It is the second most valuable, globally-traded commodity behind petroleum and it employs over 20 million farmers and workers in over 50 countries. Starbucks Coffee Co. has begun efforts to serve only milk free of genetically modified ingredients such as bovine growth hormone, the company president said Friday. Cloudforest Initiatives and Peace Coffee, both of the Twin Cities, want coffee drinkers in Minnesota to understand the economic plight of small coffee producers half a world away.
Life is good.
And coffee makes it taste better. It's no wonder that it's the second most valuable commodity traded in the world today and the second largest U.S. import after oil. Now, however, they are waking up and smelling the coffee. A new consumer movement is set to explode across the country. Already, approximately 2,500 retail outlets around the nationincluding Andronico's, Safeway, and independent co-op supermarketsare offering their customers the chance to buy Fair Trade Certified coffee, which guarantees that farmers in the developing world are paid a living wage for their harvest.