All the World Is Green: A Review of the Fair Trade Coffee Press and Literature
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
And all the world is green.
- Tom Waits
Somewhere in a sweaty, summer city, a blonde woman pushes urgently against the tide of people flowing through the streets. As she struggles, a single drop of perspiration rolls across her forehead. She is wearing a bright red pin on her suit that says, “Save the Rainforests,” and carries a black briefcase. Meanwhile in the shady fields of Nicaragua, a man in a tan suit examines the budding crimson fruit of a tree in the fading afternoon light. He squeezes the berry between his fingers, calculating its hue and density. He remembers a childhood photograph that was taken next to this very tree, back when it was only a bushy twig of a plant. A warm breeze sweeps through the forests and he is engulfed by the scent of jasmine. At that same moment the woman has stopped running, distracted by another familiar scent—the sweet aroma of freshly brewed coffee. She opts to stop for breath and grab a mocha under the green haze of the electric Starbucks sign that buzzes in excitement above her.
These two strangers will never meet, but they are connected. Their lives are inextricably tied together by a small berry. And that berry is more than a food; it is a symbol, a trademark, and a way of life. The berry that the man in Nicaragua held was a coffee berry, producing a singular coffee bean. Now more than ever, marketers, consumers, and producers of this simple commodity are becoming aware of the influence of their simple product on the international scale. A major part of this heightened consciousness of the producer/consumer relationship is the rise of what is known as Fair Trade certification. A certification that ensures that small town farmers like the man in Nicaragua get enough money to feed their children, and that mega-companies like Starbucks get to continue feeding the caffeine buzz. A label that is at once met with both skepticism and excitement, Fair Trade has come to the forefront of agricultural and industrial activism in the last decade, and its effects will undoubtedly influence the ways that governments and cultures determine value in food. But as this label becomes more commonplace, we as consumers should ask ourselves the following questions: What are the benefits of Fair Trade policies in the coffee industry? Do the profits really go to the workers, and is it making a difference in Third World economies? Or are the words "Fair Trade" becoming just another marketing term, like "organic" or "low-fat"? In order to fully analyze these questions we must place them in context of recent press and research articles on Fair Trade issues. This literature provides evidence for the success and necessity of Fair Trade certification in the coffee market as both a powerful economic tool and as an exercise in eco-activism.
What Does Fair Trade Mean?
Up until 1989, the International Coffee Agreement regulated a quota on coffee production in the international coffee market. When this agreement disintegrated due to shifting geopolitical and development models, coffee prices fell from increased competition (Bacon, 2004, p.498). With this competition, specialty coffees such as Organic brands also fell in price. However, consumer demand for these specialty brands has been growing in the past decade, and by 2001 these brands represented 40% of the retail market by value (Bacon, 2004, p.499). With the consumer demand increasing and prices for producers falling, international trade organizations needed to find a way to support both demand and small-scale producers, who are responsible for 70% of the world’s coffee (Bacon, 2004, p.497). This is especially pertinent to Third World countries with developing economies that can’t support their agricultural sector internally and produces must rely on international exports for their income. Fair Trade is one of several certification programs that have been developed by international trade organizations to support these farmers and fill the requirement for specialty coffee. According to the umbrella Fair Trade organization FINE (FLO, International Federation for Alternative Trade, Network of European World Shops, and the European Fair Trade Association,) Fair Trade is defined as “a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers—especially in the South” (Weber, 2007, p.109). Essentially what this means is that Fair Trade Certification provides a secure trade relationship between small-scale producers of coffee and international coffee sellers like Starbucks, ensuring that producers get fair pay for their crops despite the sinking coffee market prices. Helmed by small-scale roasting companies, Fair Trade has become an important brand in American coffee markets.
Does Fair Trade Really Help Small Farmers?
The opposition to Fair Trade has been levied in statistics that show that small-scale farmers do not receive as much benefits from the certification as the title claims. An article from December 6, 2006 in the Economist cites the fact that most producers will not see the profits of their crops as the plan assumes, because less than 10% of the profits are actually returned to the farmers (“Voting with your trolley: Food politics,” 2006). What we as consumers must ask ourselves when purchasing a Fair Trade certified coffee is, “Does this really help the small-scale farmers?” A convincing answer may be drawn from the research findings of two case studies in Nicaragua and Rwanda. Both countries are critically dependent on coffee industry at present, but for different reasons. The coffee crisis in Nicaragua is further fueled by hurricanes and droughts, while in Rwanda the difficult rebuilding efforts following the 1994 genocide complicate the market. Therefore, both countries rely on the coffee industry as a means of survival in their critical economic state.
A 2004 survey of Nicaraguan small-scale coffee farmers concluded that “participation in alternative coffee trade networks reduces exposure and thus vulnerability to low coffee prices” (Bacon, 2004, p.506). In this survey, 224 farmers were interviewed on their lifestyles and the business relationships of their small-scale farms. The survey also found that 60% of the farmers were subsistence farmers who grew their own food to eat, and that coffee farming was an integral part of their lives, as the farmers stated, “Coffee is the hope of a better future,” “Coffee gives value to our land,” and is “The best crop to improve our lives and find an equilibrium with the environment” (Bacon, 2004, p.504). These declarations reveal the impressive cultural significance that coffee has on farmers’ livelihoods, and the improvements that Nicaraguans believe can be found in their small co-op farms if aided by Fair Trade and other alternative certifications.
Modern Rwanda is a land full of complications and everyday strife. Following the terrible 1994 genocide that took over half a million lives, the country has been a continual process of healing and rebuilding. A major part of that reconstruction is reliant on the coffee market, where a mere 30 cent increase in product prices due to Fair Trade certification makes the difference between a meager and steady income. Alex Reton’s article in the UK newspaper the Gaurdian, “This is a Story about Gourmet Coffee and Genocide,”describes these effects through startling interviews with the survivors of the 1994 event who have been given new hope in form of the coffee bean. As an authority on this topic, Renton specializes in poverty, development, food policy, and international food culture, and has served on Oxfam’s coordinator of media and advocacy. He admits that he is skeptical when it comes to the benefits of fair trade coffee, due to the higher prices of fair trade labels and the fact that larger companies such as Starbucks often capitalize on this label as a marketing tactic. However, Renton concludes that in Rwanda’s case, fair trade policies are actually necessary to help re-establish locally produced agriculture such as coffee co-ops he described in the article. One woman declared, “I love coffee. I'm really excited by my profession. It gives me a sense of having a value” (Renton, 2007). Again, the voices of the citizens speak louder than statistics in business trade journals.
Consumer Appeal
The second main concern with Fair Trade labeling is the fear that major corporations will turn it into a marketing tactic to sell to consumers. A major source of contention among Fair Trade activists and the major coffee companies is Starbucks’ own policy on Fair Trade. Marketing itself as “North America’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade CertifiedTM coffee” (“Starbucks and Fair Trade”), according to the Organic Consumers Association, this is only 6% of all Starbucks coffee (“Fair Trade Reloaded!”). According to a fact sheet produced by Starbucks, “In fiscal 2005, Starbucks purchased 11.5 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, compared to 4.8 million pounds in fiscal 2004. This represents approximately 10 percent of global Fair Trade Certified™ coffee imports. In fiscal 2006, Starbucks plans to increase sales of our newly introduced Fair Trade product offerings and purchase 12 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee” (“Starbucks and Fair Trade”). These statistics are readily available to any inquiring customer, and the words “Fair Trade Certified” are painted on several marketing leaflets and ads. But what do these numbers mean in the international scale?
Gregory Dicum is coauthor of The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from Crop to the Last Drop and contributed an article entitled, “Fair to the last drop?” for the Boston Globe on the contradicted reception of free trade coffee products. Dicum notes how the phrase “free trade” started as a way to endorse a product and “reward companies for doing the right thing.” Fair trade certification then caught consumers’ attention through the ability to sell it with the “alternative” and “progressive” angle (Dicum, 2006). It’s especially frustrating to some activists how the term has been re-appropriated by marketing specialists as “another exotic flavor of coffee” (Dicum, 2006). When a company such as McDonalds endorses the sale of fair trade coffee in their restaurants, but still buys tomatoes from underpaid, mistreated workers in America, the message is lost. The question posed by Dicum, an expert on the subject of coffee, is whether we can balance the needs of small fair trade farmers against the political agenda that fair trade activists want to promoteFina.
Conclusion
As conscious consumers, we have a duty to be aware of where our money goes and what we eat. It’s our responsibility to not be misled and tricked by fancy advertising, yet to care about issues and poverty on the other side of the world. There is a delicate balance we must weigh between statistics and actual human lives. “Fair Trade certification” is a marketing label as well as an ideal. Sometimes we have to look closer at the woman with the briefcase and the man in the coffee fields, and ask ourselves, “How can we help?” We should drink Fair Trade coffee as consumers who care about people and not statistics. Furthermore, Fair Trade, as a label, needs to maintain its integrity and promote the activist ideals it once stood for. We need to pressure major corporations against hypocrisy, taking action like the Organic Consumers Association against Starbucks to petition for more Fair Trade coffee in the whole market. Some companies, such as Folgers, initially refused to integrate Fair Trade into their brand until pressure from consumers forced them to change (“Folgers Campaign History”). Fair Trade could be a flagship for other certification labels and further eco-conscious and human-mission driven initiatives. From making the choice to buy Fair Trade to signing a petition, every little act counts towards bettering international relationships, and hopefully a new international standard will be constructed in place of the International Coffee Agreement that embraces Fair Trade policies. While noisy marketing often intimidates many of us out of taking activist advertising seriously, the “buzz” behind Fair Trade is far more than just caffeine—it’s the possibility of international and eco-conscious business that benefits everyone.
He is balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our grave(s)
When all the world is green
- Tom Waits
References
Bacon, C. (2004, October 2). Confronting the coffee crisis: Can fair trade, organic, and specialty coffees reduce small-scale farmer vulnerability in northern Nicaragua? World Development, 33(3), 497–511. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.10.002
Bennet, W. L., & Lagos, T. (2007). Logo logic: The ups and downs of branded political communication. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 611, 193-206. doi: 10.1177/0002716206298484
Chui-yan, Y. (2008, February 17). Fair traders find it’s a hard sell. South China Morning Post. Retrieved July 21, 2008, from LexisNexis database.
Dicum, G. (2006, October 22). Fair to the last drop? The Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/10/22/headline_fair_to_the_last_drop/
Downie, A. (2007, October 2). Fair trade in bloom. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/business/worldbusiness/02trade.html
Fair Trade Reloaded. Organic Consumers Association. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/index.cfm
Ferran, F., & Grunert, K. (2005). French fair trade coffee buyers purchasing motives: An exploratory study using means-end chains analysis. Food Quality and Preference, 18, 218–229. doi :10.1016/j.foodqual.2005.11.001
Folgers Campaign History. Global Exchange. Retrieved August 2, 2008, from http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/folgers.html
Renton, A. (2007, February 25). This is a story about gourmet coffee and genocide. It takes place in Rwanda. Gaurdian. Retrieved from http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/drink/story/0,,2018153,00.html
Starbucks and Fair Trade. Starbucks online. Retrieved July 23, 2008, from www.starbucks.com/aboutus/StarbucksAndFairTrade.pdf
Voting with your trolley: Food politics. (2006, December 9). Economist. Retrieved from http://www.decal.org/file/396
Weber, J. (2007). Fair trade coffee enthusiasts should confront reality. Cato Journal, 27(1), 109-117.