Trust

Trust is the new barter system. We trade dollars, but we really work on trust. Trust says, ”My word is my bond.” Trust says, “I’ll work  to help you grow.” Trust says, “I believe in the Golden Rule.” Trust says, “If you really, really want this dream to come true —this book to be written, this business to fly —it will be done.”

Trust is the partner of hope. Trust finds power in the Universe. In fact, it draws power to us from the Universe. Not God, not Buddha, not anything religious, per se. It’s a piece of The Force from Star Wars. It’s the belief that we can win. It’s the David of David and Goliath. It’s belief in oneself. It makes the world work: babies are born with it, companies spawned from it, ideas spread through it. In this increasingly soulless, weary world in which we live, trust is the safety net we crawl into — a hammock that lets us sleep at night. Let’s protect it by trusting in someone or something today.

Advertisement

Coffee!

Did you know that coffee is in most years the second most valuable product traded worldwide, after oil?  The International Coffee Organization (ICO) gathers and updates consumption, production, export, import and pricing information for coffee. Their work is important because of the unique makeup of the industry.  Coffee is produced (grown) in over 60 countries worldwide, and this one crop, coffee, may account for over 50% of the export revenue for many of these countries.  The fact that most of the coffee is produced by independent small farmers lends a fragility to the marketplace, and creates a responsibility on the part of the participants to be good citizens.

The ICO was set up in 1963 under the United Nations. The ICO member countries (not all countries are members) have agreed to agree on activities that will sustain this economically and socially important system.  This governing document is called the International Coffee Agreement of 2007, and it was set in force in February of 2011 to enhance the stability, sustainability, and science of growing and selling coffee.

The daily coffee that we take so much for granted supports the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. Stay tuned to this blog for trends and updates on a seemingly humble commodity that can make or break countries, companies, families, and individuals.

– See more at: http://www.ico.org/mission07_e.asp?section=About_Us#sthash.pcAiqpJl.dpuf

%d bloggers like this: