There’s been a lot of buzz around the Fair Trade social movement, and being that coffee was one of the first Fair-Trade certified goods, JSN decided to take a closer look into exactly what Fair Trade is.

What is it?

Fair Trade is a trading partnership between developing nations and developed nations of goods such as coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, honey, cotton, wine, chocolate, and fruit.  The Fair Trade movement promotes the payment of a higher price to the producers of these goods in the developing nations.

Certification

Certification for goods to be certified as Fairtrade (which spelling as one word is proper when referring to the international product labeling system) goods must meet certain standards that are set forth by FLO International.  Crops must be grown and harvested by certain standards set by FLO International, and even the supply chain must also be monitored by the organization to ensure the standards and integrity of the products.

Coffee

One of the most notable companies supporting the Fair Trade movement is Starbucks.  With millions of cups of coffee sold per day across the globe, Starbucks has been serving Fair Trade Certified coffee (among other Fair Trade goods) in their stores for 10 years.

Fair Trade Certified™ coffee empowers small-scale farmers organized in cooperatives to invest in their farms and communities, protect the environment, and develop the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace.

Starbucks began purchasing Fair Trade Certified™ coffee in 2000, helping grow the market for Fair Trade Certified coffee in the U.S. And in 2009, we increased our purchases to 40 million pounds – making us the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee in the world.

-Source, Starbucks website

A coffee , or other Fair Trade Certified good, may not particularly be an organic good (free from pesticides, hormones, etc.,) being Fair Trade simply means that the product  has been traded through a fair partnership between North America, and producers in Africa, Latin America, Asia and other places throughout the world.

For a list of Fair Trade certified coffee companies in your area, visit the TransFair USA website here: http://www.transfairusa.org/content/certification/licensees_1.php?category=Coffee&include=Everyone