Reflecting with MLK

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said:

"Before you've finished your breakfast this morning, you'll have relied on half the world."

Now that it is around lunchtime (or after, depending on your time zone), you have probably relied on the whole world...twice. In Jacqueline de Carlo's book, Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide, she explains Dr. King's quote as a way of showing consumers that we are benefiting from global networks of human and natural resources. In our globalized world, everyone is intrinsically connected. The coffee you drank this morning was grown a world away, the sweater you are wearing was made a world away and the honey in your tea might have been harvested a few towns away.

But in this globalized world, oftentimes, those producers who brought you your morning coffee or your afternoon-snack banana have been victim to exploitation and inequality due to the unfair balance of power of the world trade system. The conventional trade as we know it has not allowed producers (namely small-scale ones) to benefit from these global networks. It has allowed big corporations to succeed while small-scale producers have less market-access and have very little chance to compete against the big guys. Which is essentially the reason the Fair Trade movement came about. To see to it that these small-scale producers, the 'world' that we rely on everyday are reaping the benefits of these global networks.

Without delving too much into the topic quite yet (more discussion in upcoming posts), as I wanted to use this post mostly as a way to reflect on Dr. King's words on how we are all connected and with this connection, we should really see to it that everyone in that supply chain is being realized for their full worth.

So to reflect, I wanted to point out some words that blog reader Luella shared after seeing this photo of the world in a coffee cup.

When I practice eating meditation, I always try to imagine that the entire universe is in every bite I take - all its resources, its living beings, its hard work, its joy, and its suffering.

I completely share the same sentiment and shared with her my feelings toward the image, the words of Dr. King and the work of the Fair Trade movement.

It really is a great image that represents the deep connection to be had with the food that we consume and the producers that made it. This issue really dawned on me this summer when I was staying at a Fair Trade cooperative in Nicaragua. I stayed with a coffee community there and they showed me their land and expressed the importance of the coffee bean to their life. In terms of culture, history and livelihood. While working side by side with the farmers on the field trying my hand at some organic farming, I looked at the coffee beans on the plant and thought about the end product -- someones morning cup of coffee. All the hard work put into it for your morning enjoyment. So, with every sip I take, there is that deep connection to a world away from me.

So, with the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the shoes on your feet, the soccer ball you kick around, take some time today to think about the human connection to that product and ways to make a positive impact to the people and the planet.

[Photo: Flip Schulke/Corbis]