Black Gold

After oil, coffee is the most actively traded commodity in the world. But for every $2 cup of coffee, a farmer receives only a few pennies. Black Gold asks us to face the unjust conditions under which our favorite drink is produced and to decide what we can do about it. The film traces the tangled trail from the two billion cups of coffee consumed each day back to the coffee farmers who produce the beans.

Founder of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, Tadesse Meskela is fighting to help his 70,000 Ethiopian coffee farmers by seeking out buyers willing to pay a fair price. Through his journey, Tadesse begins to expose the web of greed and corruption inherent to the international trading system, including the World Trade Organization.

“Black Gold” reminds viewers of their power to affect positive social change by way of their consumer vote. After seeing this film your coffee will never taste the same.