After petroleum, coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity and the United States is the largest consumer of coffee in the world. But few Americans are aware that coffee producers, like most agricultural workers, are kept in a cycle of poverty and debt by a global economy designed to exploit low prices associated with cheap labor.

Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production. Most of them are forced to sell to middlemen exporters who commonly take advantage of their situation, paying them significantly below market price for their harvests and keeping a high percentage for themselves. This often forces them into crushing debt that keeps them working under abysmal conditions, with no alternatives, just to survive. Read the rest of this entry »

Americans consume one fifth of the world’s coffee supply making the US the world’s largest consumer. However few people realize how and where their coffee is grown. The majority of the coffee consumed in the US comes from Asia, Africa, Latin American and the Caribbean where the conditions are harsh and the wages are minimal.

Farmers in the coffee industry are often said to work in the “sweatshops in the fields” receiving less money per pound for coffee than it cost them to produce it. Such cycles lead to extreme poverty and debt for the farmers in this industry. It is for these reasons that many organizations feel Fair Trade Coffee is becoming more important than ever.

Fair Trade Organizations (FTO’s) partner with small-scale farmer co-ops that are democratically organized so decisions are made on the farmers terms. They create equitable and fair partnerships with farmers that bridge the gap between consumers and producers. They focus on improving the conditions and wages of farmers, eliminating the middlemen so more consumer money goes to the producer and sustaining the environment through healthy farming. Fair Trade Coffee means that the coffee you drink was grown, processed and purchased under strict regulations that are fair to the producer, the consumer and the environment. Read the rest of this entry »

Is Fair Trade Coffee Beneficial to Farmers?

Have you ever experienced being underpaid for your product or services rendered? You knew what the right or fair price should be but could not negotiate for a higher price for fear that the buyer would go somewhere else and you really needed the money. Well, a lot of people went through this type of manipulation one point or another in their lives. Thus the minimum wage law was born. Now, anyone who experienced this kind of injustice can report it to a Labor and Employment Department in their country.

Same with the coffee bean industry. In the late 1980′s, there was no price regulation set up yet. On average, farmers were only paid $0.60 per pound of raw coffee beans. They were spending way higher in growing coffee than what they end up selling it for. This resulted to most if not all small farmers to be on or below the poverty line. They were doing all the work but were not fairly compensated for it. Read the rest of this entry »