Make sure that all of your friends and family members know that it’s Fair Trade Month:

• Post “Happy Fair Trade Month! Learn more at www.fairtrademonth.org” in your Twitter status or Facebook status.

Also:

• Become a fan of Fair Trade Certified on Facebook
• Follow @FairTradeUSA on Twitter
• Add www.Fair-trade-coffee-review.com to your favorites

Check out Fairtrademonth for more information and daily updates in October.

Also, it would be a great idea to all of the above while sipping on your favorite fair trade coffee.

Enjoy!
Ian

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

In the coffee growing mountains of Columbia, there is a co-op of 270 farming families called APCO (Asociación Pequeños Caficultores de Ocamonte) that was formed back in 1994. The primary goal of the association is to assist members in improving their quality of life through the commercialization of coffee.

Cooperative Coffees is a roaster-owned (comprised of 22 Canadian and American roasters), coffee importing cooperative that has partnered with APOC and other farming cooperatives like them, in direct, fair trade relationships.

Cooperative Coffees works with individual farmers in APCO to help them achieve fair trade certification. They also buy beans from APCO at 9 cents / pound above the fair trade rate (which also has an additional premium for organic beans). This can work out to about 40 cents per pound premium for their coffee and if a small farmer produces 3000 pound that would work out to $1200 per year.

APCO farmers can then invest that extra money in diversification on their farms, such as raising chickens and cows and producing eggs and milk to sell at the market to earn more income. They can also invest in building and improving schools or healthcare to improve the next generation’s standard of living. Maybe they just invest the money in improvements to their own farm or house to improve production and provide better comforts.

Click the following for more information on Cooperative Coffees or the complete story of their visit to APCO.

All in all, for a few cents a cup, lives can be changed and brighter futures can be realized.

Enjoy!
Ian

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Fair Trade is much more than a fair price though!

Fair Trade principles include:

• Fair prices: Democratically organized farmer groups receive a guaranteed minimum floor price and an additional premium for certified organic products. Farmer organizations are also eligible for pre-harvest credit.
• Fair labor conditions: Workers on Fair Trade farms enjoy freedom of association, safe working conditions, and living wages.
• Forced child labor is strictly prohibited.
• Direct trade: Importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to strengthen their organizations and become competitive players in the global economy.
• Democratic and transparent organizations: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers decide democratically how to use their Fair Trade premiums.
• Community development: Fair Trade farmers and farm workers invest Fair Trade premiums in social and business development projects like health care, new schools, quality improvement trainings, and organic certification.
• Environmental sustainability: The Fair Trade certification system strictly prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), promotes integrated farm management systems that improve soil fertility, and limits the use of harmful agrochemicals in favor of environmentally sustainable farming methods that protect farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

TransFair USA and Transfair Canada, are non-profit organizations, and are the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. and Canada. They are two of the 20 members of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). TransFair’s rigorous audit system, which tracks products from farm to finished product, verifies industry compliance with Fair Trade criteria. TransFair allows companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on products that meet strict Fair Trade standards.

Fair Trade Certification is currently available in the U.S. and Canada for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, rice, and vanilla.

Fair Trade Certified label used in the U.S.

Fair Trade Certified label used in Canada

Fair Trade Certified label used in Europe. Note: The fair trade label used in Europe is spelled Fairtrade and was created in 2002 to unify the 20 member organizations, although they still allow U.S. and Canada to use their own labels.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites