Green Mountain Coffee: Changing lives

Green Mountain Coffee from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

I‘ve been swamped by work and speaking engagements this spring, so I’m only now able to edit and publish the interviews I conducted at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin three months ago.

First up is a six-minute conversation with Amanda Cooper, new media specialist for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (its consumer site is here). I had heard of Green Mountain but wasn’t aware of just how much they’ve been doing in the social good space. The company has been donating 5 percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental causes for a number of years, with a focus on helping to alleviate poverty and hunger through its coffee supply chain.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo

Green Mountain works with partner universities, such as Dartmouth, to send interns down to the coffee fields of Nicaragua. “One of our interns lived down there for three months interviewing coffee farmers, spending time with their families, breaking bread over dinner and working on the farms with them,” Amanda says. “So it was a really life-changing experience for him.” The company puts a premium on getting to know the lives of the people they’re working with and the impact the company is having.

Green Mountain has also supported fair trade guidelines and organic coffee purchases since 2001.

The company works with nonprofits like Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services. “We’re looking to not just be a funder but be a partner,” she says.
JD Lasica, founder and former editor of Socialbrite, is co-founder of Cruiseable. Contact JD or follow him on Twitter or Google Plus.