fair trade

To me and you, to walk through a grocery store with a cart full of Fair Trade/Organic stamped food is to be politically correct. It is a consumer fad, surely, a marketing tool, yes. It is one that we feel great about jumping on. I only buy FTO coffee because I know that the Fair Trade stamp is based on a business model that puts workers and the environment first, not last. I have worked in the coffee business for four years, and have many friends who roast beans and have visited coffee plantations. It is an incredibly complex, interesting industry that accounts for the second largest product. Coffee is consumed by all of us - we know it well. I look at coffee the way most look at wine (actually, a cup of coffee has more complexity in flavor than a glass of wine). The major difference is that coffee comes from third world countries, where wine comes from first. People don't mind paying $8 for a nice glass of wine, but refuse to pay more than $3 for a cup of good coffee.

Behind each cup of coffee consumed lies an explosive situation. In regions that rely on coffee production, out-migration, robbery, violence, and drug cultivation have all increased exponentially. Many growers have succumbed to the temptation to take the machete to the coffee plants and be done with it.

Ironically, coffee is one of the products where Mexican and Central American farmers should be profitable according to the theory of comparative advantages. But instead of a bonanza, coffee cultivation under current conditions has condemned the growers to poverty, exile, death, or charity. Meanwhile, transnational traders and international investment funds accumulate huge fortunes.

The crisis in the coffee industry has caused severe problems in the economic, social, and environmental aspects of coffee growing countries. Economically, there has been a clear drop in profits, mainly for small and medium growers and their cooperatives. Simultaneously, the international coffee market generates hefty profits for the large intermediaries, especially the roasters and branders. Transnational corporations have significantly increased their presence in national markets, as buyers, processors, or retailers. This has led to a reduction in investment for the small farmers, which in turn leads to a greater drop in employment and income. Agricultural export earnings for farmers have plummeted. The increase in unemployment has deepened poverty for rural families and forced emigration. Many growers have destroyed their coffee to plant basic grains and corn, reducing the environmental benefits that coffee production provides.

Fair trade coffee is the first product that has a whole system dedicated to making sure it was produced under just conditions for the farmers.

Source: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/