Archive: Around Town

New Roots Charter School students participate in 'expeditions' that are multidisciplinary courses that provide local perspectives on global issues.  Students in David Streib’s science and math course recently went on a 'Food, Water and Energy' expedition as part of a New Roots program designed to expose students to life-cycle analyses of commonly used products and foods. 

Regional Gimme Coffee Manager Liz Clark led New Roots students on a tour of the firm’s coffee grading, roasting and packaging facilities.  Students learned the science behind the growing and processing of coffee, and examined sustainability within the context of the global supply chain for coffee and how profits are distributed along that supply chain.

While most coffee is grown and processed in areas close to the equator, the majority of the industry’s profits are realized outside of those areas.  Disparities in global distribution of wealth and energy use for transportation and distribution perpetuate a system in which farmers earn the least. Gimme Coffee works to correct such profit inequities by assuring coffee farmers higher, more sustainable prices for their crops.

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