As a portion of this project regarding the production and distribution of coffee from various countries throughout Latin America, we were asked to create a survey which polled the various demographic groups at Montpelier High School in regards to their preferences and knowledge concerning one of the most highly traded commodities in the world, second only to oil. In addition to asking questions pertaining to the frequency with which the targeted demographic drank coffee as well as the manner in which they took it, we also sought to ascertain their opinions in regards to the highly controversial issues of both organic coffee production and fair trade consumerism (to view the complete survey click here).
Upon collecting our results, the following trends and tendencies became apparent:
• Within the male faculty, coffee drinking is either a habitual/everyday occurrence (70% of the population surveyed), or it is not existent (30% of the population) surveyed. For the male faculty, coffee is in now way not drunk intermittently/occasionally.
• Of those individuals who do drink coffee, a significant proportion drink only 1-2 cups per day, whilst the remaining individuals regularly consume three, but not more than four, cups per day.
• In regards to the source from which their coffee is typically obtained, 3/5 of the coffee drinking demographic reported that they customarily consume either home brewed/instant coffee, with the other 2/5 of the population obtaining their java either from school or a convenience store. Unsurprisingly, no individual within the male faculty regularly procured their coffee from Capitol Grounds, Dunkin Doughnuts, or a similar establishment.
• With respect to the type of coffee that the male coffee drinking demographic generally consumes in relation to caffeine, 100 percent of male faculty drinks caffeinated coffee at one point throughout the course of the day with 2/3 of them drinking solely caffeinated beverages whilst the remaining 1/3 drinks caffeinated coffee in the morning and then switches to decaffeinated in the late afternoon or early evening.
• In regards to the acknowledgement of the sale and consumption of coffee being an important part of the global economic infrastructure, 100% of those surveyed fittingly recognized that coffee was indeed a pertinent aspect of the world economy, with 90 percent of the demographic recognizing that coffee is indeed a highly valued commodity and an integral part of the global economy.
• In regards to whether or not those surveyed Would be willing to pay a higher price for their coffee if in doing so they ensured that the farmers who grew the coffee would be paid a more equitable and just amount for their labor, a sizeable majority said they would be more than willing to pay the additional costs if I meant providing the farmers with a more equitable amount for their coffee. However, almost ten percent of the population believed that the price that we pay for coffee is already to high and would thus be unwilling to pay the additional price.
• In regards to whether or not those surveyed had an understanding of the concept of free trade, a sizeable majority of the population, as was expected, had a full understanding of what it means for a product to be considered “free trade.” However, it was somewhat disconcerting to observe that almost ten percent of the population of the male faculty was unaware of the meaning of this most pertinent of economic issues.
To view a complete summary of our results click here