In keeping with my goals for this next year, last night Joshua and I researched Fair Trade coffee. I had been buying fair trade for awhile, but I wanted to understand better why it was a good practice, whether it was helpful, and if I should continue spending an extra couple of dollars.
I am still thinking this through, but I thought I would share a little of what we found out. Basically, fair trade works through individual co-ops in villages where there are many coffee producers. The co-op helps the farmers produce organic coffee, while, ideally, increasing the farmer's wages compared to other coffee farmers. Today, we found that the average coffee farmer can get anywhere from $.30-$.80 per pound of coffee. Through the co-op coffee is bought for $2.40 per pound, roughly. The money is paid to the co-op and then distributed to farmers. I'll come back to this in a moment, as we talk about criticisms.
There is a long list of rules the co-op and farmers must adhere to. One of the rules restricts coffee farmers from using child labor, which is abundant in many countries, preventing children from going to school. I especially liked this aspect of the program. Another aspect I like, is farmers are expected to use the increase in wages to help their community, whether through scholarships, building wells, or other beneficial programs. You can read more about the impact here.
Now to the criticism. We learned from the oh-so-reliable source, Wikipedia, that many of the criticisms can be found in the corruption of the leaders in various co-ops. Each village or area has their own co-op, which is run by people in the community, and if those leaders are corrupt it could lead to stealing money from farmers or abusing their power in other ways. This could mean farmers are only receiving the same amount per pound that non-fair trade farmers receive.
My main concern stems from a paper Josh found online from Iowa State about economics and fair trade. You can read it if you want, but I warn you--it's long. It all boils down to basic supply and demand. The demand for coffee is much less than it used to be, but fair trade prevents the cost from being under a certain price. This makes more farmers want to produce coffee, thinking they will earn higher wages, but there is not enough demand to use all the coffee that is farmed. In normal economics, this would drive farmers to produce other crops because they would realize they couldn't live off of what they were making, but with fair trade, it almost encourages farmers to produce with or without demand.
I may have to think it all over for awhile. I like the restrictions on child labor and helping communities, but I also don't want to be part of something that prevents economies from actually growing in other areas. Let me know what you think, my mind is a little stuck...
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Goals for 2012
Last week Joshua encouraged me to think about this coming year and make a list of goals. In this way I can be working towards something and Joshua better knows how to encourage me in what I want to learn. Here's the list of what I have come up with, in absolutely no specific order:
1) Begin to learn Spanish. I've been listening to an Italian CD on the way to work every morning, but Joshua has decided to learn Spanish for work, so I figured it would be best to be learning together.
2) Continue to read through the Bible each morning. We began reading at the beginning of December in a "Read thru the Bible in a year" program. Since we came in at the end, we will start back at the beginning in January and be finished in the end of November. For the last few weeks I have really enjoyed waking up early, having my coffee, and having that quiet time with the Lord. I want to be diligent in continuing this practice all year.
3) Do yoga every workday morning. It isn't easy for me to get up at 5:30 and then spend the whole day at work, but I know my body will appreciate getting exercise more regularly and it will help my back pain tremendously (I am too young to have back pain, so I want to be thorough with this goal).
4) Be a better listener to both my husband and others. I have recently noticed how often I forget what people say to me soon after they say it. This is not a quality I want to foster, as I know it has hurt my husband numerous times.
5) Be more selfless and giving in my actions. I have a tendency to notice when someone might need help and become self conscious about whether it is appropriate to offer my help, or care for them. I want to have better eyes for noticing need around me. Which ties in to the next and last two goals:
6) Learn to care only for God's good pleasure and then my husband's. I care far too much about what other people think about me. While I have prayed, worked, and talked through this with my husband many times over the past 7 months, I still need to grow in some pretty big ways. It is especially important to me that by the time we have children I am secure in knowing who God has created me to be, so I can be focused on raising them and helping to mold their character. This goal also has a lot to do with how I share the gospel with others. I need and want to be very unashamed of the gospel as I am at work and involved in life.
7) Have a firm understanding on where most all of our products come from. Recently we watched a documentary on the gold market and how much of our gold comes from basically slave-like colonies in Africa. I was appalled at how little these people were paid for the hard work they do. One point that really got me was when a man said that he really didn't care if he lived or died, his whole life was to mine gold, just so he might be able to feed his children. My life is so blessed that it is easy for me to not even care where my gold, clothes, household goods, etc, might be coming from.
8) Buy more local food. Similar to the above, as well as tied to many other things I have learned through nutrition, economy, and research, I want our meat and produce to come mostly from local farms. This goal I know probably won't really be able to happen until Joshua and I move and are settled for his job, but I want to keep it in the forefront of my mind.
9) Lastly, to end on an odd number, be more comfortable being quiet with myself. I believe a lot of hearing from the Lord comes from being quiet, and I'm just not good at it. I also want to be able to serve my husband by knowing when to speak and when to be quiet--there are many times I could wait to say what is on my mind, but it isn't easy for me to still my mind and let Joshua continue to do what he is doing.
1) Begin to learn Spanish. I've been listening to an Italian CD on the way to work every morning, but Joshua has decided to learn Spanish for work, so I figured it would be best to be learning together.
2) Continue to read through the Bible each morning. We began reading at the beginning of December in a "Read thru the Bible in a year" program. Since we came in at the end, we will start back at the beginning in January and be finished in the end of November. For the last few weeks I have really enjoyed waking up early, having my coffee, and having that quiet time with the Lord. I want to be diligent in continuing this practice all year.
3) Do yoga every workday morning. It isn't easy for me to get up at 5:30 and then spend the whole day at work, but I know my body will appreciate getting exercise more regularly and it will help my back pain tremendously (I am too young to have back pain, so I want to be thorough with this goal).
4) Be a better listener to both my husband and others. I have recently noticed how often I forget what people say to me soon after they say it. This is not a quality I want to foster, as I know it has hurt my husband numerous times.
5) Be more selfless and giving in my actions. I have a tendency to notice when someone might need help and become self conscious about whether it is appropriate to offer my help, or care for them. I want to have better eyes for noticing need around me. Which ties in to the next and last two goals:
6) Learn to care only for God's good pleasure and then my husband's. I care far too much about what other people think about me. While I have prayed, worked, and talked through this with my husband many times over the past 7 months, I still need to grow in some pretty big ways. It is especially important to me that by the time we have children I am secure in knowing who God has created me to be, so I can be focused on raising them and helping to mold their character. This goal also has a lot to do with how I share the gospel with others. I need and want to be very unashamed of the gospel as I am at work and involved in life.
7) Have a firm understanding on where most all of our products come from. Recently we watched a documentary on the gold market and how much of our gold comes from basically slave-like colonies in Africa. I was appalled at how little these people were paid for the hard work they do. One point that really got me was when a man said that he really didn't care if he lived or died, his whole life was to mine gold, just so he might be able to feed his children. My life is so blessed that it is easy for me to not even care where my gold, clothes, household goods, etc, might be coming from.
8) Buy more local food. Similar to the above, as well as tied to many other things I have learned through nutrition, economy, and research, I want our meat and produce to come mostly from local farms. This goal I know probably won't really be able to happen until Joshua and I move and are settled for his job, but I want to keep it in the forefront of my mind.
9) Lastly, to end on an odd number, be more comfortable being quiet with myself. I believe a lot of hearing from the Lord comes from being quiet, and I'm just not good at it. I also want to be able to serve my husband by knowing when to speak and when to be quiet--there are many times I could wait to say what is on my mind, but it isn't easy for me to still my mind and let Joshua continue to do what he is doing.
Our First Christmas
Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Actually, I believe what I enjoy is the whole season leading up to Christmas. From Thanksgiving until Christmas I get to celebrate 2 holidays and a birthday. In my opinion, it is also the most beautiful time of year. Frigid winter mornings are mixed with crisp fall afternoons. No season makes me quite as content and happy as Fall.
Husband and I both agreed this year to stay home for Christmas, the largest factor being how painful it was to look at prices to get home. I forever want to remember our first married Christmas, as well as share it with our family. The decision to blog does not happen often for me, but today is the day. It's a quiet morning in the Lake house, husband is sleeping, I have my coffee, and Dave Barnes is serenading me as I write.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful Christmas together (though, I continue to ask for snow--27 Christmases, and still no snow falling I am able to recollect--one in Arkansas with snow already on the ground, but I want to see a real Christmas day snow). I had my few tears on Christmas Eve, missing our families and wishing we could have made it to Texas, but we both know the memory of Christmas just the two of us, will be something we will always cherish. Thanksgiving was possibly a harder holiday to not be home, as all of my family was together, nieces, brand new nephew, and siblings. All I can do is pray that all of us can be together next year for the holidays.
On Christmas Eve we went out to our church, deciding to make the 45 minute drive then, instead of Christmas morning. Worshiping our Savior is the whole point of this holiday, the service was a great way to start our celebration. We both left thankful for our decision to start going to this church, even though the drives are long--we get a lot of quality time on the drives, so you won't hear me complaining.
Christmas morning we both woke up around 7:45am (after I restrained myself from waking husband up at 3:45--I am about 5 years old this time of year). I put our breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and pigs in a blanket in the oven and we sat down to read our daily Bible reading. Husband had a great idea for stretching out Christmas over the whole morning--we would write our thank you notes as we opened presents. It is so nice to know they are all finished and we can put them in the mail today! We learned after the wedding, that thank you notes do not get done in a timely manner unless I have a little encouragement, not because I am not grateful, but just because I get distracted.
I learned something this weekend. While this whole blog was started last summer as I worked through trying to know myself better, I have not blogged my process of knowing the Lord and myself better. One thing that I now know I genuinely enjoy is cooking. I was unsure as we went into this weekend if I would want to cook everything I had planned, since a large part of my job is cooking for several hours each day. After all presents were opened and we were able to relax for a few hours, I got up to make our Christmas dinner of lamb and risotto. Suffice to say, I loved that three hours of cooking, and I am quite confident husband loved the three hours of mostly quiet, reading time.
For every family member, we love each of you and missed seeing you and sharing this holiday with you. Lord-willing we will have many holidays with you. Thank you for being gracious and understanding as we weren't with you.
I'll leave you with a link to some photos from our first 7 months of marriage. Thank you for being part of our lives!
Husband and I both agreed this year to stay home for Christmas, the largest factor being how painful it was to look at prices to get home. I forever want to remember our first married Christmas, as well as share it with our family. The decision to blog does not happen often for me, but today is the day. It's a quiet morning in the Lake house, husband is sleeping, I have my coffee, and Dave Barnes is serenading me as I write.
We could not have asked for a more beautiful Christmas together (though, I continue to ask for snow--27 Christmases, and still no snow falling I am able to recollect--one in Arkansas with snow already on the ground, but I want to see a real Christmas day snow). I had my few tears on Christmas Eve, missing our families and wishing we could have made it to Texas, but we both know the memory of Christmas just the two of us, will be something we will always cherish. Thanksgiving was possibly a harder holiday to not be home, as all of my family was together, nieces, brand new nephew, and siblings. All I can do is pray that all of us can be together next year for the holidays.
On Christmas Eve we went out to our church, deciding to make the 45 minute drive then, instead of Christmas morning. Worshiping our Savior is the whole point of this holiday, the service was a great way to start our celebration. We both left thankful for our decision to start going to this church, even though the drives are long--we get a lot of quality time on the drives, so you won't hear me complaining.
Christmas morning we both woke up around 7:45am (after I restrained myself from waking husband up at 3:45--I am about 5 years old this time of year). I put our breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and pigs in a blanket in the oven and we sat down to read our daily Bible reading. Husband had a great idea for stretching out Christmas over the whole morning--we would write our thank you notes as we opened presents. It is so nice to know they are all finished and we can put them in the mail today! We learned after the wedding, that thank you notes do not get done in a timely manner unless I have a little encouragement, not because I am not grateful, but just because I get distracted.
I learned something this weekend. While this whole blog was started last summer as I worked through trying to know myself better, I have not blogged my process of knowing the Lord and myself better. One thing that I now know I genuinely enjoy is cooking. I was unsure as we went into this weekend if I would want to cook everything I had planned, since a large part of my job is cooking for several hours each day. After all presents were opened and we were able to relax for a few hours, I got up to make our Christmas dinner of lamb and risotto. Suffice to say, I loved that three hours of cooking, and I am quite confident husband loved the three hours of mostly quiet, reading time.
For every family member, we love each of you and missed seeing you and sharing this holiday with you. Lord-willing we will have many holidays with you. Thank you for being gracious and understanding as we weren't with you.
I'll leave you with a link to some photos from our first 7 months of marriage. Thank you for being part of our lives!
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