CHICAGO--Lutherans across the country have purchased more than 120,776 pounds, or 60.4 tons, of fairly traded coffee since March, according to the ELCA News Service. Not only are they aware that coffee -- one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world -- is more than just a satisfying pick-me-up, Lutherans are learning that their coffee-purchasing power affects lives.

More than 20 million coffee farmers around the world struggle to make a simple living and maintain adequate health care and education for their children. One way Lutherans are supporting coffee farmers is by purchasing quality coffee directly from farmers in a process called "fair trade."

In October 2003 Women of the ELCA, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and Equal Exchange, a U.S. worker-owned fair-trade organization, started "Pour Justice to the Brim: The 90-Ton Challenge" to encourage Lutherans to buy 90-tons of fair-trade coffee, direct attention to the fair-trade process and help farmers finance their coffee production.

Now past the challenge's midpoint, Lutherans have ordered 78 percent more fair-trade coffee than prior to the start of the campaign.

"Every person can have a part in positively impacting the lives of coffee farmers by getting involved. Every purchase of 100-percent fairly traded coffee is another cup of hope," said Nancy J. Goldberger, editor, Lutheran Woman Today.

The magazine is tracking sales on its Web and will post the results of the challenge in October. While the challenge has yet to reach its 90-ton goal, Goldberger said the campaign is already successful.

"We've made more people aware" about fair trade, she said. Lutheran women have taken the lead in reaching out to coffee farmers around the world, as well as providing information about fair trade. "We're saying fair trade is important to us, and we care what happens to farmers and their families."

Another purpose of the challenge is to encourage Lutherans "to make a shift in their buying habits," said Goldberger.

In a conventional coffee trade, coffee beans are passed from the farmer to a middleman, processor, U.S. broker, coffee company, food distributor, store and then finally to the consumer, Goldberger said. "Everyone who has had a hand in the coffee trade has affected the cost of that coffee, leaving very little in return to help farmers cover their harvesting expenses," she said.

Goldberger said there are other environmental issues that go along with the social justice aspect of fair trade, such as the methods that are used to grow the coffee organically and sustain the land. "Little by little we're destroying our planet with deforestation and other practices that use and abuse the land that we count on, not just for today but for generations in the years to come," she said.

"In the larger picture our responsibility as stewards of this land is to conserve natural resources. The 90-Ton Challenge is a sort of an attention-grabber, but our relationship with fair- trade coffee and with other products that are grown organically doesn't end there. It's just the beginning," said Goldberger.