1st Edition

Brewing Sustainability in the Coffee and Tea Industries From Producer to Consumer

By Alissa Bilfield Copyright 2022
    152 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    152 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book focuses on the often intertwined industries of coffee and tea, using accounts of single producer communities to highlight the transformation from plantation-style colonial agriculture towards systems that now claim to produce social and environmental benefits from the farm to the cup.

    Focusing on the dynamics of farmers' experiences producing coffee and tea ethically and sustainably at origin, the book shows how these values are transmitted and reinforced throughout the value chain. Exploring tandem case studies of fair trade cooperatives in Guatemala and Sri Lanka, it provides an insight into the creation of more sustainable value chains from producer to consumer in the global marketplace, incorporating the perspectives of coffee exporters, importers, roasters, and café owners. This book is focused on the prospects of the specialty movement in food as a catalyst for forging more authentic, just, and sustainable supply chains that consider both people and the environment.

    This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food and agriculture, sustainable food systems and supply chains, the fair trade movement, sustainable development, and social entrepreneurship and social innovation.

    Introduction: A Brewing Novice

    Part 1: The History

    1. Transforming the Daily Cup

    2. Defining and Certifying Sustainability in the Coffee and Tea Supply Chains

    3. The Origins of Empowerment: From Guatemalan Coffee to Sri Lankan Tea

    Part 2: The Farmers Reform

    4. Economic Sustainability for Farmers in Coffee and Tea

    5. Achieving Social Sustainability for Farmers Through Coffee and Tea Cooperatives

    6. Coffee and Tea Farmers Catalyzing Environmental Sustainability

    Part 3: The Industries Evolve

    7. Democratizing Coffee and Tea Value Chains From the Field to the Cup

    8. Riding the Next Wave: A Sustainable Future for Coffee and Tea

    Conclusion: Support for Farmers

    Biography

    Alissa Bilfield is a faculty member in the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health Program in Nutritional Sciences in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA. Her interdisciplinary background includes work and research in the government, nonprofit, and academic sectors that has spanned the United States, and 14 different countries, ranging from Guatemala to Sri Lanka. She is also a social entrepreneur herself, having co-founded a food literacy and cooking education nonprofit called The Cookbook Project.