Our Social Action and Justice Ministry Team works to bring justice issues to the attention of the congregation.  This page contains information on issues of current concern.  You are invited to look it over and then take action on issues right now!  Click on the links associated with each story for more information. 

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We did it! 
Starbucks Signs Agreement with Ethiopia
(see yellow box at bottom for details of the campaign by Oxfam)

Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007

I have great news for you today. We've just received word that Starbucks and Ethiopia have finalized an agreement that ends their trademark dispute and brings both sides together in partnership to help Ethiopian farmers. This agreement has the potential to give these farmers a fair share of the profits for their world-renowned coffees, and it's what Oxfam has been pushing for since November.

More than 96,000 of our supporters around the world helped make this happen. Your emails, faxes, phone calls, postcards, and even in-person visits to Starbucks added strength to the call of Ethiopian farmers and brought global attention to this issue.

Because of your actions, Ethiopian coffee farmers have chance at a better life. You should feel very proud.

Click here (http://act.oxfamamerica.org/ct/27ArElK184hU/) to view a personal Thank You from Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser and some of the Ethiopian farmers who will benefit from this agreement.

While we're all celebrating this important victory, our work is far from over. We will continue to raise awareness about issues of poverty, hunger, and injustice around the world. We are creating a force for change, and you are a critical partner in our work.

There are many issues we're going to need your help with in the coming months and years, and the more people who are with us, the greater our ability to affect change. In order to help amplify our voice, please ask 5 friends to join our email list

(http://act.oxfamamerica.org/oxfamamerica/join-forward.html?domain=oxfamamerica&r=h7ArElK1Y-vI&).

On behalf of Oxfam, and all of the Ethiopian farmers we work with every day, I want to thank you again for being a part of this important victory.

Tim Fullerton
Oxfam America

Support Ethiopian Coffee Growers

The UCC Justice and Witness Ministries has joined a coalition of organizations led by Oxfam America to support Ethiopia's negotiations with Starbucks to trademark its most famous coffees.  The coalition is urging Starbucks Coffee to sign a licensing agreement developed by the Ethiopian government to allow Ethiopia to control the names of its coffees and set export prices accordingly.  By sending this message to Starbucks, consumers can help the Ethiopian government to guarantee its 15 million coffee farmers a fair price.

Ethiopia ranks among the poorest countries in the world.  More than 75 percent of its population lives on less than $1 per day.  About 15 million people in Ethiopia depend on coffee to make a living.  If Starbucks and other companies sign licensing agreements, it is estimated that Ethiopia could receive an extra $88 million in income per year. 

Starbucks coffee sales netted $5.8 billion in revenues during the first three quarters of 2006.  Ethiopian coffee farmers earn only five to ten percent of the retail value of the coffees they grow.

The trademark agreement proposed by the Ethiopian government would deliver the profits from increased coffee prices to small-scale farmers currently barely able to survive.  Starbucks has taken some initial steps to help small farmers in poverty, but a trademark agreement with Ethiopia could have a profound impact on the lives of millions of Ethiopians.