From: David Lucifer (david@lucifer.com)
Date: Mon Jan 19 2004 - 15:51:03 MST
Here's the kind of fair trade I was asking about (from http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/)
Coffee is the second largest US import after oil, and the US consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. But few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.
Fair Trade is a viable solution to this crisis, assuring consumers that the coffee we drink was purchased under fair conditions. To become Fair Trade certified, an importer must meet stringent international criteria; paying a minimum price per pound of $1.26, providing much needed credit to farmers, and providing technical assistance such as help transitioning to organic farming. Fair Trade for coffee farmers means community development, health, education, and environmental stewardship
My question is why on earth would the coffee farmers sell for less than the costs of production over an extended period? Where does the minimum price of $1.26/lb come from? Who decides what is a "fair" price?
---- This message was posted by David Lucifer to the Virus 2004 board on Church of Virus BBS. <http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?board=61;action=display;threadid=29853> --- To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to <http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Jan 19 2004 - 15:53:58 MST