Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Anyone looking to cut back on their coffee consumption while simultaneously lobbying for socioeconomic equality should check out Marc and Nick Francis' provocative documentary Black Gold, which examines the disparity between Ethiopian coffee farmers and the Western corporations that profit from the harvests. The film's mathematics add up thus: an Ethiopian farmer earns about three cents for every $3 cup of coffee sold in the developed world. In fact, coffee is an $80 billion a year industry, second only to oil in commodity value, yet the global market is monopolized by a handful of conglomerates who (according to the film) routinely skewer the playing field to deny the Ethiopians their fair share of the profits (forget about the World Trade Organization, which has never aided the Ethiopian cause, despite repeated requests for assistance). Tadesse Meskela, a representative of the Oromio Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Southern Ethiopia, has gone to heroic lengths to raise the standard of living for his fellow farmers, but his efforts are clearly a Sisyphean challenge. While the film's sense of balance is slightly marred by omissions (particularly concerning the Ethiopian government's ineffectiveness in behalf of its own people), this passionate film makes a cogent case for bringing the basic principles of fair trade to bear on a decidedly unfair business environment. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)