Text of the Proposed Law
EVIDENCE
RESTRICTING THE SALE OF BREWED COFFEE TO ORGANIC,
FAIR-TRADE, OR SHADE-GROWN CERTIFIED COFFEE
The people of the City of Berkeley do ordain as
follows:
WHEREAS coffee growers often use synthetic chemical
pesticides and fertilizers; and
WHEREAS, coffee growers often cut down trees; and
WHEREAS the growing of coffee in the manner described
above produces an adverse effect upon the environment
which is injurious to the health, safety, comfort,
convenience, welfare and happiness of the residents of
the City of Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, the sale of the hereinafter enumerated
beverages would reduce the adverse effect mentioned
above and benefit the citizens of Berkeley and others
outside the City of Berkeley; and
WHEREAS, the sale of the hereinafter enumerated
beverages would encourage others to sell the same; and
WHEREAS the passage of a City of Berkeley ordinance
restricting the sale of brewed coffee to the
hereinafter enumerated beverages would encourage
others to do the same; and
WHEREAS the regulation of the sale of brewed coffee
within the City of Berkeley is a municipal affair and
in the public interest.
NOW, THEREFORE, Be it Ordained as follows:
Section 1. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this ordinance, the following
terms shall be defined as follows:
a. "Brewed Coffee Beverage" shall mean all beverages
brewed from coffee beans, including but not limited to
cafe au lait, cafe espresso, caffe latte, cappuccino,
and espresso beverages. "Brewed Coffee Beverage" shall
not include dry coffee beans, either as whole beans or
in ground form.
b. "Business Vendor" shall mean any person, firm,
individual, corporation, partnership, association,
joint venture, vendor, or any combination thereof,
selling or offering for sale brewed coffee beverages.
c. "City" shall mean all that territory within the
corporate limits of the City of Berkeley.
d. "City Manager" shall mean the City Manager of the
City of Berkeley or said Manager's designated
representative.
e. "Fair-Trade" shall mean Fair-Trade Certified coffee
as defined by TransFair USA, 1611 Telegraph Ave. Suite
900, Oakland, CA 94612.
f. "Organic " shall mean organic as defined by the
final rule establishing the National Organic Program
under the direction of the Agricultural Marketing
Service, an arm of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), located at 7 CFR Part 205, issued
pursuant to the Organic Food Production Act of 1990,
as amended 7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.
g. "Sale" shall mean a commercial transaction by any
person, firm, individual, corporation, partnership, or
vendor, in which transaction beverages are sold
directly to the public for a monetary consideration.
h. "Shade-Grown" shall mean coffee that carries either
the "Bird Friendly(r)" seal of approval developed by the
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological
Park Washington, DC 20008, or the "ECO-O.K.(r)" mark
developed by The Conservation Action Network of
Rainforest Alliance, 65 Bleecker Street, New York, NY
10012.
Section 2. THE SALE OF BREWED COFFEE IS RESTRICTED TO
ORGANIC, FAIR-TRADE, OR SHADE-GROWN CERTIFIED COFFEE.
a. Every brewed coffee beverage sold or offered for
sale by any business vendor in the City of Berkeley
shall be brewed solely from coffee beans that are
either certified
(1) Organic, or
(2) Fair-Trade, or
(3) Shade Grown, or
(4) a combination thereof.
Section 3. INSPECTION.
The City Manager or the Manager's designated
representative is authorized to enter the business
premises of any business vendor engaged in the sale of
brewed coffee beverages in the City and which business
vendor is licensed by the City to conduct a business,
for the sole purpose of inspecting said premises and
determining whether the business vendor is in
compliance with this ordinance.
Section 4. VIOLATIONS.
Any business vendor found in violation of any
provision of this ordinance shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100) or imprisonment
not exceeding six (6) months, or both such fine and
imprisonment.
Section 5. SEVERABILITY.
The provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared
to be severable and if any provision, sentence,
clause, section, or part hereof is held illegal,
invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any
person or circumstance, such illegality, invalidity,
unconstitutionality or inapplicability shall not
affect or impair any of the remaining provisions,
sentences, clauses, sections, or parts of this
ordinance or their application to persons and
circumstances.
Section 6 CONSTRUCTION
This ordinance shall be liberally construed to advance
the purposes of this ordinance as described in the
Evidence section above.
Section 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This ordinance shall take effect three months after it
has been adopted at election.
Section 8. POSTING.
Copies of this Bill are hereby ordered published by
posting with the vote thereon as required by law.
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STATEMENT OF REASONS
Background
Organic Coffee
Organic coffee is produced under an approach that
views the farm as an ecosystem, promoting long-term
protection of the farm environment with emphasis on
recycling, composting, soil health, and biological
activity. Synthetic chemicals are rigorously avoided.
Fair-Trade Certified Coffee
Fair-Trade certified coffee is coffee which meets the
standards of TransFair USA, a non-profit monitoring
organization which certifies that participating
traders are following fair trade guidelines. These
guidelines support small farmers by guaranteeing a
minimum "fair trade price" of $1.26/pound for their
coffee. Small farmers, though not able to afford
"official certification", use organic methods and
plant shade grown coffee on small pieces of property
dispersed throughout a region.
Shade-Grown Coffee
Shade-grown coffee is planted in a shaded, forest-like
setting created by a canopy of trees. The diversity of
plant and animal life found in such settings creates
very little need for chemical treatment. The forest
canopy provides natural habitat for hundreds of
species of animals, including native song birds.
Benefits To Berkeley
By restricting the sale of brewed coffee in Berkeley
to organic, Fair-Trade, or shade-grown certified
coffee, Berkeley citizens can realize a number of
benefits. First, the initiative will cause a reduction
in the use of chemicals applied in coffee cultivation.
Some of these chemicals used in the production of
coffee, such as DDT, are Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs). POPs pose particularly serious risks to human
health. Although these chemicals are applied outside
Berkeley, POPs are persistent in the environment and
can travel to regions far from their original source.
Their residues are carried across the globe by air and
water currents and precipitation. In addition to air
and water, POPs travel in living creatures, such as
migratory birds. In sum, a reduction in use of
chemicals in far off places will result in less
chemicals in the Berkeley environment.
Second, Berkeley citizens would be happy knowing that
they reducing the harm to their neighbors. The
reduction of chemicals would reduce the health threat
to the people in the places where coffee is grown.
Often coffee workers are not made aware of the
toxicity of these compounds. Health problems, from
skin conditions to serious infections are common.
There have also been numerous deaths from contact with
these noxious chemicals. To compound the risk, workers
often do not have access to protective clothing, and
the availability of medical help is in short supply.
Third, the proposed coffee ordinance would also have a
direct impact on migratory birds that pass through or
live in Berkeley. The native bird habitat, in
particular, has been extensively damaged due to sun
grown coffee farms. The initiative would support the
preservation and expansion of habitat for migratory
birds, thus promoting the interests of bird-lovers in
Berkeley.
Finally, Berkeley has a legitimate interest in
restricting the sale of coffee in order to set an
example for other communities. If Berkeley citizens
are willing to restrict their choices of coffee,
perhaps those in other cities will do the same.