Fair Trade Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage made from roasted coffee beans. These beans are actually the seeds of coffee cherries, grown on trees in over 70 countries. Many farmers of these coffee cherries are in debt because world bean prices have plummeted in recent years. Fair Trade coffee provides a viable solution to this problem by creating a price floor for importers. Over the years, Fair Trade coffee has become a popular way for people to be more socially responsible and help ensure quality beans will always be produced. The premiums provide much needed credit to farmers, and technical assistance, such as help transitioning to organic farming. Fair Trade for coffee farmers helps fund local community development, health, education, and environmental stewardship. Shade grown coffee is also encouraged by Fair Trade premiums.
Shade Grown Coffee
Coffee that is shade grown helps the environment as an organic growing method. Most coffee plantations nowadays have been stripped of trees in an attempt to get higher yields. Since birds don't find the plantations habitable, the farmers have to use high levels of pesticides that have a detrimental effect on the local environment. Compare that to the many benefits of shade grown coffee:
* Helps maintain soil quality and controls erosion.
* Coffee trees can produce beans for ten times as long as their sun grown counterparts.
* Facilitates natural pest control by harboring bird, insect, amphibian, and plant species.
* Provides natural mulch to reduce need for chemical fertilizers.
Fair Trade Brands
Fair Trade Standards
Fair Trade is a social movement and a market based approach towards helping producers reach sustainability. By advocating a higher payment to growers of goods, they help workers gain self-sufficiency and give them a higher stake in the products. There are two fair trade standards, for small farms and hired labor situations:
* In small farming situations, there must be democratic decision making among the workers. All producers must have a say in how Fair Trade Premiums are invested.
* In hired labor situations, workers must be paid what is regionally referred to as decent wages, and all health and safety standards must be met. Child labor is prohibited.
* Fair Trade also encourages environmentally friendly, sustainable production. Organic farming is held to strict pesticide standards, which reduces chemical runoff, helps biodiversity and community health.
Related Guides
International Resources
For this resource in your home country, please see:
NL: Fair Trade Koffie Shopgids
