I took a class on sustainability from SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) several years ago and one thing I walked away with was that everyone had a different definition of sustainability. Part of the issue in my opinion about answering this question is anyone from the Global North will answer it (most likely) completely biased from the lens they’ve adapted from a capitalist free market economics perspective, whether they realize it or not.
The irony in that is that our entire system as a whole is unsustainable. How do you comfortably define sustainability when so many people strive to match the culture of growth that surrounds us? We look to all these large corporations as examples of business for some reason even though they’ve never made a dime and just keep raising more and more money operating at massive losses year over year while CEOs get rich.
Who are we in the West to even ask the question of how to be sustainable?
As it currently operates, I do not believe the coffee industry is sustainable. Between climate change and the inability for roasters/traders to pay more for coffee, we’re simply participating in a system and industry destined for some serious doom in the coming years.
So as a business who cares about the “triple bottom line” how do we operate with a goal of sustainability?
From a purchasing perspective, as I mentioned in a previous email, we just do our best to work with transparent traders and have a better understanding of our impact at origin. We attempt to buy consistently from the same groups. We’ve never turned down a contract because it didn’t cup with good enough quality (more on risk mitigation and who it usually falls on another time, I hope).
From a domestic operational perspective, we try to make business decisions that allow for good, slow, steady growth. If you’ve been to our shop, it’s pretty clear we continue to make shift and add as we can go. It’s not always as pretty as a shiny new shop with investors, but why are aesthetics valuable if the business doesn’t last? Maybe it doesn’t matter since most those folks investing don’t mind the risk of losing money. I personally cannot fathom this way of thinking since MP is grown from scratch and it feed my family. Every financial decision has a massive impact. Our new store that’s opening soon, nearly every single item in it is antique, used or refurbished.
In my limited humble opinion, the biggest issue with all of this is the inability to think ahead about things like the future generations or even our beautiful earth. We’re already selfish and shitty as humans… so our tendency is to think myopically. You add on our cultural shift to caring more about wealth, status and material things versus what Francis Weller calls “primary satisfactions” of community, and being sustainable is nothing more than a falsely used marketing term.
I just hope we can keep improving our ability to be faithful stewards of what we are doing. From the coffee we buy to the way we operate the roastery to how we limit waste in our stores, we’ll always be evaluating ways to change or improve. This becomes easier when we shift our mindset from individualism to understanding that we are all connected – even that which does not exist (I am a mystic… what can I say).
Get Mad. Stay Blessed.
+Michael
|
|
Leave a comment