Fair trade is good news
One answer for small-scale farmers is fair trade. Fair trade shares the bounty of the coffee trade with those who grow the crop, helping them build a better future for themselves and their communities. Through fair trade, farmers earn a fairer share of income, have access to services that are otherwise unavailable and gain long-term trading partners they can trust.
By working together and pooling their resources to form a cooperative, farmers can sell their coffee directly to international buyers without relying on middlemen. They receive a fair price that not only covers their costs of production but guarantees a fair wage for their labors.
Fair trade far surpasses the temporary assistance provided to farmers through charity. Instead, the ongoing business of long-term, fair trade relationships consistently contributes to the living conditions of farmers, their families and their communities. Cooperatives use profits from fair trade coffee sales to establish community development or improvement programs such as schools, health clinics and training in areas such as leadership development. Fair trade farmers tend to use environmentally friendly growing practices — such as organic farming, composting and shade growing (interspersing coffee trees among other plants) — all of which benefit the farmers, the land and the quality of the coffee.
Fair trade in the United States
When buying coffee and other fairly traded products in the United States, consumers need to be sure they are buying a certified fair trade product. If your bag carries the label at right (Fair Trade Certified), it has been certified by TransFair USA, the only independent fair trade certifying agency in the United States. The presence of this label means that every step involved in getting the coffee, tea, cocoa and sugar from the crop to your cup has been monitored by this neutral third party certifier, ensuring the farmers received a fair price. Many other faith-based, consumer and advocacy organizations are part of the larger movement for fair trade that is spreading across America.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and fair trade
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is committed to fair trade standards as defined by TransFair USA. Voting delegates at the 213th General Assembly (2001) passed a resolution concerning fair trade coffee and tea as well as organic sugar.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) co-sponsors the Presbyterian Coffee Project with Equal Exchange, an employee-owned, certified fair trade company which purchases 100 percent of its products according to fair trade standards. Equal Exchange was founded in 1986 to create a new approach to trade, one that includes informed consumers, honest and fair trade relationships and cooperative principles. Equal Exchange accomplishes these goals by offering consumers fairly traded gourmet products directly from 28 democratically run farmer cooperatives located in 14 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Its Interfaith Program links faith and fair trade, providing educational resources for congregations.
Download Equal Exchange’s educational flier, “Our Model of Fair Trade.”