INPIRG screens film featuring fair trade coffee

Armed with mugs and a desire to learn about the coffee market, IU students gathered Monday night in Collins Living-Learning Center to watch the screening of “Black Gold.”\n“Black Gold” chronicles the crusade of one Ethiopian, Tadesse Meskela, in his quest to liberate fellow Ethiopian coffee farmers from a market that fails to consider the farmer and his living conditions.\nMeskela encouraged importers to buy fair trade certified coffee, since they provide farmers with finances necessary to make a living. \nWhen the farmers don’t have enough money, their communities suffer too, which has caused nearly 7 million people in Ethiopia to depend on international food aid.\nThe film screening was part of Indiana Public Interest Research Group’s larger International Outreach Campaign within the Hunger and Homelessness campaign.\nThe event included free fair trade coffee provided by Bloomington Coffee Roasters. Nina Cole, a graduate student at IU, established the business project as part of her graduate studies.\n“I’m doing this to educate myself and to learn about the coffee business,” Cole said.\nShe said she buys her fair trade coffee from a distributor and importer out of South Bend that imports the coffee directly from farmers. She said she sells a total of 12 different blends ranging from various regions across the globe.\nThey can be found at local distributors such as Nick’s English Hut and Bloomingfoods. Cole said she also sells her coffee at the local Winter Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning in the Harmony School Gymnasium.\nBrendon Liner, group member, said he hopes to educate the student body about its choices as consumers. Through this process he is learning too, mostly about which local distributors sell fair trade products, he said.\n“We’re currently working on a handbook that will be available for students and local residents,” Liner said. “It will inform them about where fair trade products are available locally.”\nThe handbook will be available by the end of the semester at local distributors of fair trade products, he said. Liner said he hopes this will teach consumers more about the market and where their money goes.\nBloomington resident Colin McCarty said the film shows audiences how the coffee market works on an international scale.\n“Ultimately it comes down to the greed of a few, and they drive the market,” he said.