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Behind the Beans: PBS Blend

Two small containers of PBS Blend coffee

Yes, public television now has its own coffee blend. Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters believes that its support of strong environmental, social and labor principles and social responsibility falls in line with the principles that guide public television programming: “By crafting the PBS Blend Fair Trade Certified coffee, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has not only helped the lives of the farmers who grow the coffee, but they've also provided the public with a delicious new way to show their support of PBS.”

PBS Blend is grown in “the lush, tropical rainforests surrounding the El Triunfo Biosphere in Mexico.” Located in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Southern Chiapas, the biosphere’s buffer zone promotes sustainable commerce for coffee farmers.

Green Mountain is the second biggest specialty coffee distributor in the U.S., after Starbucks. Unlike Starbucks, it has been willing to discuss the licensing agreement posed by the Ethiopian government in order to give coffee farmers control of their brands.

In 2003, Green Mountain was pressured by California-based roaster Dean’s Beans to roast more fair trade beans, instead of only ten percent of its total. At that time, the company said it could not afford to do so. However, as of March 2007, sales of their Fair Trade Certified organic coffees represent approximately 29 percent of total coffee volume.

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