{"id":23,"date":"2021-01-07T16:06:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T16:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.evergreen.edu\/wintertastingbysarahd\/?p=23"},"modified":"2021-03-06T01:17:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-06T01:17:58","slug":"3-coffee-weeks-5-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.evergreen.edu\/wintertastingbysarahd\/2021\/01\/07\/3-coffee-weeks-5-6\/","title":{"rendered":"#3: Coffee (Weeks 5 & 6)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2022#1a: Film Series: Program Questions in Scenes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCalling-out to a Higher Power: Two Studies in Worship\u201d <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Black Gold, <\/em>1:11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I titled my scenes from the film <\/strong>Black Gold<\/em>, \u201cCalling-out To a Higher Power: Two Studies in Worship\u201d (11:07 – 13:38) and (29:29 \u2013 30:51) to explore the program question: \u201cWhat model\n best enables you to articulate what you are learning about your taste \nof place in relation to history, nature and culture?\u201d To these concepts I will add \u2018economy\u2019, as the central theme of the film is the quest to bridge the economic divide between impoverished Ethiopian coffee farmers and western coffee drinkers. I will compare the two scenes, calling particular attention to the people calling-out to their higher powers, the contrasting accompanying \u2018music\u2019 of each prayer, the \u201cchurch\u201d of each group, as well as the words themselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black<\/em> Gold, <\/em>12:46 – In the Temple of Mammon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My first scene focuses on the New York Board of Trade, one of the two places in the world in which the price of coffee is established. Narrated by New York Board of Trade Vice President Joe O\u2019Neill, one must watch this scene twice in order to get the full benefit of the experience. I watched the first time, listening carefully as O\u2019Neill explained the basics of commodity coffee trading, revealing that \u201clast year the notional value of all the coffee contracts that was [sic] traded is about $140 billion\u201d, that \u201ccoffee is the second most actively traded commodity on the world market\u201d and most importantly, that it \u201cis a centralized marketplace where buyers and sellers congregate to establish the price\u201d; I watched a second time, focused solely on the traders, the trading floor, and the shouts of elation and frustration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was drawn to minute 11:48, in which we hear a voice from the floor yell, \u201cGet me out, let me out!\u201d, as if he is trapped. Later in the scene (12:55) we see a wide shot of the trading floor, packed with people all seemingly crying out to an unseen higher power for profit, who theoretically hearing their calls, responds by blessing them with what they ask. No one looks happy or content. The trading floor is a cavernous space: the megachurch of futures trading. The music of the scene is the thrum of agitated voices and ringing phones (televangelism?). I also noticed a conspicuous lack of coffee in the scene: in the citadel of western coffee trading, I didn\u2019t spot a single cup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second scene I chose begins with a close-up shot of a small batch of roasting coffee beans over an open fire and vibrant flute music. A group of elders is gathered outside an Ethiopian village in the sunshine. A woman begins rhythmically pounding the roasted coffee beans, which becomes the musical accompaniment of the prayer. They call out: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black Gold,<\/em> 29:57 – To Beseech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cO God of truth, God of heaven and earth, maker of everything, who created this beautiful land, help us farmers to get more from our green land. Help us to change our lives, get rid of poverty, build better houses to live in, satisfy our needs, educate our children, and improve our lives. Help us leave all our problems behind. Help us satisfy all our wants and needs. Lift us up to a better life. Thank you, God. The God of peace and the God of Ethiopia, give us a more peaceful time. Give us a fair price for the coffee we produce. O God, we ask you to raise the coffee price. Give us a fair price for our coffee. O God, we ask you to raise the coffee price.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This group also calls out to an unseen higher power, but for peace and sustenance as opposed to profit. The same young woman pours hot coffee at the end of the scene as the prayer concludes, and it almost seems a sacred communion offering, the aroma of the coffee rising with the prayer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black Gold, <\/em>30:35 – Communion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The disconnect between the commodities exchange in New York and the Ethiopian farmers is palpable. One can easily point to the fact that the commodities market supports everyone buying and selling coffee EXCEPT the farmers. The commodity trader’s ecstatic pursuit of profit might be called the worship of Mammon: wealth. So, we see that the actions and prayers of one group prompts the desperate prayers of the other. It is interesting to note the difference in \u201cmusic\u201d between the two scenes. The trading floor is a cacophonous and chaotic mix of voices, each calling for its own separate prayer to be answered by the unnamed god of the market; the prayers of the Ethiopian farmers are set to the pounding rhythm of the fresh roasted coffee beans, and their voices rise together in almost a chant, calling-out for communal blessings on all the coffee farmers. I\u2019ll share how the juxtaposition of these scenes compelled my thinking surrounding the confluence of wealth, spirituality and labor in order for my audience to better understand the pitfalls of commodification on developing nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent Lens: <\/a>Black Gold<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Starbucks and Ethiopian Coffee: The Bitter Taste of Exploitation<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

“Roots of Cheap Coffee in the Ngugo Graveyard\u201d <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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