**Why Should You Give a Damn About Fair-Trade Coffee?**

5 min readAug 18, 2020

(A Coffee Lover’s Tale)

I Used to Be Like You, But Now…

As I sit here in my local Starbucks drinking a hot mocha latte with a fine dusting of cinnamon, I find my mind drifting. It wasn’t all that long ago I didn’t care a hill of beans how my coffee made its way to my cup. What did Fair-Trade mean to me?

As long as it made its way down my throat.

Now I sit here, one of the millions of unemployed workers in this country due to the Covid-19 virus. Since that fateful day they laid me off, I’ve had a lot of time to sit and think about how this world works…and doesn’t work.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to my morning ‘Joe.’

About a year ago I was sitting right here drinking my coffee when three men sat down beside me. They were steel union workers. No doubt working on that new car lot across the street.

I couldn’t help overhearing what they were saying, I swear! Seems a good friend of theirs had hit the Lucky7 a few months back. So he and his wife took off for Costa Rica on the vacation they’d always dreamed of.

Well, while there, they ended up smack-dab in the middle of a roadblock. Sounds like my kind of luck. The local coffee growers were trying to deliver their beans to the Fair-Trade Market in town. And a big coffee executive — you know the type — was trying to stop them in their tracks.

Why?

Because he wanted to buy up their coffee at what he claimed was a ‘fair’ price. But it wasn’t. Not even close. He made up his mind to stop this ‘Fair-Trade-Coffee’-train right then and there. Seems he’d done this before and scared some of the growers into selling. Fool me once…

But the head of the Fair-Trade Group had enough of these scare tactics on his watch and wasn’t having any more of it. He called the police who cleared the road.

The union guys next to me said the Fair-Trade Coffee Association works sort of like their union. They pay a few bucks a month in union dues, the coffee farmers pay a small fee to be part of the Fair-Trade group.

This morning, here I am thinking about eighteen years’ loyal service shot to hell. Two weeks of health insurance and a couple of pays severance. And don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. No union. No one watching out for me. And…

NOT FAIR!

My coffee has it better than me!

Everywhere you look, Fair-Trade Coffee is grabbing headlines. Every coffee shop from Starbucks to Green Day’s Oakland Coffee [1] is selling it. But the question for those of you new to the coffee shop lifestyle is: What is it?

For starters, let’s take a look at what it isn’t?

It isn’t a brand new idea. [2] The group began in 1988, the first fair-trade group.
It doesn’t all come from Central America. [2] Thirty countries have fair-trade growers.
There aren’t a few brands to choose from. [3] Currently, twenty-six brands exist.
It isn’t a scam to reel in a few more cents per cup. I promise.

Now, let’s see what it is.

Fair-Trade vs. Unfair Trade

Fair-trade coffee is a movement of small coffee growers worldwide. They join together to sell their coffee at a fair price and promote ethical treatment. This leads to greater wealth and to communities having better access to education. Resources that were hard to come by.

A non-profit regulates and assures each farmer adheres to the principles set down. There’s a fee for this, but the benefits of being a part of this group far outstrip the cost. Fool me twice…

Unfair trade involves exploiting small, isolated farmers. You can bet they make a pretty penny, unlike the farmers. Less profit and a cycle of poverty for the region. [4]

What is Sustainability?

Allow me to let the wordy folks help out here, that last section took me an hour to write.

According to https://groundsforchange.com/blogs/learn/fair-trade-coffee:

Fair-trade certified coffee directly supports a better life for farming families in the developing world through fair prices, community development and environmental stewardship. Fair-trade coffee farmers market their own harvests through direct, long-term contracts with international buyers, learning how to manage their businesses and compete in the global marketplace.

The only one who loses is the greedy ‘middleman.’ And we’ll all be OK with that. With the profits coming into these communities, they will be able to invest in the land and education. Thus ending the cycle of poverty.

The world of yesterday is changing, and so is the way global business runs. The way goods get to world markets is more and more in the hands of the producer not a ‘middleman’. The twenty-six fair -trade coffee brands are a part of the 355 fair-trade associations. Impacting the way monies change hands. [5]

Fair-Trade Coffee Myths [6]

Let’s take a look at what some of the naysayers think:

Fair-Trade is Only Valuable for Businesses:

Not so. This global market came together through consumer rights advocates, food growers, and industry.

The Fair-Trade Price Doesn’t Help Farmers:

Yes it does. Fluctuating global commodities market, not some profiteer set the price.

The Direct-Trade Focuses on Quality and is thus Better:

Not at all. Direct -Trade pairs the farmer with the manufacturing companies. Fair-trade focuses on improving the farmer’s life which will lead to higher quality. Direct-trade focuses on the quality of the product which leads to a better life for the farmer.

Fair-Trade Doesn’t Focus on Environmental Sustainability:

Not true again, quite the opposite. As we’ve seen, fair-trade leads to higher incomes and better health for the farmer. Profits lead to new equipment and products to grow crops. And a better educated generation learns the importance of environmental caretaking.

There Isn’t Enough Fair-Trade Coffee Available:

According to 2018 figures, there were more than 800,000 fair-trade coffee farmers. But only 35% of their available crop sold. They need buyers, not more growers.