From: Melissa Schweisguth (melissa@globalexchange.org)
Date: Thu Mar 07 2002 - 14:51:41 EST
Hello activists, supporters of social justice, and friends!!
Please distribute this as appropriate:
TODAY- March 7 is the first day of the National Coffee Association's Annual
Meeting, at an exclusive resort near Ft Lauderdale, Florida. While the big
coffee companies meet and plan how to squeeze farmers to the last drop, Fair
Trade coffee activists across the country will be gathering at local
supermarkets to educate consumers and get them to contact Folgers to ask for
Fair Trade coffee.
YOU can add your voices to this movement through a FREE FAX action on the
Internet at http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee/folgersFax.html to
ask Folgers to start selling Fair Trade coffee and help millions of farmers
around the world who depend on coffee sales to provide for their families.
It would be extra wonderful if you could follow up your Fax with a real
letter, phone call, and e-mail. Directions for this follow:
Mailing Address: (sample letter below)
A. G. Lafley, President and CEO
Procter & Gamble
1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, Ohio 45201
To send an e-mail, go to the Folgers website http://www.folgers.com.
Call them at 1-800-937-9745
For more information on Fair Trade Coffee, our campaigns, or how you can
promote Fair Trade Coffee in your campus or community, please e-mail me or
see http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee
Thanks! and enjoy your day!
Melissa Schweisguth
Fair Trade Coordinator, Global Exchange
Sample letter text:
A. G. Lafley, President and CEO
Procter & Gamble
1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, Ohio 45201
Dear Mr. Lafley,
I am writing to you about the current crisis facing coffee farmers, and to
urge you to support fairness farmers by buying Fair Trade Certified coffee.
Millions of coffee farmers around the world who depend on their harvests to
provide for their families are facing debt and starvation. That¹s because
global coffee prices have plummeted in recent years, and are now at an
all-time low of less than 50 cents per pound. This worldwide coffee crisis
threatens to ruin an entire generation of families and is causing problems
such as malnutrition in Nicaragua, rural unrest in Mexico, and increased
drug cultivation in Colombia.
In the midst of this crisis, large corporations such as Procter and Gamble
have seen increased profits from the sale of coffee. According to Procter
and Gamble¹s 2001 Annual Report, Folgers had its best sales ever and was one
of Procter and Gamble¹s ³billion dollar brands² in 2000.
Considering the severity of this situation, I feel it is imperative that
Procter and Gamble, as an industry leader, immediately begin to purchase,
market, and promote Fair Trade Certified coffee, in a volume of at least 5%
of your overall coffee purchasing.
I believe that Fair Trade certification is the best long-term solution to
the coffee crisis because it guarantees a minimum price of $1.26 per pound
for small farmers' harvest, allowing coffee growers to invest in their
families' health care, education, and community development. The Fair Trade
system currently benefits 550,000 farming families organized into 300
cooperatives in 20 countries.
Several statements from Procter & Gamble indicate that your corporation
would seek to promote Fair Trade Coffee. For example, your web site states
that a strong P&G value is to ³do the right thing. We have long been
leaders in ethical business practices and involvement in the communities
where we have operation.² If you truly believe these words, then you should
certainly welcome the chance to manifest these intentions by marketing Fair
Trade coffee.
The Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International recently reported that
groups on the Fair Trade Coffee Register sold only 30 million of the 165
million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee they produced in 2000 that
means over 135 million pounds available for you to buy. Over 100 other US
coffee companies have already made a commitment to Fair Trade, and the
number of stores offering Fair Trade Certified coffee has leapt to more than
7,000 nationwide.
Please, Mr. Lafley, ³do the right thing² for coffee farmers all over the
world, and make the switch to Fair Trade Certified Coffee.
Sincerely,
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:32 EST