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Part of the Presbyterian Hunger Program's Enough for Everyone Program is the understanding of and participation in the Presbyterian Coffee Project. We have a partnership with Equal Exchange Company's Interfaith Program.
Coffee sold commercially at low prices (and some at high prices) can come from coffee growing areas in which the workers are at the mercy of a fluctuating market which often pays the workers very low wages and treats them badly. Also typical coffee production is hard on the ground it is grown on and often no attempt to replenish the soil or use other modern growing techniques are used.
Fair trade cooperatives aim to pay the workers well, often giving them the ability to benefit from the profits of the cooperative. In addition there is an interest in modern growing techniques that restore the earth.
Go to the Equal Exchange website and read about "Coffee... a bitter cup."
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Concerns about the church coffee hour...
In the Presbytery of San Jose there are approximately 11,000 members. If only half those folks have a cup of coffee after worship this Sunday, 5,500 styrofoam cups will go to the local landfill on Monday! That's 286,000 cups this year!
In response to this, we recommend either using coffee mugs and washing them after coffee time each week (easier for a small church than a big one), or purchase paper coffee cups on other compostable cups, plates, utencils and napkins from a distributor who sells them. In our Presbytery we happen to have such a vendor, Integrity Express.
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