Oaxaca, Mex, Blog#3...FairTrade..Or Not So FairTrade That Is The Question.....
While standing under the shade canopy with coffee trees everywhere and coffee seedlings covering the ground waiting to be thinned, we talked with Christino and his uncle. I had many questions, about organic certification, Shade certification and Fair Trade.....
Have any of you out there had to deal with any RED TAPE during your life time? The fact is, it's no fun! For a small coffee farmer that cultivates a few acres of coffee this is a monumental task, and one that can not be done without help. There is a gentleman out there that works for an organization called FomCafe. He is a friend of the coffee farmer and their families. This young man not only helps with the RED TAPE but also works with COFFEE KIDS helping these little villages with entepreneurism and economic development. I asked Jose Luis the meaning of "Fom" that makes up the first syllable of FomCafe. He explained Fom is an abbreviation for the translated words in English...like come-along-side, beneficial, give-a-helping-hand-up. This friend of COFFEE KIDS that works for FomCafe dose just that, he comes along side. I have met this man and I would agree with Jose Luis, he is a true friend of these people!
Christino explained that Christino's uncle's coffee parcel is certified organic and FairTrade but not Shade Grown. I asked why? He said "the certifiers said the canopy was not thick enough". I'm looking up and I'm thinking, if it was any thicker there would be no sun coming through. I also thought, "it would be interesting to have the certifier pick this coffee, load it up on burros and prepare it for parchment, maybe then he would give the Shade Grown certification." I also learned that last year the farmer received $1.11 per pound for their coffee. The New York "C" was trading for around $1.22 at that time. FairTrade claims that they give around $1.45 per pound to the coffee farmer. To my understanding the dry mill folks are getting over .30 cents of the $1.45 that FairTrade claims goes directly to the farmer. Now, if this is true, I'm wondering how FairTrade justifies it's DO-GOOD ER marketing?? I need to make a few phone calls!! Maybe I've missed something during translation, but I doubt it!
This is just one of the reasons we give to COFFEE KIDS, to make sure that every coffee bean we roast is Traded Fairly!!!!
We returned to the village, said our goodbyes and started our journey back to the hotel. As I tried to stay seated upright though the windy road home(Putla), my thoughts wandered from the simple life of coffee farming to how our world has placed demands on these folks when all they want is to care for their coffee....
More to come....
The CoffeeMariner
Have any of you out there had to deal with any RED TAPE during your life time? The fact is, it's no fun! For a small coffee farmer that cultivates a few acres of coffee this is a monumental task, and one that can not be done without help. There is a gentleman out there that works for an organization called FomCafe. He is a friend of the coffee farmer and their families. This young man not only helps with the RED TAPE but also works with COFFEE KIDS helping these little villages with entepreneurism and economic development. I asked Jose Luis the meaning of "Fom" that makes up the first syllable of FomCafe. He explained Fom is an abbreviation for the translated words in English...like come-along-side, beneficial, give-a-helping-hand-up. This friend of COFFEE KIDS that works for FomCafe dose just that, he comes along side. I have met this man and I would agree with Jose Luis, he is a true friend of these people!
Christino explained that Christino's uncle's coffee parcel is certified organic and FairTrade but not Shade Grown. I asked why? He said "the certifiers said the canopy was not thick enough". I'm looking up and I'm thinking, if it was any thicker there would be no sun coming through. I also thought, "it would be interesting to have the certifier pick this coffee, load it up on burros and prepare it for parchment, maybe then he would give the Shade Grown certification." I also learned that last year the farmer received $1.11 per pound for their coffee. The New York "C" was trading for around $1.22 at that time. FairTrade claims that they give around $1.45 per pound to the coffee farmer. To my understanding the dry mill folks are getting over .30 cents of the $1.45 that FairTrade claims goes directly to the farmer. Now, if this is true, I'm wondering how FairTrade justifies it's DO-GOOD ER marketing?? I need to make a few phone calls!! Maybe I've missed something during translation, but I doubt it!
This is just one of the reasons we give to COFFEE KIDS, to make sure that every coffee bean we roast is Traded Fairly!!!!
We returned to the village, said our goodbyes and started our journey back to the hotel. As I tried to stay seated upright though the windy road home(Putla), my thoughts wandered from the simple life of coffee farming to how our world has placed demands on these folks when all they want is to care for their coffee....
More to come....
The CoffeeMariner
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home