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Friday, May 13, 2005

Oxfam International - coffee

Oxfam International > Press release > coffee:

"Millions of people in 45 coffee-growing countries are facing economic ruin – and many are going hungry – due to collapsing world prices. Oxfam today launches a global campaign to tackle the coffee crisis and force the corporate giants who dominate the $60-billion industry to pay farmers a decent price.

The “Big Four” roasters – Sara Lee, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Nestle– buy nearly half the world’s coffee crop and make huge profits. “They know there is terrible human suffering at the very heart of their business and yet they do virtually nothing to help. It’s time to shame and change them,” says Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs."

This is an article from Oxfam in 2002. Three years later the prices have gone up , we are told, because of the drought. The point of this article was that globalisation was making the rich richer at the expense of the poor. Justin's point from the comment on my earlier post was if we pay a higher price, the money is spread more evenly. I 'd like to think this is the case. Fair's fair and we can all have a nice cup of coffee.

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