Next time you stroll over to the local coffeehouse, activists may urge you to think twice about the coffee beverages you buy.
Promoting the support of fair trade coffee -- which ensures that coffee growers in Central American countries are paid a fair wage for their work -- Penn student groups brought Honduran native Elvia Alvarado to Civic House last night to discuss her personal experiences as a Central American peasant fighting for change.
Sitting in a circle with over 20 listeners, Alvarado, whose message was conveyed through a translator, spoke passionately about the struggles and abuses she encountered while organizing Honduran peasants to appeal to the government to change their unfair situation.
Since coffee production is a major source of income for the peasants of Honduras, Alvarado stressed the importance of supporting coffee in which fair wages are passed on to peasant workers. Otherwise, peasants who work the fields cannot survive, some forced to emigrate to the cities to work in sweatshops while others resort to violence and prostitution.
While fair trade coffee is now available at popular retail spots such as Starbucks, Borders Books cafes, Hyatt hotels, Safeway supermarkets and some campus coffeehouses, Penn's dining facilities have yet to offer it as an option.
Starbucks began offering the alternative brew after protesters picketed the company's annual stockholder's meeting in March of 2000.
Alvarado made her appeal last night to the American consumers and not the U.S. government.
"I've come here to speak to the people of the United States, not the government," she said. "The people here are very geared toward their work and their studies, but they don't know the world they are living in."
The United States is the world's largest importer of coffee -- the second-most traded commodity in the world after oil. And according to student activists, this means that American consumers have a very tangible ability to incite change.
"The audience realized that we have a lot of power to help popular struggles in developing countries by the choices we make as consumers," said College junior Lincoln Ellis, one of the event's organizers. "I saw a lot of lightbulbs going off."
Alvarado described the hurdles she faced throughout her work as an activist.
"The work that I do is a strong work," she said. "It includes confronting the government... and their laws. I've been ill treated."
In fact, Alvarado said she has been arrested 12 times as a result of her activism and incarcerated on multiple occasions. During her most recent period of incarceration, Alvarado said she was tortured.
She described to a captivated audience how her hands, legs and neck were bound with chains and how she was kept in a room waist-high with water, without being allowed to eat or drink -- when all she wanted was to be treated fairly.
"The only thing we've asked for is land to work, health, a place to live, education and things that all people need to live," she said.
Students in attendance said they found Alvarado's talk educational and important.
"She told a lot of her stories first-hand and I think it's so important to get the direct voice of someone in this situation," College senior Ren Sanknran said.
The talk was sponsored by Penn Students Against Sweatshops, SPEC Connaissance, La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos, Latin American Cultures Program, Penn Environmental Group, Amnesty International at Penn and Global Exchange.
