Fair Trade

On Sept. 29,  America and a few other countries celebrated International Coffee Day. Corporations splurged on their customers and offered cups of coffee, cappuccinos and pumpkin lattes free of charge. And so, on International Coffee Day, most of us saw only the positives that coffee has brought to us in the U.S., but not the many negatives that come with it. The day didn’t focus on the mass exploitation in many developing countries that has arrived due to our love for coffee.

The lives of coffee farmers are comparable to the conditions faced in sweatshops. As evident by the excessive profits of coffee companies, farmers often sell their products for less than the cost of production, and, as a result, live in permanent poverty. With an average yearly incomes of $500 to $1000, most farmers do not even get the pleasure of ever tasting the coffee created from the seeds they grew. While this lifestyle is certainly poor, those who work in coffee plantations face even tougher circumstances. In addition to virtually no pay, plantation workers are often forced into overtime work and do not receive employee benefits. Because of the tough working expectations, most workers have to bring their children to work with them. These kids, at the young age of six, who endure the poor shelter and improper cleaning facilities with their parents, are not protected by any laws if they were to get injured. In America and other coffee-drinking nations, we never witness or have to consider the brutality that others went through for our coffee.

Then arrived Fair Trade, and that was enough for most to think they consumed coffee from farmers paid fairly. Last year, I myself was impressed with the assembly on Fair Trade and thought little about its flaws. But now, it’s evident to me that though Fair Trade is great in intention, it does not solve any problems and perhaps even makes the lives of coffee laborers worse. Fair Trade started off in the middle of the nineteenth century by various church groups to show their support against anti-poverty. These groups did not even work under the organization of Fair Trade, but instead under the message of helping the disadvantaged. Matters changed with the arrival of Fair Trade Certification. When companies found out they could advertise their brands’ humanitarianism with a label, many jumped on and Fair Trade went mainstream. And so throughout the years, Fair Trade went from benefiting the poor to helping the rich get richer. Many companies currently possess Fair Trade logos, but reports last year from the Economist show that fair trade laborers often earn even less than other coffee bean farmers. In addition, the Fairtrade Foundation does not regulate how much companies sell their goods for, which allows for companies to pocket most of the money. The underpaid workers continue to face their problems, and Fair Trade has provided us a cover to protect us from its dim reality.

But, given with whom Fair Trade works, this issue could have been foreseen. Many commercial enterprises boast of having social goals; some even call themselves social enterprises. The issue here is that to have both social and commercial ambitions is to be at odds with oneself. The methods these companies employ to obtain their massive wealth involves the exploitation and undoing of the people they claim to help. Many of the reasons companies outsource their products in the first place is due to the cheap labor they can expect. Knowing this, these enterprises use their social objectives more as a way to attract sympathetic customers than to actually help. While Fair Trade was definitely a unique idea and propelled by genuine care at its onset, after years of working in capitalist markets, it has fallen the fabricated position of many other social ideas like it.

Personally, I have never been a fan of coffee. But I do realize that it’s a very fundamental component of many people’s days and even more of people’s lives. Even for a fan, though, one should expect and demand better from his or her favorite coffee shops. These companies determine their social objectives based on the wants of their customers, so that voices definitely will not go unheard. If you drink coffee, it’s important to realize that the coffee you enjoy is harvested by people still facing massive poverty. While some coffee fans may have satisfied themselves by only drinking from Fair Trade brewers, they should know that they don’t come close to solving the problem, but perhaps augment it. ♥