Free trade coffee... what gives?

[0roo0roo]

..

 

[b0mbrman]

Dunno...maybe because South Americans look more like us than Asians do?

[Edit] Actually, that should read "more like *y'all"

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/
ABOUT FAIR TRADE COFFEE

? Many coffee farmers receive prices for their harvest that can be less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. They are often forced to sell to middlemen who pay them half the market price, generally between 30-50¢ per pound. Fair trade coffee sells for a minimum of $1.26 per pound. This money goes directly to coffee farmers, not to predatory middlemen.

has bothered me for a while. if all the ranting about farmers selling below the cost of production is true, why do we have a coffee glut? shouldn't all the years of losing money basically kill off the industry? either the lenders are giving unlimited loans, or the farmers aren't poor, because poor farmers wouldn't last long losing money....

I don't know about the rest of it, but the farmers are poorer than you'll ever know, that's for sure.

 

[Literati]

Way down among Brazilians
Coffee beans grow by the billions
So they've got to find those extra cups to fill
They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil

You can't get cherry soda'Cause they've got to fill that quota
And the way things are I'll bet they never will
They've got a zillion tons of coffee in Brazil