A Cafecito Story

Excerpt #2

A Better Coffee:
Developing Economic Fairness

Julia Alvarez’s moving Cafecito Story is happily not just a story; it is now the living reality of half a million family coffee farmers around the world. These farmers and their partners in the marketplace--people that include Carmen, Miguel, Joe, and you, yourself--have turned decades of hard work and dreams into a powerful international movement called fair trade. Fair trade is about transforming the growing and drinking of coffee.

Fair trade is effcient and profitable trade organized with a built-in commitment to equity, dignity, respect, and mutual aid. Fair trade guarantees farmers like Carmen and Miguel

• direct sales for their cooperatives,
• a fair price, regardless of international market prices,
• improved access to credit,
• a long-term marketing relationship, and
• a commitment from buyers to support environmental sustainability.

We all want to end the human misery we hear about daily, but many of us find it hard to figure out what we can do personally. Fair trade helps us make a difference. It is a concrete step toward positive change. Buying fair-trade coffee gives you a delicious cafecito and the deeper satisfaction of knowing that you have helped farmers invest in health care, education, environmental stewardship, and economic independence.

And fair trade ensures that farmers earn a living wage so they can have the stability to provide a better future for themselves and their children. Helping farmers cultivate the courage to pursue their dreams helps us nurture the courage to pursue our own. Now isn’t that a fair trade?