Fair Trade

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Introduction

What is fair? Is fair assuring everything is equal and evenhanded? Is fair avoiding cheating and fraud? Or, is fair simply an event filled with bright lights, colors, and candy that many of us go to as children. In the business and trade world, fair is defined as assuring equitable treatment and opportunities to all consumers and producers. The business world revolves around products (50).

Virtually every person in the entire world is either a coffee drinker or is acquainted with one. One may think, “Coffee? Why? I mean, its just coffee...” The fact of the matter is that it is not “just coffee.” Coffee is a beverage that is a societal accepted addiction: people of all ages, teenagers, adults, and the elderly, thrive off of it. Because of the significant demand, there is a considerably large amount of coffee plantations across the world. The majority of coffee grown is either in South America or Africa. Because of the strong coffee aroma that overtakes the planet, it is crucial that it is stocked in our supermarkets to buy whenever someone needs. Getting the coffee to the supermarkets and into the people’s cups creates an extremely detrimental effect that may be potentially fixable (Cycon).

Trade is now a complex matter. Trade is between consumer and producer. In the beginnings of history, trade served as a means to get by. Specialized workers created goods to trade with one another. This cooperation made it possible for chicken farmers to trade eggs for milk from a cow farmer. Co existing with one another was embraced. In modern times, trade has become corrupt and focused on productivity rather than sustainability (Peace). A capitalized market is what causes this; supply and demand, the higher demand, the more ...

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...rld of Fair Trade Coffee. New York: Chelsea Green, 2007. Print.

Decarlo, Jacqueline. Fair Trade A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides). Minneapolis: Oneworld Publications, 2007. Print.

"Fair trade -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 01 Feb. 2010. .

Jaffee, Daniel. Brewing Justice Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival. New York: University of California, 2007. Print.

Peace Coffee. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .

Sick, Deborah. Farmers of the Golden Bean Costa Rican Households, Global Coffee, and Fair Trade. New York: Northern Illinois UP, 2007. Print.

"Top 5 Indicators of Sustainable Coffee:." Coffee and Conservation. Web. 02 Feb. 2010. .

TransFair USA | Home. Web. 10 Sept. 2009. .

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