Many people, every day and sometimes many times a day, drink a cup of coffee. Many don't ever think beyond that cup. And that goes for so many things, as explained in this Ted Talk by AJ Jacobs. While he doesn't get into the concept of Fair Trade or sustainability, he literally goes and thanks the farmers in Colombia who grow the coffee he drinks, and many others along the way.
The Talk is about gratitude and not taking anything for granted. We don't need to go as far as he did by thanking some 1,000 people. You can if you want. What we can do is to take a moment in our ultra wasteful consumer era to note the details of the things we use, eat, drink, sit on, etc, every day. Think of the person who designed your favorite pair of shoes to the person/people who actually made the material, stitched and glued it to make someone's feet happy to wear. Then the person who picked it to end up at the store where you bought them.
Here's where we come in. As a company, we are small. We are also one of many roasters in Philadelphia alone. We may not be able to visit every farm or Co-op in which we get our coffee beans but we do choose people, that we've met, to source our beans for us. We trust these people and the choices they've made, not just in the quality of the coffee but the opportunities available to the communities and lives of the people who work hard to cultivate those quality beans.
Every cup of PFTR coffee you drink and every person you share our coffee with or tell about us is a direct line of gratitude. Take a moment to savor the flavor of your cup of coffee. Know that it took your commitment to purchase from a responsible and small roasting business who buys through caring importers from hard working farmers who want the same things we all want. Fair treatment, fair pay, food on the table, a roof over our heads, friends and family, good health and opportunity for growth.
Thank you for filling your cup with PFTR coffee.