Fair Trade Coffee

The CurrCon Java Applet displays prices on this web page converted with today's exchange rates into your local international currency, e.g. Euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars, British Pounds, Indian Rupees… CurrCon requires Java 1.1 or later, preferably 1.6.0_06 . If you can’t see the prices, of you if just want to learn more about CurrCon, click here for help.

Most people I know, claim it was a good thing slavery was abolished, but believe it or not, some people secretly keep slaves, not here in Canada mind you. Their slaves live in Africa and South America.

They hire people to oversee the slaves. Unlike slaves of old, these slaves don’t even get enough to eat.

Just what work do these slaves do? They grow and pick coffee, bean by bean, for $0.65 CAD a pound - a price lower than it was even in the depression days of the 1930s.

Coffee-drinking you are an unwitting slaveowner.

Perhaps you might consider being outrageously generous and paying the grower $1.65 CAD a pound instead of $0.65 CAD .

If you are willing to do that, all you have to do is buy coffee marked as Fair Trade. Ask for it at restaurants and grocery stores. There are many different brands to choose from.

It will set you back $0.02 CAD a cup.

If you ask me, people who knowingly keep slaves to save two cents a cup on coffee are sick.

It’s easy. Just say, "I’d like a cup of Fair Trade coffee please."

Lobbying

It is fairly easy to get a company or government office to switch. It does not cost much, and is good for public relations.

Coffee is big business. It is the leading crop traded on the international market. It is the most valuable international commodity next to oil. Volunteering $0.02 CAD a cup extra for Fair Trade coffee makes a tremendous difference to the grower.

Sources

Also look for shade-grown coffee. The rainforest canopy is not destroyed which supports the birds and animals. Mass production coffee farms remove the rainforest cover purely for convenience.

We buy Creekmore coffee at the local supermarket. It is roasted here on Vancouver Island in Qualicum Beach. Another great local brand is SaltSpring made on nearby Saltspring Island.

To find out where to get it from a source near you try searching for "fair trade coffee".

The interational fair trade certifying organisation is called FLO. The Canadian fair trade certifying organisation is called Transfair. They maintain lists of certified coffee roasting companies. They audit to make sure the coffee truly is fair trade. They also provide similar certification for fair trade chocolate, tea, sugar, tropical fruits, and soccer balls. There is some phony fair trade stuff out there. If you don’t see either of these two certification logos, be suspicious. Most of the world’s fair trade certification groups are in the process of converting to the international logo.


Canada	International

coffee
coffee cup
fair trade chocolate laser talk
fair trade chocolate soapbox
fair trade coffee
Global Exchange
Java
JustUsCoffee: fair trade coffee in Nova Scotia
Kicking Horse Coffee: (a Canadian sourcewhere I get mine)
Salt Spring Coffee: certified organic and fair trade
Student Programming Project: fair trade webstore

	Please email your feedback for publication, errors, omissions, broken/redirected link reports and suggestions to improve this page to Roedy Green :
	Canadian Mind Products
	mindprod.com IP:[65.110.21.43]
	Your face IP:[38.103.63.18]
	You are visitor number 10,674.
	You can get a fresh copy of this page from:	or possibly from your local J: drive (Java virtual drive/Mindprod website mirror)
	http://mindprod.com/humanrights/fairtradecoffee.html	J:\mindprod\humanrights\fairtradecoffee.html