So we just got a coffee machine as a gift and I wanted to find some good sources of coffee.

I'm painfully unsure of how well to trust fair-trade and certifications, what's bullshit and what isn't.

Something like Zapatista coffee would be amazing, but I can't find anything that ships to the cursed island of Australia.

I know there are some Australian growers, which might be better off from an environmental standpoint but as far as I know they're all owned by and continue to produce profit for millionaires.

Any help would be amazing - if you can get me on it I'll even start trying to spread the word to local cafes to give back.

  • RandyLahey [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I did a quick look up on the oxfam coffee, and found this on wikipedia:

    On 28 April 2007 an Australian conservative think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accusing Oxfam of misleading or deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act in its promotion of Fairtrade coffee.[75] They claimed that high certification costs and low wages for workers undermine claims that Fairtrade helps to lift producers out of poverty. The complaint was subsequently dismissed by the commission.[76]

    of course i wouldnt trust the verdict of the ACCC and i absolutely sure as shit wouldnt trust anything the IPA says, i looked up the source article and fucking lol of course thats why the IPA ghouls brought the complaint:

    "We're actually much more concerned about the fact that fair trade as a system does not achieve the best interests of people in the developing world as free trade does," Mr Wilson said. "We would like Oxfam to abandon its campaign for fair trade and recognise that free trade actually lifts billions of people out of poverty."

    • GothWhitlam [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Fucking lol, lifting people out of poverty like they're :xi-clap:

      • RandyLahey [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        this is also as good a place as any to mention something i think about a fair bit, since at work i guiltily go to the local cafe that uses campos beans

        fun story - when campos was just a single-store outfit (and more exclusive to the trendy radlib hipsters of newtown), they used to have a back wall of hoppers of beans of all sorts of different exotic coffees, and one on the end that was their "fair trade" coffee. so there was the almost-explicit question of "how much cruelty would sir like in his coffee?", a bit like how the same company will sell both free-range and cage eggs in the supermarket, but with the additional assumption from the ratio of fair-trade to non-fair-trade that for most people the answer would be "as much cruelty as possible please, if it saves me a few cents". theyve now long since stopped stocking their fair trade coffee altogether lol, so it seems like the IPA free-trade model won out in the free market of the hearts and minds of woke newtown hipsters

        • GothWhitlam [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          God damn. Fucking hipsters, the most radlib of all groups. The amount of hipsters that came and went in my life who were fucking misogynists, racist or simply contrarian for the sake of it. No surprise at all.

    • ButtBidet [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Oxfam is a pretty neoliberal NGO. I'm sure their coffee is way better than most brands though.

      Would you be willing to import Myanmar hill tribe coffee? I could ask my mates who know this stuff better than me.

      Ngl, I buy coffee at the shop next to my place, so I'm not going to preach.

      • GothWhitlam [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Really depends on the cost to how-many-people-I-could-get-on-board ratio. Don't really have the money for a massive import myself. If I manage to get a crew I'll hit you up.

        • RandyLahey [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          id be on board as well, if there were enough people and the logistics of shipping it within australia made sense

          likewise for the school of chiapas one mentioned in the other post

          • GothWhitlam [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            Sick. If all options fail I might put out a call to the site again and do a bulk order / sell to Aussie hexbears. Not sure how we could do it while still being anon though is the only bit.

            • RandyLahey [he/him]
              ·
              4 years ago

              yeah its a good point, im not sure what the solution is there

              maybe we could just get it shipped to asio head office, and we all just pick up our share when we next come in to meet with our handlers

              • GothWhitlam [he/him]
                ·
                4 years ago

                Shit, good point. I'm due in next week to report anyhow.

                • ButtBidet [he/him]
                  ·
                  4 years ago

                  From my end, I could forward you the information on the seller. Getting it to eat other would be another matter.

                  • GothWhitlam [he/him]
                    ·
                    4 years ago

                    Yeah, that'd be the trick. Might have a look around at some local cafes or roasters and see if I can convince them.