With the recent organic boom and Whole Foods popping up all over, people are starting to see more and more coffee labeled Fair Trade. But what is fair trade coffee and why is it important?

The influx of large corporate coffee producers has dropped the market price for coffee on the global market. For many, this seems like it would be a good thing, I mean lower prices are better, right? Well, sort of. Unfortunately, consumer prices have failed to decline with this production cost decrease. The reality is that the corporate farming increase has forced many small coffee farmers to accept prices less than their productions costs, which leads to higher amounts of debt and more poverty.

So, you ask, how does buying fair trade coffee change this? Well in order to be certified as fair trade, several very stringent criteria must be met. First, the price paid to the producer must be at least $1.26, as opposed to the current market price of $.65, per pound. Also, the importer must provide credit and technical assistance to the farmers. These additional supports not only assist the small family farmers, but also help to promote organic farming, develop the economy, and protect the environments in the third world countries where the majority of coffee is produced.

The result of the fair trade certification is not only an improved economy in a underprivileged country, but coffee produced in small batches by artisans who are more concerned with maximizing the quality of the beans than their own profits. The next you are in the market for coffee I recommend picking up a pound of fair trade beans and seeing what a difference they can make.