True Brew

What would Jesus drink?

Some churches are guessing it’s coffee. And not just any cup of joe, of course, but coffee that’s grown using sustainable methods, in developing countries where farmers and other workers are paid a decent wage.

Fair-trade certified coffee has become the drink of choice at many churches. As people grow in awareness about the connection between faith and food, more local congregations are selling bags of fair-trade beans as well as serving it with doughnuts on Sundays.

“It’s a mission for us to help those growers,” said Nancy Barker, the volunteer coordinator at St. Mark Lutheran Church, where members have been drinking fair-trade coffee every Sunday for the last seven years.

St. Mark on Spokane’s South Hill buys its beans from the Lutheran World Relief Fair-Trade Coffee Project. In addition to serving a few hundred cups each week, the church also sells them in eight- and 12-ounce packages to parishioners.

“By using fair-trade coffee and other products in your parishes and homes, Lutherans guarantee that farmers will earn the income they need to feed their families, educate their children, seek medical care and improve their communities,” according to the LWR Fair-Trade Coffee Project.

Call it coffee with a conscience.

It’s a morning ritual that many take for granted, but for some, the simple act of drinking coffee has serious, moral implications.

Next to oil, coffee is the second most heavily traded commodity in the world. But most farmers are at the mercy of middlemen, who take advantage of their lack of access to credit, transportation and information, according to TransFair USA, the nonprofit that certifies fair-trade products in the United States. As a result, farmers are caught in a cycle of poverty and debt.

Fair trade, however, enables farmers who are members of cooperatives to bypass the middlemen and sell directly to U.S. importers. According to TransFair USA, the growers who belong to these co-ops earn three to five times as much as they would get if they sold their coffee using the conventional “free trade” route.

“It is the best system that’s in place to ensure that farmers receive a fair wage,” said Martin Jennings, master roaster and owner of Nectar of Life, a Spokane Valley roaster that exclusively offers certified fair-trade, organic, shade-grown coffee. Most, but not all, fair-trade coffee is also certified organic and shade grown.

“Fair trade isn’t charity,” Jennings explains on the Nectar of Life Web site. “It is a form of social justice. By purchasing fair-trade coffee, you are directly supporting a better life for farming families through fair prices, direct trade, community development and environmental stewardship.”

The goals of fair-trade coffee and other goods, after all, fall under the precepts of nearly every religion: to protect the Earth, to be responsible consumers, to help the poor and to treat others with justice.

“Drinking fair-trade coffee is a relatively easy way for people to put their values into practice,” said Scott Cooper, director of parish social ministry at Catholic Charities Spokane.

When Catholics and others learn the difference between “fair trade” and conventional “free trade,” they immediately understand the importance of paying a little extra for a cup of coffee, he said. Since Catholic Relief Services launched its fair-trade initiative a few years ago, a growing number of parishes in the Diocese of Spokane have started serving fair-trade coffee during gatherings after Mass and other social events.

Many people of faith have become aware of the places in the world where their coffee beans come from, Cooper said. It also has brought some realization that their actions in Spokane can have widespread effects throughout the globe, he said.

“It’s really about relationship,” Cooper said. “But like so much else, it’s the opportunity to inject some awareness and consciousness into the most everyday kind of decisions and how those decisions can have far-reaching consequences to change the world for the better.”

While most of the congregations that drink and endorse fair-trade coffee in the region are Christian, other faith communities – Jews, Buddhists, pagans and others – also promote the same cause.

As a result, churches and other religious groups are turning to Nectar of Life, Global Exchange and other roasters who are certified providers of organic, shade-grown fair-trade coffee. Many also are purchasing beans through their denomination’s official sources.

Worldwide, fair-trade certified coffee sales grew 53 percent last year, according to the Organic Consumers Association. Only 3.3 percent of coffee sold in the United States in 2006 was certified fair trade, but that was more than eight times the level in 2001, according to TransFair USA.

The United States also consumes one-fifth of the world’s coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world, according to Global Exchange.

Although churches and religious groups account for only a small portion of the total orders at Nectar of Life, Jennings said he’s hearing from more congregations in Washington, Oregon and Montana who want fair-trade coffee in their churches.

In January of this year, Nectar of Life established a partnership with Catholic Relief Services, which now promotes the Spokane Valley business on its fair-trade Web site. As a CRS partner, Nectar of Life contributes a percentage of the sales it makes through the program to the CRS Fair Trade Fund, which supports the agency’s work on behalf of disadvantaged artisans and farmers around the world. The CRS Fair Trade Fund also gets $1 for every bag of the company’s “Nectar of Ice” coffee that’s sold. That partnership also has resulted in “Providence Blend,” the Nectar of Life coffee that’s sold exclusively in Sacred Heart Medical Center’s cafeteria.

When Episcopalians in Spokane first learned about “Bishops Blend,” a premium line of fair-trade, dark-roasted coffee from Central America, Ethiopia and Indonesia, many in the diocese jumped at the chance to serve it in their homes and churches seven years ago.

“This was an opportunity to not only enjoy delicious coffee, but to drink it for all the right reasons,” said Gloria Waggoner, wife of Bishop Jim Waggoner and curator of Paulsen House.

Bishops Blend is now available at Rosa Gallica, a boutique in the Paulsen House basement that sells organic and fair-trade products. Money from coffee sales goes to Episcopal Relief and Development, which provides emergency assistance, rebuilds and helps people in poverty throughout the world.

Many say ERD’s motto to promote Bishops Blend summarizes the movement behind fair trade: “Buy a cup… change a life.”

Glazed Espresso Brownie Cake

From “The Great Coffee Book,” by Timothy J. Castle and Joan Nielsen (Ten Speed Press: $15.95)

For the cake:

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons finely ground dark-roast coffee

1 cup flour

3 eggs, beaten lightly

For the glaze:

1/4 cup butter

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round or square cake pan and cut parchment paper to line the bottom.

To prepare the cake, heat the sugar, salt, butter, vanilla, semisweet chocolate and coffee in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, stirring until the chocolate is melted.

Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Add the flour and eggs and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes. Turn the cake over onto a serving platter and remove the parchment paper. Let the cake cool completely before glazing.

To prepare the glaze, melt the butter, chocolate and honey in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water. Remove from the heat and beat the glaze until it cools and begins to thicken. Pour the glaze over the cake. Let stand until the glaze is set.

Yield: 1 (8-inch) cake

Approximate nutrition per serving, based on 10: 399 calories, 26 grams fat (16 grams saturated, 57 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 40 grams carbohydrate, 113 milligrams cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 82 milligrams sodium.