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Small World Does Not Mean Environmentally Connected…at Least for Coffee

Ok, so those who know me know that I like good coffee. I know that coffee has a relatively large carbon footprint so I do try to minimize my impact by buying the most sustainably harvested coffee that I can find.

small world coffeeI thought that I had found a source in Small World Coffee in Princeton. The name seems so friendly. And indeed they do some good work. They are a small local company and they hire locally. To be fair, they also make very good coffee.

I wondered about whether the name, which certainly implies global thinking (mind you they never say anything about that) so I asked a few questions about the sources of their coffee. Was it organic, Fair Trade and/or Rain Forest Alliance Certified?

The answer that I received was disappointing. The owner’s answer was really such a dance around the issue. Claims that farmers wouldn’t harm their sources of income, that good coffee means proper farming methods, that they have long relationships with their sources…all cop outs…

I also tried another brand, also a small company and also local. Black River Roasters offers third party certified coffees that meet one or all of the criteria. So, I switched my brand. In other words, I used my small purchasing power to send a message.

Try it some time…sending a message that is.

Read my email communication:
Wayne DeFeo discusses Small World Coffee

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