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Three Mornings

2023-08-01 · documentary visit · John · 5:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Economics (also: Projects, Personal life) · mode: Documentary visit · tags: self promotion

John tells the story of three mornings behind the Awesome Coffee Club: his own coffee, the Colombian smallholder Marta, whose fairer prices come through price transparency with Sucafina, and Dolores, who pushed the Green Coffee Company to give farm workers full benefits; he argues the club wants buyers to see that work, and notes all profits go to charity.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — John's own morning coffee and why he now savors it

  • ★★ John says he makes his morning coffee with Sarah's help; he once treated coffee as medicine against drowsiness from his OCD meds, but now luxuriates in it knowing the care behind it. — 00:00:08 · Sarah Urist Green

00:00:29 — Marta's farm in Colombia, smallholder coffee and price transparency with Sucafina

  • ★★ John introduces Marta, who owns and operates a small farm in Colombia and inspects her trees on the hillside each morning after her coffee. — 00:00:31
  • ★★ John says DFTBA runs the Awesome Coffee Club, Marta is one of the farmers whose beans he drinks daily, and DFTBA staff recently went to Colombia to learn from her and other farmers. (playful) — 00:00:42 · DFTBA Records, Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ John says Marta is an expert in every step of coffee on her farm, from planting trees and harvesting to wet milling the beans into parchment, and her passion shows in the taste. — 00:01:01
  • ★★★ John says most Colombian coffee is not grown on big company farms: 98% comes from small family-owned farms, whose beans large suppliers then buy. — 00:01:13
  • ★★ John says large buyers used to short-change farmers and play them off each other; with suppliers like Sucafina, farmers now know prevailing prices and share what they are paid, which has raised prices, especially for the best beans. — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Dolores and the Green Coffee Company's pilot program of worker benefits in Salgar

  • ★★ John says Marta being paid fairly is good for her and part of why awesome coffee is awesome. (playful) — 00:01:56 · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ John says that because the club became a big coffee company quickly, it also works with larger producers, provided they are working toward a better shared future. — 00:02:05 · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ John introduces Dolores, who works in HR at the Green Coffee Company in Salgar, a large producer focused on its farmers and community that runs 36 farms employing hundreds of people. — 00:02:34
  • ★★ John says each coffee farm job is highly skilled, taking time and training, but too often poorly paid with limited benefits. — 00:02:50
  • ★★ John says Dolores helped start a pilot program giving workers far more support than pay; retention has improved dramatically, as has farmers' quality of life. — 00:03:03

00:03:43 — Workers' benefits, the collaboration behind each cup, and corporations hiding labor

  • ★★ John reports Dolores's unshakable belief that all workers, agricultural ones included, deserve the same benefits: paid time off, sick leave, pensions and steady pay. — 00:03:43
  • ★★ John says the push for change came from inside the Green Coffee Company, making it the kind of place the club wants to do business with, and the club's beans now come from there too. — 00:03:55 · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ John says the coffee tastes really good because of a huge collaboration: farmers like Marta, labor activists like Dolores, roasting by First Crack in Missouri and packing in Missoula, Montana. — 00:04:06 · Missoula, Montana
  • ★★★ John argues corporations too often mask or invisibilize the work behind their products so consumers won't think about it; the Awesome Coffee Club wants buyers to know its coffee's makers are talented and passionate. — 00:04:31 · Awesome Coffee Club

00:05:00 — Subscribers, 100% of profit to charity, $5 million for Sierra Leone, unpaid-intern sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the club's coffee is different and better on every level and invites viewers to join at awesomecoffeeclub.com. — video description · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ The description thanks Abi Rein and Jessica Rollins for traveling to Colombia, the DFTBA staff who packed the coffee orders, Rosianna Halse Rojas for translation and captions, Sucafina and roaster First Crack. — video description · DFTBA Records, Rosianna Halse Rojas
  • ★★ The description names Laura Joukovski as DFTBA's incoming CEO. — video description · DFTBA Records
  • ★ In a channel comment, John says the medication he takes is Remeron, which is very sedating. — creator comment
  • ★ Asked by a European viewer, John says in a comment that the club is working on shipping to Europe, hopefully soon. (hedged) — creator comment · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★ Asked about tea, John says in a comment that they are working on it now, slowly, to get flavor and everything else right. — creator comment · Awesome Coffee Club
  • ★★ In a comment, John says he is the club's temporary CEO and unpaid intern, and did not get Hank's salary with Hank's promotion. (playful) — creator comment · Awesome Coffee Club, Hank Green
  • ★★ In a comment, John says customers should be suspicious of 'sustainability' or 'fair trade' claims because such terms are barely regulated. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a comment, John says the club developed its own framework with Sucafina focused on the real health of communities and people it works with. — creator comment · Awesome Coffee Club

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Awesome Coffee Club · coffee · Dolores · Green Coffee Company · Marta

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green

Projects: Awesome Socks Club · DFTBA Records · Sun Basin Soap

Organizations: Sucafina

Concepts: child mortality · Labor rights · maternal death · obsessive-compulsive disorder

Places: Colombia · Missoula, Montana · Missouri · Salgar · Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: Abi Rein · Dave Loos · First Crack · Jessica Rollins · Laura Joukovski · Rosianna Halse Rojas

Also centred on coffee: Nauseous Puddle Water · Sorry, Hank, but Coffee Is Just Better

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