“Sticking to coffee” is something that coffee is terrible at, historically speaking. Coffee shops have for centuries been hotbeds of political debate, activism, and community organizing. This trend continues today here in United States, where—in the wake of the Supreme Court’s divisive reversal of Roe vs. Wade—reproductive rights are the focus of a growing number of fundraisers and outreach efforts across the country’s many cafes, restaurants, and bakeries.
Outside the coffee world, some of the country’s largest corporations—Proctor and Gamble, Conde Nast, Intuit, Zillow, Bank of America, Dick’s Sporting Company, Johnson and Johnson, Meta, Warner Brothers, and Disney—have mirrored the majority of America’s favorable view of abortion rights and have all made announcements or released statements relating on their commitment to helping their employees gain access to health care services.
Following suit, large-scale coffee and coffee-adjacent brands have been making similar commitments to their employees. Starbucks, for instance, announced earlier this year that it would cover employee travel expenses for abortions, and the company’s senior vice president, Sara Kelly, said in an interview on Friday that employees would be able to access this benefit confidentially. “It doesn’t matter what you believe, it doesn’t matter where you live, it’s about access to health care,” Ms. Kelly said. Following the May leak of the Supreme Court’s opinion overturning Roe, yogurt company and La Colombe owner Chobani updated its employees healthcare policy to cover transportation and lodging expenses for any employee or dependent (as well as one caregiver) who needs to travel to receive specialized healthcare, including abortions. The policy also includes reimbursement for childcare costs incurred from the travel, according to a memo Chobani COO Kevin Burns sent to employees in May that was shared with CNN.
Efforts are taking place in cities large and small, states red and blue, from Cafe Berlin in Columbia, Missouri hosting a fundraiser for the Midwest Access Coalition and MO Abortion Fund to Epoch Coffee in Austin, Texas, who teamed up with oat-milk company Oatly to donate funds to the Texas-based non-profit Lilith Fund. Epoch Coffee will donate $10 of every bag of Feminist Cringe blend (a blend of Ethiopia Gesha and a Castillo coffee from Hacienda El Rodeo in Colombia) and Oatly will match their donation. The coffee is available at all three Epoch Coffee locations.
Some cafes are posting resources for customers and guests.
This is now posted at the register at my neighborhood coffee shop. I can’t tell you anything specific about these organizations but these types of funds are going to be a vital resource for women for whom accessing abortion is an economic challenge in states like Texas. pic.twitter.com/HkHInEpPom
— jw (@woolfhound) June 28, 2022
Other cafes are dedicating a portion of sales proceeds to fundraising efforts around the issue of reproductive rights. In Los Angeles, roaster and cafe retail company Go Get Em Tiger has announced a donation of $1 per purchase of select menu items throughout the month of July will be donated to ARC Southeast, alongside a direct donation on behalf of the company. And in Portland, Oregon, Reforma Roasters pledged all revenue from sales of whole bean coffee to If When How.
This feature is updating, and if your coffee company—or one in your community—are actively raising funds for reproductive rights, please contact us.
