Applying Sociology in Everyday Life - Essay Example

Applying sociology in Everyday Life The Coffee Go-Round (6:09) Question The video proposes fair trade as thebest strategy to solve the low-payment problem faced by coffee producers in the developing countries. The problem of little payment on coffee arises because of absence of better trading environment for the farmers. Consequently, the individual farmers are subjected to low payments given the little knowledge they have about the market. As a solution, fair-trading comes in handy as a global movement, which advocates for higher price payment to the producers in return for their goods.

It works through the mechanism of social activism. Further, the clip also proposes for promotion of sustainability, both socially and environmentally, among the producers. In order to reduce poverty, sustainability is the only sure way in which the farmers can improve their living standards while also maintaining the size of coffee produce taken to the market. Given the advancement in technology, the farmers have the potential of joining the fair trade movement to fight for their sustainability right from coffee production.

Further, diversifying the market for coffee is also given priority in the clip. The quality personnel assert that coffee has the taste of wine; consequently, it can be packaged as wine and then sold to fetch more the price for the product.Question 2After learning more about “sociology of coffee” and globalization, my consumption habit of the product will considerably change. In this case, I would consider changing my consumption habit through increasing the amount I take daily. The farmers shown in the clip suffer in abject poverty because of the little payment they receive from their goods.

The only way I can be of help to this people is to act as a factor in increasing the available market for their products. Given the taste of wine, I would be able to increase my consumption since I would be taking it both for breakfast purposes and also as wine. I am sure this will contribute to improved lifestyle of the individuals while also strengthening the fair trade movement that operates globally. Question 3“coffee-go-round” is an example of what Mills called “public issues” and “private troubles because it gives a case where there is need to link the private and the public.

The clip notes that the problem faced by farmers arises because they act at individual levels thereby defining their situation as “private troubles”. However, a deeper look at the problem shows that the low-payment condition affects the society as a whole thereby making it a public issue. While at personal level, it causes indebtness, the low-payment condition also triggers a whole nation to have low saving rates. Through fair trade movement, proposed by “coffee-go-round”, the linkage between micro-level character and macro-level structure comes out distinctly.

Consequently, while a society may give a less attention to this cause, the problems arising has far more wide reaching effects on the nation as a whole. After viewing the clip, I have realized that the coffee production has wider dimension than I thought. First, I have noted that the farmers should embrace joining movements that can help in fetching better prices for their products: otherwise, they will end up being over-exploited by the cartels. Embracing movements such as fair trade helps the farmers to avoid the individual problems and instead adapt to social activism, which promotes aggressiveness in the market place.

Further, i also look forward to increasing my consumption through diversifying the use of the product. Coffee has the taste of wine that makes it an important product in the market. I can use it for food purposes and at the same time as wine.