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Review #332 of 365
Movie Review of Black Gold (2006) [NR] 78 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $14.00
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 9 December 2006
Time: 12:05 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Black Gold (2006) (NR, 78 min.)
Directed by: Marc Francis & Nick Francis
Written by: Marc Francis & Nick Francis
Our hope is one day the consumer will understand what they are drinking. Consumers can bring a change if awareness is given to consumers. It is not only on coffee, all products are getting a very low price - and the producers are highly affected.--Tadesse Meskela
Were this powerful quotation enough to wake up European, North American, and Australian coffee drinkers to the reality of the sources of the coveted beans they crave freshly ground each morning, then Marc & Nick Francis's provocative documentary, Black Gold, would serve its purpose. Back in the day, I learned that colonialists used African soil to plant their spices, coffee, and tea—mostly, actually unnecessary crops, and certainly ones upon which no one can survive alone, which depleted the soil of nutrients necessary for other, more useful food staple crops and leading to the continent's scale of malnutrition. Therefore, it came as no surprise to me, actually, to learn that the injustice of the coffee industry continues to this day only in a way that's somewhat more insidious. I should start by stating that I doubt the most coffee drinkers, brewers, roasters, and bean buyers are actually very aware of the plight of the African continental coffee farmers. It's one of those Western out-of-sight / out-of-mind problems that permits the vast majority of us to go about our daily lives, and I am very guilty of this too so I'm not intending to exonerated myself, consuming like crazy, living in the virtual lap of luxury vs. the vast majority of those on the planet. And, maybe it is not an ability confined to Westerners. Maybe everyone tends to do this, for there is always someone, somewhere living life worse off that oneself. Thinking about this and wanting to do something about it or knowing what to do about it or having the courage to actually act even without knowing what to do about it, has long been the problem. Most people think, "I'm just one person, what could I do?" And yet, the irony of course is that all of the world's greatest people where just one person standing up and making a difference. And, yes, if you gave up coffee altogether you would make a difference. The difference would be minute, but every minute difference adds up. In the case of the African continental coffee farmers, and in the case of the film, specifically the Ethiopian coffee farmers, actually, giving up coffee would not have the desired impact. Here is a case where coffee drinkers can have their cake and eat it too. For, you see, it's no longer about giving up coffee. There are over 74,000 accounting for over half a million family members in the Oromia Coffee Co-operative, for example, the depend absolutely on coffee drinkers around the world for their very survival. Wow! Sounds like a good thing then. Sounds like a perfect relationship. Sounds like a way to help Ethiopia out of poverty and out of famine. Unfortunately, the collapse of the world-wide coffee agreement (similar to OPEC) in 1979 that regulated the supply of coffee to the world market and kept the prices high, has all but caused the bottom to fall out plunging hundreds of thousands of people into abject poverty. So much so that the people are resorting to growing a narcotic plant popular in Africa vs. coffee because they can make more money. How severe is it? According to statistics in the film, farmers are earning around 12 cents for a kilogram of coffee beans that go on to yield 250 cups of coffee that sell for approximately $2.89 a cup. Now, granted, there are a lot of steps in between the sale of the dried beans to the roasters and the steaming smell of a cup of coffee in a local coffee shop. Even so, it is difficult to imagine how a kilogram of coffee that yields over $720 in retail sales would only be worth 12 cents on the commodity market. Yet, this is the price coffee farmers have been seeing. Given the labor intensive job of harvesting coffee beans and the hand picking through the beans to discard the bad beans—a job performed mostly by women who earn 50 cents per 8-hour shift—it is difficult to imagine why these people bother to grow the coffee in the first place, and cause one to wonder what would happen if the all just suddenly stopped. How much do we need coffee anyway? But, as I say, it's not that simple.
"… one of the year's most important documentaries …"
Co-writers / directors Mark and Nick Francis have done a stupendous job in bringing the story of the plight of the Ethiopian coffee farmers to the world stage. They enlighten on many related areas such as the control of the WTO and the rules on farm subsidies where the African continental farmers are at a severe disadvantage in negotiations due to their minute delegations and lack of infrastructure. They follow the work of Tadesse Meskela as he circles the globe in search of roasters willing to pay a fair price for the coffee beans of his co-operative. They make the solution look simple. If the Ethiopian coffee farmers received simply 1% more for their beans, their lives would be turned upside down for the good and the nation would bring in more income than it currently receives in international aid. How ironic that the USA, it seems, is shipping tons and tons and tons of relief grain to Ethiopia, when a 1% increase in the return to the farmers would end the need for this relief. Would it be less expensive in the long run for the USA coffee buyers to pay 1% more for beans, and then to end the grain shipments? As I said, every aspect of this issue brings more questions than answers because the USA government buys the grain it gives to Ethiopia from USA farmers who are making a living off growing that grain. In effect, it is a grain subsidy from the government. But, if the coffee farmers were making a fair price for their coffee they could buy the grain themselves directly from the USA grain farmers eliminating the need for subsidies and free grain programs. Maybe? I admit that I am extrapolating a bit outside of the information given in the film but only to illustrate how the film makes one think about these issues. For me, the most powerful thing about the film was that my mind did not begin and end on coffee. I thought of all farmers everywhere, including the USA farmers who have seen themselves in very similar situations and watched their farms go into foreclosure and watched conglomerates come in and buy up all the farms, etc. I think in general, the world is about as kind to farmers as it is to teachers. People who plant the seeds, nurture the seedlings, weed the fields, fertilize the plants, and then help harvest the crops for the future are the most neglected in our society while providing the most important end products in the world. Why is this?
In any case, Black Gold represents one of the year's most important documentaries aside from all of the war-themed films. While short and to the point, the film offers up the problem and, unlike so many other documentaries, some solutions on what people can actually do short of throwing up their hands in futility and returning to patterns that perpetuate the problems. All coffee drinkers have to do is actively seek out and purchase only Fair Trade Certified™ coffee. You can learn more about this by visiting www.oxfamamerica.org/coffee and join the campaing to make trade fair at www.maketradefair.com . The film ends with the return of Tadesse Meskela from his trips around the world having brought good news of greater profits for the farmers of his co-operative. There are many people willing to buy coffee outside of the world market commodity exchange prices. With this new income, the coffee farmers meet to learn they are being asked to use it to effect good social change in their communities. But, they all know that the key to their long-term success is to get a proper school built for their children to attend to make their country stronger and to ensure the success of their future. They vote then, to hold the profits in reserve, until there is sufficient money to build the needed school. Their wise and unselfish nature, their desire to better their community and the lives of their children, their resolve and better natures, should give hope to everyone who bears a feeling of hopelessness when contemplating the fate of the people of the African continent in general. Eventually, the world must face the reality that Africa is the only inhabited continent to grow poorer in the past two decades. The only way to really effect change and turn things around is to deliver a fair price for goods.
In any case, Black Gold represents one of the year's most important documentaries aside from all of the war-themed films. While short and to the point, the film offers up the problem and, unlike so many other documentaries, some solutions on what people can actually do short of throwing up their hands in futility and returning to patterns that perpetuate the problems. All coffee drinkers have to do is actively seek out and purchase only Fair Trade Certified™ coffee. You can learn more about this by visiting www.oxfamamerica.org/coffee and join the campaing to make trade fair at www.maketradefair.com . The film ends with the return of Tadesse Meskela from his trips around the world having brought good news of greater profits for the farmers of his co-operative. There are many people willing to buy coffee outside of the world market commodity exchange prices. With this new income, the coffee farmers meet to learn they are being asked to use it to effect good social change in their communities. But, they all know that the key to their long-term success is to get a proper school built for their children to attend to make their country stronger and to ensure the success of their future. They vote then, to hold the profits in reserve, until there is sufficient money to build the needed school. Their wise and unselfish nature, their desire to better their community and the lives of their children, their resolve and better natures, should give hope to everyone who bears a feeling of hopelessness when contemplating the fate of the people of the African continent in general. Eventually, the world must face the reality that Africa is the only inhabited continent to grow poorer in the past two decades. The only way to really effect change and turn things around is to deliver a fair price for goods.
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