C.E. - Fair Trade in Bloom

[Gregory Hewett]

October 2, 2007
Fair Trade in Bloom
By ANDREW DOWNIE

VARGINHA, Brazil — Rafael de Paiva was skeptical at first. If he wanted a “fair trade” certification for his coffee crop, the Brazilian farmer would have to adhere to a long list of rules on pesticides, farming techniques, recycling and other matters. He even had to show that his children were enrolled in school.

“I thought, ‘This is difficult,’” recalled the humble farmer. But the 20 percent premium he recently received for his first fair trade harvest made the effort worthwhile, Mr. Paiva said, adding, it “helped us create a decent living.”

More farmers are likely to receive such offers, as importers and retailers rush to meet a growing demand from consumers and activists to adhere to stricter environmental and social standards.

Mr. Paiva’s beans will be in the store-brand coffee sold by Sam’s Club, the warehouse chain of Wal-Mart Stores. Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s and Starbucks already sell some fair trade coffee.

“We see a real momentum now with big companies and institutions switching to fair trade,” said Paul Rice, president and chief executive of TransFair USA, the only independent fair trade certifier in the United States.

The International Fair Trade Association, an umbrella group of organizations in more than 70 countries, defines fair trade as reflecting “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense.”

According to Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, a group of fair trade certifiers, consumers spent approximately $2.2 billion on certified products in 2006, a 42 percent increase over the previous year, benefiting over seven million people in developing countries.

Like consumer awareness of organic products a decade ago, fair trade awareness is growing. In 2006, 27 percent of Americans said they were aware of the certification, up from 12 percent in 2004, according to a study by the New-York based National Coffee Association.

Fair trade products that have experienced the biggest jump in demand include coffee, cocoa and cotton, according to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations.

Dozens of other products, including tea, pineapples, wine and flowers, are certified by organizations that visit farmers to verify that they are meeting the many criteria that bar, among other things, the use of child labor and harmful chemicals.

There is no governmental standard for fair trade certification, the same situation as with “organic” until a few years ago. Some fair trade produce also carries the organic label, but most does not. One important difference is the focus of the labels: organic refers to how food is cultivated, while fair trade is primarily concerned with the condition of the farmer and his laborers.

Big chains are marketing fair trade coffee to varying degrees. All the espresso served at the 5,400 Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the United States, for example, is fair trade. All McDonald’s stores in New England sell only fair trade coffee. And in 2006, Starbucks bought 50 percent more fair trade coffee than in 2005.

Fair trade produce remains a minuscule percentage of world trade, but it is growing. Only 3.3 percent of coffee sold in the United States in 2006 was certified fair trade, but that was more than eight times the level in 2001, according to TransFair USA.

Although Sam’s Club already sells seven fair trade imports, including coffee, this will be the first time it has put its Member’s Mark label on a fair trade product, which Mr. Rice of TransFair called “a statement of their commitment to fair trade.”

He added, “The impact in terms of volume and the impact in terms of the farmers and their families is quite dramatic.”

Michael Ellgass, the director of house brands for Sam’s Club, said the company could afford to pay fair trade’s premium because it has reduced the number of middlemen.

Coffee usually passes from farmers through roasters, packers, traders, shippers and warehouses before arriving in stores. But Sam’s Club will buy shelf-ready merchandise directly from Café Bom Dia, the roaster here in Brazil’s lush coffee country.

“We are cutting a number of steps out of the process by working directly with the farmer,” Mr. Ellgass said.

Some critics of fair trade say that working with thousands of small farmers makes strict adherence to fair trade rules difficult.

Others argue that fair trade coffee is as exploitive as the conventional kind, especially in countries that produce the highest-quality beans — like Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala. Fair trade farmers there are barely paid more than their counterparts in Brazil, though their crops become gourmet brands, selling for a hefty markup, said Geoff Watts, vice president for coffee at Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, a coffee importer.

But in Brazil, a nation with little top-grade coffee, the partnership between small producers and big retailers is a better blend, Mr. Watts said.

Fair trade coffee farmers in Brazil are paid at least $1.29 a pound, compared with the current market rate of roughly $1.05 per pound, said Sydney Marques de Paiva, president of Café Bom Dia.

Most coffee farmers are organized into cooperatives, and some of that premium finances community projects like schools or potable water.

Like most of his cooperative’s 3,000-odd members — and three-quarters of coffee growers worldwide — Mr. Paiva, the coffee farmer (no relation to Mr. Marques de Paiva), farms less than 25 acres of land. He produces around 200 132-pound sacks for the co-op, with 70 percent of that sold as fair trade to Café Bom Dia.

The company would buy more if there were more of a market for fair trade coffee, it said.

The fair trade crop brought Mr. Paiva about 258 reais ($139) a sack, compared with about 230 reais for the sacks that were not fair trade. For the latest crop, that meant an additional 3,920 reais ($2,116) for him, a huge sum here in the impoverished mountains of Minas.

“It’s been great for us,” Mr. Paiva said with a huge, toothless grin. “I call the people from the co-op my family now.”

Mr. Ellgass, the Sam’s Club executive, said the chain hoped to expand its fair trade goods.

So do Brazil’s farmers. “Everybody is doing their best to come up to standard so we can sell our coffee as fair trade,” said Conceição Peres da Costa, one of the co-op’s growers. “Everybody wants to earn as much as he can.”

[keisuke]

WOW for once it was an amzaing article to start a new topic lol
They first talking about the fiar trade they had to do. Then they started how other countries trade with some useful products. During that part coffe was metioned the most.
Well this article is mostly about how farmers in brasil trying to trade some good things but not getting enough trades. Also it made lil sad that farmers in brasil as they trade they only able to get at least $1.29 a pound which now is $1.05 per pound.
Questions:
why are these farmers in brasil are getting paid less when they are working really hard to make these crops?

Predictions:
i think that by the time goes people in the world will realized how much these farmers a re working for us. and they will start to pay a lot more when they trade with these farmers like the farmers in brasil.

[julie]

You guys probably think that I’m crazy to do extra homework, but well, I’m trying to help you out here, ‘cause we all know that, when you have to comment on someone’s reply in class, you are all looking for the shorter one, so I’m going to try to make it as brief as possible.=)

I think this article is interesting, because it really shows that fair trade is in big development. I think this article is also good to understand the basics, purposes, and effects of fair trade. I was shocked that farmers in Brazil are paid so little for the amount of work they are doing.

SO, what do you think? Lol, not bad, even shorter than Keisuke’s.=)

[sanjayvdasari]

Phew, finally, its over. That was a long article. But nevertheless, it was a good one. To end immigration and to start free trade, this was a perfect article. I agree wid Keisuke. Anyway, the most important thing for me in this article was to see the definition of fair trade given as reflecting “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense.” Which was always a little vague to me.

In the article, it was also stated that an organization called the Fairtrade Labeling Organization(FLO) spent about 2.2billion dollars on fairtrade products in 2006, benefiting 7 million people in those countries labeled as undeveloped.

The article gave lots of interesting facts about fair-trade and things related with it. For example, it was said that all the espresso served in the 5,400 D&D stores across US is fair trade. Also, all the coffee served in the New England’s McDonalds stores is free trade. The article mentioned what people had to think about before signing a contract to free trade, and also how much they benefited from it.

The article also stated the impact that free trade is having on a country and how companies are encouraging free trade by finding ways to get funding for it, like taking out the number of middlemen in between the farmer and the company. This is because the coffee usually has to go through many people like roaster, packers, etc. before reaching the actual company that is going to do the selling.

All in all, this article was very enlightening and I hope to have more like it too, shorter yes, but more like it.

Ciao for now!

[zachghaderi]

Ok. I must say that I am still a little hazy as to what “free trade” is. I have a general idea but I am sure I will be more acquainted with the subject in the coming months.

From what I know it makes sense how the ETHIOPIAN, COLOMBIAN, and GUATEMALAN are getting ripped off. Now it’s not so much the consumer’s demand for the higher quality, because I guess they still pay more in the store. But due to the free trade, the companies can pay less for the higher quality coffee which is sort of “leveling the playing field” making Brazilian farmers more profit and the higher quality farmers…not so much.

I guess this kind of relates to The World Is Flat. Free trade is an aspect of globalization and will be explored more in the weeks to come.

Cant wait!

[sparsh]

That was a very interesting article. Like Zach even i have a pretty vague idea about free trade but this article helps. From this article i found out so many interesting facts. Like how the coffee in McDonald's stores in New England is through fair trade and how Starbucks bought 50 percent more fair trade coffee than in 2005. (I miss starbucks, but coffee day will do). It also talks about the farmers in brasil getting paid less.

Predictions

Kesuike i like your idea in the prediction but i dont think it will work. These farmers should demand more money to get it. Because the truth is when it comes to money, nobody else matters.

[tamsin]

this article is not somthing you think about very often, becuase mainly you dont really think about what it took to make the products that you eat on a daily baises, as long as you got it, ure happy. but when you look behind the scenes, it is actually very different story. in Brazil, these the farmers are paid a minimal wage for the hard work and effort they give in supllying these products, but yet in return it must me unmanable to live with such a mimimal wage.

but hwat is good to know is that free trade is expanding to the well kknown food organisations, such as macdonlads with all there coffee beans being free trade.
free trade is becoming very befinfiial to companys all through out the world.
fair trade as also helped farmers a great deal, such as Mr Paiva who said that 70% of the cofee beans he grows are distributed through to free trade, and that he has benifited greatly from it. and since he lives in an imporverished mountains of Mina's, it is great sucess for all the money is is getting now compared to what is wage was before.
The Fairtrade Labeling Organization have spent about 2.2billion dollars on the fair trade products and that by this, has helped 7 milion people in the develping nations.
my conclusion is that hopfully through fairtrade, this will help lots of farmers and other minimal wage people who distribute food, get there moneys worth from all the hard work they supply, and by this, mabe the developing nations will devolep further.

[jozefien]

This article was about fair-trade, especially the coffee trade.
The article clarifies how farmers (in Brazil) are encouraged to produce fair-trade coffee.
Big companies such as Sam’s club try to reduce the number of middle men in the trade process of coffee and therefore they can give a premium directly to the farmers. These premiums can be used well by the farmers, since most of them do not have a lot of money. Actually the premiums are really needed to persuade the farmers to change to fair trade because a lot needs to be done before one can obtain a fair trade label (there are rules on pesticides, farming techniques, recycling...)
Many farmers are arranged in small groups and some of those groups support local project for example building schools, and ensuring the access to potable water.
In this way fair trade does not only contribute to the lives of the farmers and their family, but to the welfare of whole communities as well.

Sam’s club is not the only one that uses fair trade products, other companies such as McDonald’s, Dunkin’s Donut, and Starbucks also sell some fair-trade coffee.
The last 5 years the amount of fair- trade coffee and other products that are sold have increased a lot, however fair-trade coffee forms only 3 percent of the total coffee trade. It asks some time for people to understand the term fair-trade (just as the term organic food), but slowly more and more people become aware of fair-trade labels.

Although fair-trade is oftentimes advantageous for local farmers, in countries that produce high-quality coffee (Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala) it is not. There the fair-trade farmers are barely paid more than normal farmers, while the big companies can sell the coffee as a gourmet product and ask a lot of money. In these cases fair-trade is not fair at all, and just a way to exploit local farmers.
Since Brazil does not have a lot of high quality coffee beans, the money is better and fairer divided among the farmers, burners, and companies. However, I still wonder why this is; I understand the exploitation of the farmers in Colombia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala, but I don’t get why the lower quality of the coffee in Brazil prevents exploitation of the coffee farmers.

I think that in the future the percentage of fair trade will increase a lot, since television, radio, and magazines make us more aware of the lives of the poor farmers in developing nations. They make us realize that by buying products that are only a little more expensive, the lives of those people can be improved a lot.
Nevertheless, there is still the question whether fair trade is actually “fair”, as long as people get the proof that the farmers benefit from fair trade they will continue buying the fair-trade products, but when stories of exploitation of fair-trade farmers will come in the press, people will not believe it anymore and the fair-trade market will probably decline.

[olivia]

yay, immigration is over:)

This article, reflects directly on farmers who are trying to make a living in the fair trade industry. Sadly, these coffee bean farmers are not getting the wages and the appreciation that they deserve, which is happening in Brazil. Coffee bean farmers in Brazil, are not getting the aquired wages, for thier jobs.
I am sure, that many people and organizations arnt aware of what really happens in the process of getting the coffee beans to their stores. The way people are treated and luck of justice.
It is also nice to know, that fair trade has expanded into large food organizations like McDonalds, and Starbucks , with all thier products coming from fair trade, that is judicial
Free trade is benefiting the economy of many countries, but like places in brazil, this is not the case.
my prediction? hopefully brazil will fight for the wages that they deserve, but this might not be as instant as many hope it would.

[asifhilal]

Ah, fair trade! The article was somewhat interesting.
If people like Raphael de Pavia would like to be certified for fair trade, they must meet certain requirements. It is a little tough, but worth it in the end when farmers get more money to “create a decent living”. Although fair trade is not as common as it should be, it is getting more popular each year. For example in 2006 only 3.3% of coffee sold in the U.S was ensured by fair trade. The article states that it is an eight percent increase compared to 2001.
This fair trade is benefiting both the big companies, and the farmers such as Rafael. Since people who want a fair trade certificate like Rafael de Pavia, it would ensure that the products they sell are good quality. It enforces pesticide rules, and farming techniques, so overall the crops would be better. Also, it would prevent child labor, as people would have to prove that their kids are in school. Big companies would know be getting certified crops. They will be ensured that their products meet their requirements (mentioned above), so it would benefit them.
So yes, fair trade is good for all people! Fair trade is a way to make everybody win.

[sarah99]

Fair Trade in Bloom

The idea of Fair Trade started out small, but as the years pass, Fair Trade is becoming more and more widely spread and practiced throughout the world. Fair Trade has benefited thousands of people in developing countries, specifically farmers who work for small businesses.

I think that fair trade is very beneficial to some people, and I predict that in the future, it will be used more and more; perhaps eventually it will be used all over the world. Though I do not much about fair trade, it seems as if it is very fair to the poorer people in developing countries around the world. In my opinion, with my limited understanding of fair trade, I think it is a great idea to help poorer people trying to make a successful business. Will major booming businesses, however, be as excited about fair trade as others because it benefits smaller independent businesses more than their own?? Will everyone embrace this idea of fair trade? Is fair trade an all-win situation? Surely there must be negatives? Are there any?

[xxlyra]

The other side of the story
Fair trade. The name alone seems quite self-important, and not entirely objective, one should think - and yet it is daily proclaimed as the solution to all our worries, the economic concept to slay all other economic concepts. Ladies, gentlemen, let us hear it; what is this fair trade?

"The International Fair Trade Association, an umbrella group of organizations in more than 70 countries, defines fair trade as reflecting “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense.” " (from the article posted by Hewett)

Concern, tout le monde, concern! Seems like 'reflecting concern' is now our solution to all the problems - social, economic, and environmental - in the world. Truely, if it was about concern, wouldn't a child be cured of malaria every time a parent was concerned and acted there after?

This ambiguity in definition is no more than a loophole for these people to make money exploiting the currently massive buying power of goodwill, all the while interpreting 'reflections of concern' however they please!

Even in the application process we see the falseness of this 'concern'. Farmers having to prove their children were currently pursuing an education before being admitted worthy of a certificate? Atrocious, ladies and gentlemen, atrocious! Thinking of the average farmer residing in a developing country one does not immediately conjure up images of an individual with the money to offer his children education, but is this fair trade agreement not one that is supposed to support her or him financially and express 'concern' for them? Apparantly, this concern is very much reserved for those already wealthy enough to offer their children education - a priveleged few.

True, the farmers with certificates now testify to the magic of this opportunity, but if they can offer their kids an even better chance of improving their life through education, should they then be preferred over the farmers more in need of this support? One can only imagine why this organisation prioritises these. If this trade was really fair, the organisation would give every farmer the same chance of applying for this certificate. But maybe their 'concern' just wasn't genuine enough?

This, ladies and gentlemen, is an example of how this ambiguity of defining 'fair trade' seems to wreck the very fairness of the idea. The ambiguity has allowed illogical rules and procedures to be established and ruin a project that could truly have said something, but that now just is driven on the 'concern' for the money that can be made from the tenderhearted masses.

Instead of going to such great lengths promoting the fair trade that does not in reality seem so fair, should we not just keep and improve the current economic system in place? The one we know the dynamics of, the one who does not bother with pretentious descriptions, application processes, and organisations?

“Everybody wants to earn as much as he can,” said Conceição Peres da Costa. 'Fair' trade organisations included.

(edit: no, i don't actually agree with this shizzle. just tired of the same old OMG THIS IS FANTASTIC FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES posts. :b creativity, people!)

[maimoona]

The fair trade in bloom is about the different trading markets in the Developing Countries, and in the Developed Countries. Like for example, in this trading world there are McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donates, and Starbucks. All of there trading companies are worldwide companies. According to Fair-trade Labelling Organizations International, a group of fair trade certifiers, consumers spent approximately $2.2 billion on certified products in a year, a 42 percent increase over the previous year, benefiting over seven million people in developing countries. Like consumer awareness of organic products a decade ago, fair trade awareness is growing. In 2006, 27 percent of the Americans said they were aware of the certification; up from 12 percent in 2004. Like many other Developed countries, the famers are also affected. There are many things that are being sold here in this trade chain include coffee, cocoa and cotton, according to the Fair-trade Labelling Organizations. Mr. Michael Ellgass the director of house brands for Sam’s Club said the company could afford to pay fair trade’s premium because it has reduced the number of middlemen. Coffee usually passes from farmers through roasters, packers, traders, shippers and warehouses before arriving in stores. However, Sam’s Club will buy shelf-ready merchandise directly from Café Bom Dia, the roaster here in Brazil’s lush coffee country. He quoted that, “We are cutting a number of steps out of the process by working directly with the farmer,” Mr. Ellgass said. Some critics of fair trade say that working with thousands of small farmers makes strict adherence to fair trade rules difficult.

[priyankajohn]

To be frank I did not have any idea on Fair trade so I had to do a little bit of research on what it is to understand it better. It is a very interesting topic though.

Definition : Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and so on. (Definition from wikipidiea en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade#Definition_of_fair_trade)


In this article the Brazilian farmers initially found it very difficult to follow the long list of rules to get a fair trade certification and was not very enthusiastic about it. But then the 20% margin which they received was very encouraging. This got more farmers interested in fair trade certification. More farmers are likely to recieve such offers because of the growing demand of retailers and importers. A decade ago consumer awareness of organic products was a big hype and the same way Fair trade awareness is growing but in a very slow pace. Coffee, cocoa and cotton have had the biggest jump in Fair trade labelling compared to the other products.

Though america is a very big user of coffee, only 3.3 percent of coffee sold in the United States in 2006 was certified fair trade. This I think is a very slow growth. I personally feel the Fair trade awareness should be created in a big way and farmers should be given a bigger percentage margin so as to encourage them. I strongly feel it is another great way of allevating global poverty.

[niranthara]

Usually when one talks about 'fair' trade, they are referring to a situation where both buyers and seller are given equal and un-hindered opportunities to enter the market. They should be able to buy and sell at prices set by free-market forces. In this article about the 'fair trade' in coffee, the author is referring to similar trade but more on the lines of quality, standard and methods.

In Brazil, to increase the amount of 'fair' trade, coffee farmers are certified and given incentives of 20% and more to produce coffee under regulation on 'pesticide and farming techniques.' This way the trade created is fair because these regulations put all farmers who follow the rules on the same playing-field. The coffee that they produce is of the same standard, and has been put through the same process. Regardless of the prices at which coffee is being bought and sold, the methods are all the same and therefore it is fair.

At this point exploitation is out of the question because there is no chance of finding methods that are cheaper because there are rules and expectations to be followed. For example: if a farmer wanted to use cheaper labour so that he would have a higher profit margin, the regulations would stop him. The article clearly states that the farmer would have to give proof that all his ‘children were enrolled in school.’ This way, the administrator knows that his children aren’t at home working on the fields, and are properly educated. On the other hand, if a farmer uses ‘fair’ trade and yet sells his coffee at a higher price, it is only because of luck and communication that he has a better deal. This still remains fair.

The important part of this process is that popular industries and café brands are willing to buy the coffee at an extra 20% or more, just for the quality and insurance behind it. Companies like Sam’s club and Dukin Donuts help these farmers earn that extra money for their efforts by ‘reducing the number of middlemen,’ and buying straight from them.

The article states that in places like Guatemala and Colombia, farmers who produce higher quality goods are exploited because they aren’t paid anything extra when compared to the conventional farmers. To me this doesn’t seem unfair because everyone isn’t taking part in the ‘fair’ trade process. Only if all the farmers are under the same rules and regulations can someone compare the prices of trade. The ‘fair’ trader and the conventional farmers are not on the same playing-field to be compared.

The section of poor farmers who follow the methods of ‘fair’ trade, are bringing the standard of coffee to a higher level. The 20% that comes along with this is disserved because they are going the extra mile to better their methods of production. Indirectly they are also bettering their lives. Although many may do it for the money, the outcome is and will be the same.

In the end and for the future, will all farmers want to adopt this method? Is this trade really “fair’? How beneficial is ‘fair’ trade???

[kwangsampark]

Fair Trade in Bloom

THis article is basically about what fair trade is and how it is different from organic, what is it concerned with and other sort of things. In the article, it is said that fair trade help people to live a better life. A farmer in the article, he thought that it was a hard and difficult process, but when he got his first fair trafe harvest, he said that it helped them create better life. A lot of other big companies are switching to fair trade also. Fair trade concerns with social, economic and environmental well-being of producers also known as farmers. It also does not maximize profit by their price. As a result, lot of companies are trying to make a fair trade.

The difference between the organic and the fair trade is that organic refers to how food is made or porduced. However, fair trade is concerned with the condition of the farmers and the laborers. Usually, the process to bring coffee or other products are very complex. But by working directly with the farmers, companies can cut of some of the processes making the trade easeir and more comfortable.

After reading this article, I had this question in my mind. What if the farmer's children weren't able to go to a school? And why won't most of the fair trade products not have organic label? The article said that in order to recieve a fair trade certificate, farmers had to show that their children were going to school. What if this was not possible, because their economy was not supportive enough. This is the doubt that I in mind.

If more and more fair trade is made in developing countries, then the ones who benefit are both the farmers/producers and the consumers. And also the companies would benefit. The percentage of consumers who buy certified products have increased to 42 compared to previous year. If this kind of increase keeps progressing, then more people will have better lives.

[hisu]

I think fair trade is something very important. It is something that assures that both parties get what they deserve, a half of the money earned. Fair trade was something very small, which nobody even knew about, before, but now it is growing and becoming something that is actually considered by some people. I believe that fair trade is something that should be more practiced. It benefits everyone in some way, for example, farmers in Brazil. They usually do all that dirty, hard, and tiring work for such a low pay it is not even funny. But farmers who are “certified” as “fair trade” earn a lot more than the farmers who are not. Yes, getting the certificate is quite difficult, but it is all worth it at the end according to Paiva. It should be something that is used worldwide. People are the same. No one is born special. So, I think that fair trade is very fair. Everyone deserves as much as any other. Especially, when both parties, are supposed to be benefiting from something. But there is one problem to this. People who are already receiving a 60 percent benefit would not want to be involved in fair trade. Personally, even I wouldn’t. Nobody would want to start losing out, when they were already winning. Especially big, famous, and powerful companies would not like to be involved in fair trade, because in their situation that 10 percent extra that they are gaining can make a difference of up to millions of dollars. Overall, I believe that nothing is perfect and there are problems with everything in the world, so I think fair trade is very beneficial.

[jungkyu]

I am a bit confused with the actual sense of fair trade. ¡®fair trade¡¯ by definition means simply trading goods fairly. However, this article had made me a somewhat of the fair trade. As I read this article, I was not quite sure whether, in fact, fair trade had been successfully proceeding in world trading market. The biggest question I had among this article was that what is the original meaning of fair trade? This question is to clarify my doubts about ¡®fair trade.¡¯
This article was basically about the fair trade among the coffee products, the contrasts between Brazil and other countries such as Columbia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala, and the statistics of the global fair trade. This article shows fair trade that is done on coffees, however, also has the views of the critics towards it. The critics states that fair trade on coffee is not quite successful or has some difficulties. Others say that exploitative. As I have mentioned or to give the examples of exploitative aspect of fair trade, coffee farmers on Ethiopia, Columbia, and Guatemala, which are the countries producing the highest-quality coffee beans, however, are barely paid even more than Brazil, in spite of the fact that their crops are at dainty. This is one of the facts that upset me, which the rich are able to obtain more and more wealth and benefit while the poor gets much and much poorer. Another fact is that to drink a coffee, it takes numerous procedures and labor. However, we do not even know ¡®fair trade¡¯ have been made or not, or sometimes, not even interested at all. Nevertheless, now, I am able to grasp about how a cup of coffee is made.
Furthermore, to look at ¡®fair trade¡¯ positively, in the future, there may be a growth of the ¡®fair trade,¡¯ since the statistics reveal that there has been 50 percent of growth of fair trade in Starbucks. However, to predict at a different aspect, this article also mentions that there has been only 3.3 percent of ¡®certified¡¯ fair trade. According to this statistic, it shows a very low growth, which means, that there is a very low possibility of expectation in growth of a ¡®certified¡¯ fair trade. If a fair trade is not certified, it is hard to tell that there have been an actual fair trade. Which means more than 90 percent of the trade cannot be referred as a ¡®fair trade.¡¯ However, there aren¡¯t any statistics about a ¡®certified¡¯ fair trade in the year of 2007. Consequently, the growth of a ¡®certified¡¯ fair trade cannot be embodied.

[nitika]

Fair Trade. This topic is extensively researched on. The term “fair trade” still confuses me a bit because you can argue about whether “fair trade” is really fair or not.
This article mainly talks about how farmers in Brazil are producing coffee, which is under the label of “fair trade.”
If a Brazilian farmer wanted to grow coffee the “fair trade” way, he will have to listen to a million rules and regulations. But many farmers felt it worthwhile after they got their first pay.
Many big companies such as McDonalds, Starbucks, Sam’s Club, and Dunkin’ Donuts are now going the “fair trade” way.
I found out some other famous companies in America going the “fair trade”, and the organic way. They are Divine Chocolate, Mother Earth coffee.
The article shares with us many interesting facts about “fair trade.”
The “fair trade” industry is now growing because consumers are getting to know about this industry to forms of communication and don’t mind spending a little more, if they know their money is going into the right hands.
I read about this very interesting site somewhere but I don’t remember what it is called. This website is started by a teenager, in America, who tells us very interesting and accurate facts about how many farmers can be helped by just a dollar. He said if every teenager could give up one can of coke per week or every teenager could buy “stuff” that is certified to be “fair trade” how many farmers we are helping by just paying a few cents more. I will try to get the name of that website.
I don’t understand why the farmers in Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia are exploited when their coffee crop is better than the farmers in Brazil, and when their coffee crop is sold as gourmet coffee, but they are still getting paid less compared to the farmers in Brazil, whose coffee is not that good. It just doesn’t make sense. This is an example of how “fair trade”, is not really fair.
Many companies such as Sam’s club are encouraging “fair trade”, since they are getting a profit because of cutting out many middlemen in the process and dealing mainly with the coffee roasters.
Overall, the article is interesting but I don’t really agree that “fair trade” is really fair.

[rmanu]

This Article is about a farmer getting a A fair trade certification for his coffee crop. This Brazilian farmer thought that it was very hard because of the rules to follow but after Fair trade was worth his living helped him. After reading this article i still do not get what exactly Fair trade is but i am surd i will in the next few months. In this Article it also says that fair trade has improved in the recent years and it has also helped some people in the developing countries. I think all farmers should get fair trade gratification because they can earn more. All the farmers should get this certification because of the amount of effort they put in and they do not get paid as much.