Café au lame
Posted on April 10th, 2008 by Jackie Danicki
Can you imagine what a kick in the ass it would give our country if Starbucks just said, “Fuck everyone, we’re printing tits on our coffee cups”?
(Speaking of coffee, I’ve become a huge fan of Lookout Joe’s outpost in the Federated building downtown. I can ignore that they perpetuate the dangerous “Fair Trade” scam that keeps people in poverty, because they’re nice and cheap. I’m one of those people who just doesn’t like coffee, but I do like artificially sweet caffeinated drinks. From time to time, I like them warm, which is when coffee becomes an option. If I were a true fan of amazing coffee hand-roasted in small batches by a single artisan, it would have to be Ristretto Roasters or absolutely nothing.)
Filed under: Life
Fair Trade–when people do the wrong thing for the right reasons, it’s virtually impossible to convince them otherwise. Din at Ristretto has a good answer when people ask if he uses Fair Trade beans. He says: “The growers I buy from are too small to afford Fair Trade certification. I think it’s important for us to support them.” The same is true for organics in this country–the organic protocol is just one way to grow clean food, there are many other chemical-free approaches that won’t get you certification, and getting it is costly.
It’s fun to watch the veins on dopey college kids’ necks start throbbing when I ask if they have any non-”Fair Trade” coffee.