For starters, I wasn't really looking for a cause. I was looking for caffeine, like most modern workforce types do every morning. I'm a designer, and design is how I communicate. The idea of blogging my experiences over the next few weeks is intimidating, to say the least. But I have a good cause, so stay with me.
A little background: My name is Therese. I'm 31 years old, and I work as an online designer at LIME. I'm originally from Norway, where I grew up in Sarpsborg [1], a small town just south of Oslo (Norway's capitol, known best for its Accords [2], and lack of winter daylight [3]).
I moved to New York in August 2004, and while the U.S. is certainly a complex country, I am very much at home here. I have good friends. I go out fairly often. I watch movies.
Given my love affair with coffee, the movie hit home in a bad way. The message was simple: The price of coffee beans is determined by European and American consumers. Currently, what we are willing to pay for coffee beans is not enough for coffee farmers in Latin-America, Africa and Asia to break even - let alone provide a future for their children. But there is a solution - called Fair Trade [6] . And all I need to do is support this solution.
Fair Trade [6] is not a new concept for me. Like organic [7] it belongs on my "good intentions" list - I take advantage of it when I can. But what happens if I start paying attention, make it my goal to seek out Fair Trade Products, support businesses that represent Fair Trade Practices, and spend my money where my intentions are?
That is how I landed myself here with this blog. In an excited moment, I suggested that LIME, as a company, should choose a coffee supplier that was 100% Fair Trade and Organic [7] - and that we should be able to do so without substantially having to up our coffee budget, but simply by making a carefully considered choice.
I'll be blogging my progress. I'd love your help. Please join me. Share your own attempt at change, or advise me on mine.