Tag Archives: starbucks

Coffee Talk: Sustainable Practices in the Coffee Industry

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This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk coffee with two leading coffee experts to learn more about the cultivation, trade and regulation of the ubiquitous cup-a-joe.

First, Alex Wise speaks with Rainer Bussmann, the Director of the William L. Brown Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden as well as its Curator of Economic Botany. Next, we hear from Ted Howes, who is currently the Global Lead of Energy Domain at design firm IDEO, and previously served as a third-party sustainability auditor for Starbucks.

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Envisioning the Future of Sustainability

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Glen Hiemstra

It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. Yogi Berra said that. He also said, the future ain’t what it used to be. For Glen Hiemstra, the future holds the key to current planning. The founder of the website futurist.com, Hiemstra consults for businesses and governments on how to take the long view on trends. In his book, Turning the Future into Revenue, he argues that the planning horizon should stretch out for several decades in order to meet the sustainability challenges we face right now.

Glen Hiemstra

Glen Hiemstra

CWR Headlines:

—Google Unveils Clean Energy Plan
—Starbucks Accused of Wasting Water, Explores Alternatives
—Palin Stretches the Truth on Darfur Divestment

Oxfam Slams Starbucks for Opposing Ethiopian Coffee Name Trademarking

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Seth Petchers, Oxfam International’s Make Trade Fair campaign coffee lead, discusses how Starbucks opposes Ethiopia’s bid to trademark its renowned regional coffee names–Sidamo, Harrar, and Yirgacheffe.

Dean-Cycon Dean Cycon, founder of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee Company, discusses problems with the trademarking solution, and how appellation (the system by which regional wines such as Champagne and Bordeaux protect their exclusivity) represents a better solution in his mind. He also discusses Fair Trade as an important part of the solution, while also identifying limitations of Fair Trade in achieving truly ethical and sustainable trade.

Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair Starbucks Campaign
Starbucks’ statement on its position regarding Ethiopia
Dean’s Beans
Brand Hypocrisy at Starbucks by Oxford University Professor Douglas Holt