{"id":4831,"date":"2009-07-04T14:54:11","date_gmt":"2009-07-04T18:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anglicansamizdat.wordpress.com\/?p=4831"},"modified":"2009-07-04T14:54:11","modified_gmt":"2009-07-04T18:54:11","slug":"canadian-primate-fred-hiltz-the-coffee-bean-merchant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/canadian-primate-fred-hiltz-the-coffee-bean-merchant\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian Primate Fred Hiltz, the coffee bean merchant"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the Primate\u2019s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) \u2013 the bastion of Anglican Marxist chic \u2013 Fred Hiltz is peddling Primate\u2019s Blend Fair Trade Coffee<\/em>. On first blush one might be tempted to rejoice that Hiltz has given up on theology \u2013 as it has given up on him \u2013 and gone into the more honest occupation of coffee planting, preferably near some remote and humid Colombian rain forest where he would be free to meditate on his minuscule carbon footprint. No such luck; this is more about Fair Trade<\/a> than coffee.<\/p>\n

Introducing The Primate\u2019s Blend \u2013 a uniquely blended, shade-grown, organic, Fair Trade coffee. Shade-grown coffees trees are grown under a shade canopy that is made up of a variety of trees; there are often companion plantings of tropical fruit trees. This means the plantations use a minimum of water and support local and migrating bird populations. These coffees are certified organic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is Hiltz striking a blow for justice as I am sure he would like us to think, or is this an elitist liberal decoy, requiring no effort, and having little effect other than soothing \u00a0the delicate consciences of effete coffee swilling bishops?<\/p>\n

Some claim it’s worse: Fair Trade is damaging<\/a> to those it claims to help:<\/p>\n

A number of interventionist initiatives have been launched or proposed in response to the coffee<\/p>\n

market\u2019s perceived breakdown. The best known is the \u201cfair trade\u201d coffee campaign, in which roasters and retailers are pressured by activist groups to sell coffee grown under specified conditions and purchased at above-market prices.<\/p>\n

However well-intentioned, interventionist schemes to lift prices above market levels ignore those market realities. Accordingly, they are doomed to end in failure\u2014or to offer cures that are worse than the disease. There are constructive measures that can help to ease the plight of struggling coffee farmers, but they consist of efforts to improve the market\u2019s performance\u2014 not block it or demonize it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Unfair Trade <\/em>argues that for all its good intentions, Fairtrade is not fair. Firstly, by guaranteeing certified farmers a minimum price for their goods, it can distort local markets leaving other farmers even worse off. Secondly, only about 10 percent of the premium paid by consumers actually makes it to the producer, which makes it an inefficient way of helping the poor. Most importantly, Fairtrade does little to aid economic development, focusing instead on sustaining farmers in their current state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Poor Hiltz, he can\u2019t even get his coffee right.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the Primate\u2019s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) \u2013 the bastion of Anglican Marxist chic \u2013 Fred Hiltz is peddling Primate\u2019s Blend Fair Trade Coffee. On first blush one might be tempted to rejoice that Hiltz has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[2030],"class_list":["post-4831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anglican","tag-anglican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicansamizdat.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}