trade will not work to its full potential unless the PNG Government are prepared to become involved.

“Fair Trade may bring more cohesion to the society and make their lives more comfortable, however, it will not reduce poverty unless Government initiatives are more aligned with those of the needs and aspirations of the rural dwellers.”

Although the idea of Fair Trade is assisting to create an ethical trading system, there is still a lot that needs to be done.

“It will give better opportunities for societies to organise themselves and take some control of their destiny,” says McConaghy,” but all the farmers in PNG are bush economists”.
The farmers will always want a higher price for their coffee, no matter what the international market price is doing.

Five Senses Coffee will continue to support Fair Trade, Hogan describing it as “an attempt at making sure that the farmers in PNG and other countries get paid a fair price. It doesn’t always work as well as we would hope, but it is an attempt.”

Although one of the aims of Fair Trade is to eventually assist in fighting global poverty, it will be a few years until we see anything to that affect.

“It will not alleviate poverty but it may ensure that workers are not exploited for their labour,” says McConaghy.

As the Fair Trade coffee from PNG is unloaded from the containers and arrives as cappuccinos in the hands of coffee connoisseurs’ across Melbourne, the taste will be no different and it is still just as addictive. But it is different.

So the next time you order a skinny decaf latte, stop and think about how one cup could change someone’s life.

feature profile i wrote for class last year

At 6.30pm on a Monday night, on the Mornington Peninsula, Duncan Buchanan tries to think of a way to best describe his job. Two guitars and a banjo hang on the wall, a drum kit and a piano in the other room; CD’s and vinyls line the walls. Anyone would think he’s an aspiring musician.

“I like to think I can play those,” he says. “Other people may beg to differ.” Duncan is not a musician. He is a winemaker and viticulturalist; but not just any.

Duncan has recently been appointed as the chief winemaker and viticulturalist for Dromana Estate, one of the biggest wine producers on the Mornington Peninsula.

According to the Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association, there are over 200 vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula with Dromana Estate being one of the biggest and the best.

Established in 1982, Dromana Estate produces over 20’000 cases of wine a year and is recognised worldwide.

“Everything that happens in the vineyard and winery has to go through me to be approved,” says Duncan. From dealing with vineyard issues to wine styles to the hiring and firing of people, Duncan has his hands full. “I have a lot of input into what gets done but I don’t do a lot of it.”

Growing up on the Mornington Peninsula as the youngest of five boys, Duncan wanted to be an accountant or maybe an electrician. Right now, he couldn’t be further from what he perceived.

Moving to Melbourne at the age of 19, Duncan admits he was clueless. “I got a job in what was at the time a very fashionable clothing shop. All of a sudden I’m wearing a suit to work every day.” A bit different to the heavy work boots and dirt under the fingernails he encounters today.

After getting bored with the suit-wearing and ‘dealing with the public life’, Duncan decided that it was time to conquer the big wide world, of travelling around India.

“I came back from India a remarkably skinny 22 year old who didn’t know what the hell he was going to do,” said Duncan. “I ended up working for a vineyard contracting business called Vaughan Vineyard Maintenance and doing a degree through that.”

Just six years later Duncan finished his viticulture degree at Charles Sturt University in Wagga. According to Duncan it was the best experience ever. “You’re working and studying at the same time so it’s fairly difficult but you’re getting industry experience as well as your tertiary qualifications.”

With 15 years of experience under his belt, Duncan has tried everything job-wise in the wine industry. “I was a vineyard labourer to start with. I’ve managed vineyards and I had my own viticultural consultancy company for a couple of years.”

The Mornington Peninsula is well known for creating a variety of wine varieties at very high quality. So to ask a winemaker what his favourite wine to make is may seem like the hardest question to ask.

But Duncan did not have to think twice about his answer.

“My favourite wine to make from a challenge point of view is pinot noir. I’m sure you’d get the same answer out of a lot of Mornington Peninsula producers.”

“It presents a good challenge and when you get it right it’s fantastic. It is a real sense of accomplishment.”

The Mornington Peninsula is famous for its pinot noir which is just as well as it is the wine that has the most effort put into it.

As the youngest of five boys, Duncan’s mother Lorraine couldn’t be more proud of what her son has achieved. “I am very proud of him. He has climbed up the ladder and done it all on his own,” she says.

“He is quite bright and did very well in school. He’s a lovely person, very caring.”

Everyone has people who have inspired them throughout their careers, but for Duncan many people inspired him through their negativity.

“There are people who have been inspirational in their negativity. A lot of people have stared down their nose at what you do and say you’ll never make it through.” Duncan said.

“It’s just a shot in the arm you need to prove them wrong.”

Duncan certainly has proved them wrong and he has some sound advice for dealing with people like that.

“Take their negativity and just bounce straight off it. Don’t ever let it get to you.”

But not all have been discouraging. Two prominent viticulturalists in particular, based on the Mornington Peninsula have helped Duncan get to where he is today.

“There’s never one actual person that has been an amazing inspiration. A man called Joe Vaughan was a really good inspiration in the start of my career.

“[Also] my former boss Rollo Crittenden; he’s a bit of a hard bastard, just because he used to push a lot.”

Retiring to work on the family vineyard, Rollo is nothing but complimentary of what he thinks Duncan can achieve at Dromana Estate.

“Duncan has been in the industry long enough and has a practical mind. He knows when to have fun and when to knuckle down. I think he’ll do a good job.”

In every job, no matter how glamorous it is, there are good and bad things about it. According to Duncan, the best thing about his job is making wine and seeing the end result. Sound’s a bit obvious doesn’t it? But apparently, there is a lot more too it.

“I think the best part of my job is putting out something that looks great and to think ‘we made this’. It’s remarkably rewarding being able to pour it around for your mates.”

When asked what the worst thing about his job is, Duncan struggled to think of something. Eventually he came up with something that many people would agree with: dealing with the public.

Just returning from a wine trade show in Sydney, Duncan says he loved to chat to people in the industry about Australian wine. From 5pm every night the trade show was open to the public. Costing $30 for entry, many people saw it as a chance to drink as much as they can in the space of four hours.

“It’s very difficult to keep smiling and trying to be the remarkable ambassador for your wine brand. You just want them to all go home and go to bed.”

When Duncan is not in the winery or out in the vineyard, he is usually found sitting at a piano and playing the guitar, trying to teach himself a new song.

Playing in a number of bands when he was younger, Duncan admits he lost the enthusiasm a long time ago.

“When I was in my 20’s, I’d drive to the Tote Hotel on a Tuesday night and play in front of half a dozen people for a couple of pints of beer and that was okay.”

“Music for me is a hobby and I’ve always treated it as such.”

So he’s never going to be a famous musician then?

“If I’m ever going to be a millionaire I’m going to have to get very good at making wine. I’m certainly not talented or young enough to be making a heap of money out of music.”

scream until your heart stops

welcome to whoever (if anyone) reads this.

i love music.

enough said.

xxx