Fair Trade Coffee

The selection of coffee at my local bulk food store, "By the Pound," includes several coffees from specific countries that are labeled "Fair Trade." Recently, we've been drinking a dark-roast Fair Trade Sumatra coffee. We also learned about fair trade coffee in Costa Rica a few years ago, and how farmers in a cooperative are creating a better life for themselves by keeping more of the profits from their labor. Having become curious about this, I've been looking up whether this designation is meaningful. Or whether it's just another empty claim like so many food labels!

The Fairtrade Logo

My searches taught me that an organization named Fairtrade International has a wide variety of ways to promote sustainable, ethical, and fair working conditions and prices for producers and processors of coffee as well as other foods, textiles, and other products, particularly in the third world. I do not believe that  this is the only such organization, but it's very large, claiming two million participating farmers in over 100 countries, according to Fairtrade America. Their website highlights the major issues of fairness in the coffee trade.

Coffee is a focus of Fairtrade International because coffee farmers are particularly vulnerable to market fluctuations and abuses by big business. The organization's web page about coffee states: "Worldwide, over 125 million people depend on coffee for their livelihoods, yet many are unable to earn a reliable living from this beloved and valuable crop."

Fairtrade efforts aim to set a minimum price which small-scale farmers receive for the coffee they grow. They try to ensure fair wages for hired labor, and to invest in improvements to their lives and working conditions. "By supporting smallholder farmers to organize themselves into small producer organizations – such as cooperatives and associations – farmers can negotiate better terms of trade and reach wider markets."

Fairtrade International also supports improvement for workers producing and processing other crops, such as chocolate, and they offer various types of certification of small-scale farmers and food producers. They set standards for action by various small-scale enterprises, for employers of individual laborers and contract labor, and for sustainable ways to deal with the climate impact of their production. Outside of farming, there are also specific standards for mining, for textile production, and a few other things. Membership in Fairtrade International includes farmers, shippers, wholesalers, and retailers of various agricultural and manufactured products.

Their statement:

"Companies seeking sustainable supply chains are a critical component of the Fairtrade system – by sourcing Fairtrade products and licensing the FAIRTRADE Marks, they support farmers and workers at Fairtrade producer organizations to take more control over their own futures.

"These businesses also offer shoppers an ever-increasing variety of ethically sourced, independently certified choices, showing trade can be fairer, more sustainable and better for all involved." (source)

There's a lot to learn about  coffee and its production -- my bit of reading about Fairtrade is only a start, and I have not found any independent evaluation of their methods or their interests. A few months ago I read Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of our Favorite Drug by Augustine Sedgewick (published 2020). It documents the spread of coffee drinking and the many issues that arose in its cultivation and distribution, beginning in the 15th century and continuing to the early twenty-first century. While the issues addressed by Fairtrade are different, they are related. (blogged here).

So many issues. So little time!

Blog post © 2022 mae sander … Shared with bloggers at Elizabeth’s weekly blog get-together.