Some Interesting Facts and questions about Fair trade
gourmet coffee:
1. The targeted gourmet coffee farmer who needs fair trade
owns a farm less than 10 acres; his family runs and works
the farm, they live in a third world country or remotely up
in the mountains of a central America country like Brazil.
They get about $.65 cents per pound without fair trade and
make less than $10,000 annually. They desperately need fair
trade to get out of their poverty.
2. Without phones, newspapers, television, telephones, cell
phones, and in most cases running water and electricity -
how does this farmer even know about " Fair Trade" in the
first place?
3. With no savings; no banks; no loans; and no finances how
does this farmer pay the fees to get certified fair trade?
4. How much advertising does Fair Trade do out side the US?
Zero! If they did where and which media would they use?
5. Interesting most of the Fair Trade Coffee Companies in
foreign lands are owned by Americans or large co-ops
partially owned and funded by Americans.
6. Fair Trade doubles the price of coffee the farmer
recieves but does nothing to ensure the laborers who work
the farm receive any more money. Hence all the large farms
owned by Americans but worked by locals help the Americans
get much richer but do nothing for the local coffee workers.
7. Fair Trade does not do anything to ensure the coffee is
any better or better quality - it only ensures that the
price is higher.
8. Fair Trade is not recognized in China or Russia or Japan
or any of the coffee countries.
9. Fair Trade has helped many Americans feel much better
about themselves.
10. It has done very little to help the farmers who need it
the most.
In summary Fair Trade makes us Americans feel good about
ourselves; helps us pay higher prices for poorer coffee;
helps the big and rich farmers get richer. It does nothing
to help the pheasant farmer we dream it is helping. And it
gives us a false marketing ploy that Fair Trade is actually
a better quality coffee i=when in fact it only means its a
more expensive gourmet coffee. And really it gives us a
false sense of self worth and that we are helping poor
farmers when we are not.It causes us to pay too much for
bad coffee and to think Fair Trade has anything to do with
"quality" when it doesn't. It doesn't do anything to help
the labor pool who work on the coffee farms nor stop
children from working on coffee farms. But it has raised up
the price of coffee and our awareness. Only if it could be
more truthful and helpful
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Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee was founded by Boake Moore
is an IT Sales engineer by trade.The non profit gourmet
coffee called Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee -
http://www.missiongrounds.com
It donates all its profits
to helping orphans and impoverished children. THE Costa
Rica Coffee and the best gourmet coffee in the world
-surely the most satisfying cup of coffee in the world.
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