Dear Scot,
I also believe all people should be compensated justly for what they
produce. However, there are inherent and serious problems with evo and
fair trade markets.
1) Farmers, who for generations grew various crops
on the same land, now only grow one crop year after year, because evo
and fair trade markets incentivise them too. This is terrible for farm
land.
2) Farmers refuse to innovate through markets or products,
creating new items or ways to make money, because they again are
artificially incentivised to only grow one crop.
3) The vast majority of global farmers are not owners; they are workers. When the few owner farmers there are are paid artificially inflated prices for their crop, it devalues the non-fair trade crops' value and causes non-fair trade workers/farmers to make even less money.
EVO and Fair Trade markets incentivise poor farming practices that destroy fertile lands. They reduce innovation and desire to create new products and services possibly in greater demand than the evo crop. They provide "a little" more money for the few owner farmers there are at the greater expense of the vast majority of non-owner workers in the market.
Buying fair trade and evo might make people with more money feel better about the way they consume, but it hurts the market, environment, and workers of the world far more than it helps. If you require supportive material for this view, I can provide it, but plenty is readily available online.
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I think there's a deeper question that has to be asked. I know very little about global economics so I don't feel I can intelligently discuss the pros and cons the way others have already done. The greater question, however, is what do we as individual consumers do to reflect Christ in this flawed economic system. We've seen that buying non-Fair Trade products merely perpetuates and even validates the flawed system that keeps people impoverished. Yet, if the information in the original post is accurate buying Fair Trade makes no appreciable difference in the system.
As I site here and try to process through this, I don't think I can affect anything at a systemiv level. Yet, for one person or one family I can make things a little, better, it seems by buying Fair Trade products. Until I can see a better way to help "the least of these" I think I will continue to buy Fair Trade coffee and encourage othes to do the same.
I'm glad there's some questioning of this. Economics was my undergrad, and I've found myself questioning this concept for some time, viewing it more as a marketing concept designed to reduce guilt than a true solution.
again, i am so glad there is discussion about what is fair in our buying practices, and because its a passion for me, including coffee! thank you to everyone with open minds.
i hesitate to bring this up, but since i believe it is a large part of this discussion...doing your homework before making purchases, or at least finding everything you can about a companies practices...michael,you cited "evo requirements", but as far as i know, you havent contacted us to talk before making certain judgements about us. i know i threw my hat in the ring earlier when i commented, but in discussing directly with us, you may find we see eye to eye...at least you will get to see the good, bad, and the ugly of us! we welcome the discussion, and are hoping to learn as much as possible from thoughtful people like all of you!
i agree with edwin, most coffee farmers i meet want a wage that equals the quality of their coffee, especially the ones that truly care about offering the best possible cup! farmers work very hard at what they do, spend days in the field, sweating and toiling, and most of them that i have met, take it as an art form. i also agree that the fair trade movement, while possibly good in the short term, will ultimately hurt the farmers in the long term by providing a false sense of security within the value of their coffee.
food for thought...fair trade is $1.26/lb. oxfam says a "living wage" for most coffee farmers is $2.00/lb. on the open market, our guatemalan farmer can get $1.33/lb. this is a dilemma for him. does he sell on the open market, or through a "fair trade" co-op where ultimately he may have a net loss, but hopefully be able to sell more?
one thing that i believe we have done well at evo, is represented our farmers well. thankfully, we have really good coffees! we have partnered with madcap coffee company to showcase our quality. these guys compete in the national competitions (madcapcoffee.com Trevor Corlett, 8 years in the industry, 7th place GLBC 2008, 22nd place 1st round USBC
-Ryan Knapp, 2 years in the industry, 8th place GLBC 2008, 25th place 1st round USBC)and are considering using our coffees in the competitions. this would showcase us, as well as our farmers and could potentially put them on the map so to speak in the coffee industry world. selling their coffee in a fair trade coop (or any coop for that matter), they may never get the exposure, as it may not be traceable back to them.
we dont know it all, and hope we dont come off that way! we do hope what we do is changing lives, as i know all of you, through this discussion, are trying to do too! please contact us www.evocoffee.com, or email me directly chadmorton4@gmail.com to talk coffee, discuss fair trade, or tell us we dont have a clue!
I got pointed to this blog via Twitter (@d_w_scott's reply to @Appropedia), and like the discussion.
"fair trade is $1.26/lb. oxfam says a "living wage" for most coffee farmers is $2.00/lb. on the open market, our guatemalan farmer can get $1.33/lb."
With these kind of prices, it seems to me that the best response is diversification and/or value-adding.
With access to proper information (that's my passion) the farmers could grow other crops, which reduces supply and improves things for the remaining coffee farmers. And if it gets processed locally, that adds to the economy, and the processor becomes a local buyer - that has to help.
"Fair Trade is good. It seems relevant to support Fair Trade where you are certain of the social, economic, and environmental practices; however I think it goes without saying that we the consumer can rarely rest assure that these practices are top notch.
This is why I try to support Direct Trade coffee vendors, who themselves check out the practices and do not simply rely on the Fair Trade seal of approval.
I personally live in Scranton, PA, and here in Scranton we have a coffee importer/roaster by the name of Electric City Roasting. This company also has to local cafes which sells this coffee. Anyways, the owner of this company goes directly to coffee farms and checks out their practices herself. If she deems them to be above the Fair Trade standard she then decides to purchase from the farm. And it is this, that is known as Direct Trade.
From the consumer perspective, I there again can not ensure that the practices are perfect, but I can at least see the farm and staff via the pictures that adorn the cafes, and it seems to be a bit more traceable than even Fair Trade can purport.
So check out Direct Trade vendors, and look into http://www.electriccityroasting.com .... There great!"
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