Planetary Change: Nickel-a-Cup involvement

Coffee is kind of like food, isn’t it? I think so, which is why this contest got me thinking that the way to engage many others to be a part of saving the planet is to use an empowerment idea I previously developed for getting Americans to talk about food policies and obesity. My previous idea was to have local communities get fast food outlets to collect an extra nickel for each burger or value meal they sold. These voluntary donations could then be used to support physical fitness, nutrition and, most importantly, food engagement programs where young and old alike learn to talk about how local policies impact national trends as well as their personal and family lives and neighborhoods. 

So why not a Nickel-a-Cup campaign for Planetary Change? Such a campaign could motivate people to feel that just a small donation in their local coffeehouses likewise can bring people together. Customers have clearly already begun to associate Starbucks with community and world involvement, which would make it easy for them to see how their donation of some pocket change can inspire worldwide impact. Local mechanisms can be set up to use these funds in a way that helps projects the residents appreciate and see evolve with global initiatives. Coffee outlets would “default” in favor of collecting the nickel and display a common logo of involvement; patrons could always willingly opt out.

Other nations have demonstrated that collective ideas like this can work. Brazil developed a Femo Zero (Zero Hunger) campaign (funded by the government) to use food empowerment strategies to address malnutrition. Community restaurants, farmer’s markets, local discussions about food policies, etc. helped keep the next generation of young Brazilians from starving. (See www.SilentKillerFilm.org.)

My assumption is that I can use my experience in Costa Rica to understand the power of local cultural, family and community coffee production processes and histories to build the powerful message that would propel the American nickel-a-cup campaign for Planetary Change!

Check out more information at http://nickel-a-cup.pbwiki.com.