Magic Coffee Cup sees all and knows all. Maybe. Sometimes. Well, it’s fun either way.

Magic Coffee Cup v2.0 not only answers your questions and prophesizes your future but also serves up a bit of coffee trivia, quotes and jokes.  Give it a try.

Magic Coffee Cup v2.0

An Irish woman of advanced age visited her physician to ask his help in reviving her husband’s libido.

“What about trying Viagra? asks the doctor.

“Not a chance,” she said. “He won’t even take an aspirin.”

“Not a problem,” replied the doctor. “Give him! an Irish Viagra. It’s when you drop the Viagra tablet into his coffee . He won’t even taste it. Give it a try and call me in a week to let me know how things went.”

It wasn’t a week later that she called the doctor, who directly inquired as to progress. The poor dear exclaimed, “Oh, faith, bejaysus and begorrah! T’was horrid! Just terrible, doctor!”

“Really? What happened?” asked the doctor

“Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee and the effect was almost immediate. He jumped straight up, with a twinkle in his eye, and with his pants a-bulging fiercely! With one swoop of his arm, he sent the cups and tablecloth flying, ripped me clothes to tatters and took me then and there, took me passionately on the tabletop! It was a nightmare, I tell you, an absolute nightmare!”

“Why so terrible?” asked the doctor, “Do you mean the sex your husband provided wasn’t good”?

“Twas the best sex I’ve had in 25 years! But sure as I’m sittin’ here, I’ll never be able to show me face in that Starbucks again!”

If you ever wonder whether buying fair trade coffee makes any difference, read this article in the Guardian newspaper.

When I read this article at fool.com, I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry…or think.

Here’s an excerpt:

Consumer Reports recently compared coffees and came up with an interesting result. According to its tasters, Starbucks’ (Nasdaq: SBUX) coffee was outdone by McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) premium coffee offering. Should Starbucks — and its shareholders — be experiencing more than caffeine jitters?

Led by a professional tester and some employees of Consumer Reports’ food testing unit, the team sampled medium plain coffees (with no sugar and cream, mind you), from two stores each of Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, and Burger King (NYSE: BKC). The team of taste testers deemed McDonald’s premium coffee the best-tasting and the best value, at $1.40 a cup. It might surprise some people that the priciest cup of that size regular coffee actually came from Dunkin’ Donuts, at $1.65.

I started thinking about this news, simply because, unless this was some cupper’s aberration, it signifies a significant shift in the gourmet coffee business.

Not so long ago one could buy what was considered gourmet coffee at Starbucks and other quality coffee shops, or junk coffee anywhere else. You know, diner coffee.

But if McDonald’s coffee really is as good as Starbucks coffee, then we have hit a taste plateau.

And if coffee shops can no longer differentiate their brew as being "gourmet", then how can they set themselves apart from McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts and others?

(Not with wi-fi. McDonalds is getting that too.)

Can they do it by selling fair trade coffee? McDonald’s UK is already on top of that one.

But perhaps we’ll see more coffee roasters and coffee shops selling not just a generic fair trade coffee, but fair trade coffee beans with a story.

Small companies can tell an honest, human story about their relationship with specific cooperatives in particular regions.

Big companies can’t do that. They have to buy too much coffee. And nobody believes a huge corporation when it shows a photo of one of its employees giving a paternalistic hug to a coffee grower.

In other words, large companies and small can both sell fair trade coffee…the "new" gourmet coffee. But only small companies can tell an honest, engaging story. That is, if they choose to become genuinely involved with individual cooperatives, or small groups of cooperatives.

This is one of the great things about fair trade coffee. Doing the right thing benefits everyone, from the bean to the cup.

I know, I have been lazy with this blog recently. But I should have an interesting book review up here soon.

In the meantime, I did come across an interesting blog entry by Tim Blangger on the Poverty News Blog – As Fair Trade grows, other trade gets fairer.

It seems that McDonalds is about to start serving fair trade coffee at all its burger outlets in the UK. The coffee will be supplied by Kraft.

I’m no fan of either McDonalds or Kraft, but this move has to qualify as good news.

Why? Simply because it will increase demand for fair trade coffee enormously. And that, in turn, will encourage more coffee farmers to form cooperatives, become certified, adopt more sustainable growing methods and earn a higher income for their families and communities.

And, as a side benefit, consumers who go to McDonalds will get to hear about fair trade coffee, and look for it when they are shopping for beans to brew at home.

Of course, this is happening in the UK, not North America. At least, not right now.

Once again, Europe seems to be a few years ahead when it comes to “green” and socially responsible thinking and action.

I just returned from a trip to the UK, and people’s opinions on these issues are very evident…in national newspapers, on TV and in the stores. A strong focus on the environment is evident everywhere.

Why does it take North America so long to catch up?

In my last post I wrote about a recent article in the Economist, which cast doubts on the entire fair trade movement.

The economic arguments presented were familiar and predictable. “The market decides”.

I don’t think the market decides very well. And to make that argument puts the lives of millions of people into the hands of economic formulae.

Instead, I think the world would be better served by putting away the calculators and the spreadsheets, and being a little more human in its vision of ‘economics’.

Take a look at Café Conciencia.

This is a non-profit organization based in Guatemala. Its work involves supporting farmers who grow fair trade coffee. The organization raises funds and supports its cause by selling the coffee and running eco-tours.

This is fair trade in action.

Fair trade isn’t some irritating subset of mainstream economics, to be discussed in boardrooms and bars.

The fair trade coffee movement is something that happens, in real life…now and now and now. And it transforms the lives of thousands upon thousands of poor farmers, their families and their communities.

You want to argue against that?

In a recent article in The Economist the author does a fair job of casting doubt on the benefits of fair trade, organic produce and buying local.

As always with The Economist, the article is well written and researched. The figures are there to support the author’s arguments, as are quotes from reputable experts.

In the concluding paragraph, the author writes:

“Food is central to the debates on the environment, development, trade and globalization — but the potential for food choices to change the world should not be overestimated.”

That’s a reasonable conclusion, based on the figures in the article.

However, I came away feeling like I had read a particular good high school essay on the topic of, “Find a popular movement and debunk it using statistics and quotations from experts.”

It’s easy to find figures and experts to debunk just about any topic you can imagine. Essentially, it’s a cheap trick, journalistic legerdemain.

When using “food miles” data to undermine the benefits of buying local, there are a few things that remain unsaid in this article.

There is no mention of the human benefits of reaching across a wooden table in an outdoor market, with the wind in your hair, and no fluorescent lighting, and taking a bag of produce from the man or woman who actually grew it.

There is no mention of taking your children and explaining that the person behind the table actually grew all the food on sale, and got up at 4 o’clock that morning to pick the vegetables and drive them to the market.

There is no mention of the underlying social and human benefits of supporting small, local farmers in your own community.

And when it comes to fair trade, while heavy with the expected economic arguments, the article fails to talk about the coffee farmer who has had the opportunity to buy school books for his children for the first time.

In the West we are addicted to the rational and the measurable. It comforts us to use figures and experts to support our views.

But our compassion, our human spirit and our ability to see what is actually in front of our own eyes withers and dies.

You want to know what fair trade, organic growing and buying local are really about?

Take your child to a farm market and watch his or her eyes as he or she reaches out to take a bag of fresh vegetables from the person who actually grew them.

The headline for this post comes from the following quote, taken from an article in Business Week.

"What’s important is what it says about our brand," said Brad Stevens, Starbuck Corp.’s vice president of U.S. Marketing.

The Seattle-based coffee giant recently kicked off an effort to hand out 10,000 cards called "cheer passes" daily, asking recipients to perform one act of kindness for someone else and pass the card along. The drive is not tied to any cause and the cards are not redeemable for merchandise, but recipients can track their card’s progress online.

"It says that we at Starbucks are willing to use our resources to try and start this chain of good will," said Stevens.

The Cheerpass campaign isn’t about fair trade coffee. But Mr. Stevens’ comments are very revealing.

When he says, "What’s important is what it says about our brand,” he is showing us that the motivation behind the campaign is entirely self-serving. He’s trying to make Starbucks look good. (Note to Starbucks: The best and only way to ensure that you look good is to BE good.)

This self-serving approach to goodwill and social responsibility is also what separates companies which have a genuine commitment to fair trade coffee from those which don’t.

Ask vice presidents from Starbucks, Nestlé and other giant coffee marketers about their involvement in the fair trade coffee movement. I can imagine each and every one of them saying, “What’s important is what it says about our brand.”

Now take a look at companies like ThanksgivingCoffee.com, which have genuine commitments to the fair trade coffee movement, and to supporting small coffee farmers and their communities.

There’s a vast difference between promoting fair trade simply to make money, and supporting fair trade because you believe in it.