Coffee has never been a crop grown for subsistence purposes (such as rice, corn, or wheat). Although millions of coffee drinkers feel other wise (I know I do), the deep, wonderful, aromatic cup of Joe that is a necessary part of the day for many, is NOT a basic food crop. Contrary to the popular opinion of coffee aficionados, people can actually survive without it. Sure, if coffee suddenly became unavailable those of us who are happily hooked on this morning elixir would have headaches for days and be about as pleasant as a hive of irritated bees, BUT we wouldn’t starve. This fact explains why coffee has been a cash crop at least since the Venetians began importing it from Arab countries in the sixteenth century.

Coffee is a valuable crop, the higher quality, gourmet beans and blends fetching higher prices (justified by the experiences such coffees provide). The high value of coffee combined with it being cultivated in countries that lack labor laws and/or have a much lower cost of living has made it possible to pay workers or small farmers a very small percentage of the final sales price. For example, a farm worker in Nicaragua harvesting coffee all day might make ten dollars out of the two hundred dollars those same fifty pounds of roasted beans sell for at the supermarket. “Fair trade” coffee attempts to diminish this disparity between what the farmer earns and the final retail price by eliminating the costs associated with vendors who buy the coffee at very low prices from producers, and then sell it at much higher prices to distributors. Various “free-trade” organizations and companies bypass these coffee traders by working directly with the small farmers that produce the coffee. In addition to paying the farmers a better price for their goods, these organizations also provide these farmers with credit to help them stay out of debt. In these ways, free trade coffee improves the standard of living for many small farmers in coffee growing regions. This not only affects the farmer but obviously impacts their families and the societies they live in as well. For small farmers in Guatemala, for example, selling their coffee beans to free trade organizations doesn’t mean they will get rich or be able to buy a gaming console or Ipod for their kids. No, the benefits of fair trade coffee for their children are far more modest and basic in nature such as getting proper nutrition and having the chance to finish high school. Fair trade coffee also usually means a healthier environment for farmers because for coffee to be certified as fair trade, it must be grown in a manner that does not harm its surroundings.

Contrary to popular belief, fair trade coffee does not usually cost more than coffees of the same quality. It might fetch a higher price than that of low quality, Arabica beans grown on mechanized farms in Brazil, but costs the same as or even less than many gourmet coffees.