Fair Trade

What is FAIR TRADE?

Price - The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and workers receive a fair price for their product.

Product - By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality.

Environment - Fair Trade by design, promotes and encourages maintenance of delicate ecosystems, biodiversity, and often provides shelters for migratory birds. Approximately 80-85% of Fair Trade farmers do not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides on their fields.

The Farmers - Without Fair Trade, many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are well below the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. With little or no income between harvest months, farmers are frequently forced to sell their next crop in advance to exploitative middlemen, who pay far below the crop’s value. The farmer's situation is exacerbated by the fact that the world market price for coffee is extremely volatile, with frequent price drops to farmers when overproduction causes surpluses of coffee. With few options for income, drastic price drops cause many coffee farmers to lose their farms and become hopelessly in debt. Fair Trade works to correct these imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum wage for small producers' harvests and by encouraging organic and sustainable cultivation methods. Fair Trade farmers are provided badly needed credit and assured a minimum price per pound above the current world price for specialty coffee, thereby eliminating the need to sell to exploitative middlemen. With the profits generated from receiving fair wages, coffee growers can invest in health, education, and environmental protection.

Take a step to support, buy Fair Trade coffee today! For additional information please visit www.transfairusa.org