Fair Trade Month: Why I Choose Fair Trade

I get asked very often why I choose to commit to Fair Trade Certified Coffee. What's the big deal? Because it is Fair Trade Month, I am going to tell you about how I got started. I was at a seminar back in Nashville, TN a few years ago listening to a local coffee roaster (who is a part of Cooperative Coffee) talk about Fair Trade. This seminar was put on by a group of students at Belmont University who had been trying to get certified coffees served on campus. It made since because this guy owned a shop very close to campus and was trying to get Belmont's account. The school decided to go with our friends and her mermaid. The speaker told a story about a time when he, and others from Cooperative Coffee, where at origin building house -- with Habitat I believe. The crews showed up at a families house and they were overwhelmed with thanks. The chief began to lay out the pad for the new home and discovered that 3 trees needed to come down to make the plan fit the space. The marked them and were about to begin cutting when the father came running and waving his arms. He was obviously against them cutting down these "trees" and was frantic. They finally learned that these "trees" were the income for this family. It was coffee. Those 3 "trees" are this families income. Without them, they really have no way to support their kids and keep them alive. From that point on, I was hooked. Fair Trade is way more than a label or seal or organization. It is life story -- a right to live. I know many people who do not want to buy into this group because of one thing or another but for me, I do it because I like the idea that money is going back to the farmers. It is not a perfect system -- yet. Fair Trade Coffee News has a nice article describing why this is not a scam of an idea. I know that many think that drinking certified coffees means more bucks out of your wallet -- not true (at least in bozeman, montana). I went to a few shops in town and discovered that the most expense place in town was not Fair Trade Certified. The lease expensive -- a shop serving 100% FT. 3 cents to people in this country is not much -- but for these farmers, it is life or death in many cases. Help support these families by drinking FT Certified coffee and tea. You can also buy other Fair Trade stuff at Global Exchange's store (or by clicking the banner at the top left corner of my blog). ..be bold Tagged: fair trade month, fairtrade, espresso, coffee, tea, transfairusa