I asked you if you had any Fair Trade coffee. You said all of your coffee was ‘fairly traded’. I asked if you had any that was Fair Trade certified. You said, “I hate Fair Trade.” Seriously? I’m a consumer that took the time to ask about it, so one would assume that I genuinely care about it. Your comment was inappropriate, unprofessional, and offensive. I’m glad I didn’t accept your free cup of coffee.
—Java Girl
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.
I’d say I hate fair trade too if your attitude was the normal for most people that I saw day in and day out. You’re lucky I wasn’t serving you: I’d just tell you that it’s just fucking coffee.
I hate fair trade
Coffee is coffee
No doubt one gets what they pay for when all they shell out is minimum wage.
And FREE is FREE, OP. Everything tastes better when it’s free.
Fair Trade is a trademark. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it is fair to the labourers. It might sound good but I doubt it.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Fair-Trade-Gourm…
OKAY some good points!!!
-> “Without phones, newspapers, television, telephones, cell phones, and in most cases running water and electricity – how does this farmer even know about ” Fair Trade” in the first place?”
-> “With no savings; no banks; no loans; and no finances how does this farmer pay the fees to get certified fair trade?”
-> “Fair Trade doubles the price of coffee the farmer recieves but does nothing to ensure the laborers who work the farm receive any more money. Hence all the large farms owned by Americans but worked by locals help the Americans get much richer but do nothing for the local coffee workers.”
-> “It has done very little to help the farmers who need it the most. Or the labor”
After reading this it comes down to that it is a money grab kids out there.
I tend to agree, much to same effect of adding “Green” to everything supposedly makes it a more moral product, adding “Fair Trade” doesn’t say much since nobody actually knows what goes on in the trade of these products.
Jane we were talking this on the other thread..the ones who claim to be so healthy committing sins behind the door…
Like those who support poli like fair trade then should also be against child labour of sport wear companies and then must be against buying flowers from certain countries due to women slave labour and should never wear diamonds because it may be promoting racism in Africa…
I think it is great that we take on issues that are about humanity HOWEVER be consistent with your moral outrage is all I ask ……
I’ll continue to drink my ground gerbil turds, thank you very much.
I think buying a beverage based on who made a buck during it’s production rather than how it tastes is pretty ridiculous.
Why? Would you buy coffee you knew was made by slaves even if it tastes great?
i drink the coffee because its awesome
regardless where it came from 🙂
and its true if we keep focus on past events we will have nothing for our future haha
Jeeze…whether it’s free trade, Timmies or Kopi Luwak(made from coffee beans that passed through a cat’s digestive system)… if the shit tastes good drink it. In these economic times, it must be nice to be able to pick and chooose the rate of pay the poor kids who picked your beans in columbia received by only chosing “free trade”. Half the people who ask for that shit don’t even know what it means. Give me big profit coffee anyday – atelast I know I am supporting the North American economy.
I Like Fair Trade Sumatran blend – I’m not bothered how it’s made or picked or produced, who gets exploited, or not exploited, who is a barista (aka nascad grad) or if camels honked their spleen all over it – I just want to get my selfish arse out of bed waddle down to the kitchen, say a cheery good morning to the 3 shitrats (cats) and pour a large mug of this elixir down my phlegm coated throat. Very selfish and thoughtless – absolutely…..
I think the issue here is not drinking fair trade coffee, which I’m not sure why everyone here thinks it’s such a big deal, as it doesn’t affect them – but, the rudeness of the store clerk. All she had to say was “no, we don’t serve fair trade certified coffee.”
Unless Java Girl is a real shidiot and decided to ask this question at Robin’s Donuts or something, in which case it’s still rude, but I’d have less sympathy.
And to those opposed to sweatshops etc in Third World countries, ruminate on this. For those people it is a choice of eating that day or not. Their economy is not like ours. A dollar a day there is not like a dollar a day here. If they weren’t working, they’d be living out of dumps.
Bloody brilliant logic there, Bro Tim. All those adults and children being worked like slaves and horribly abused should be grateful for their sweatshop jobs, because by golly, it could be worse. Hell, we should all personally thank the greedy capitalists who are producing shit products at the cost of human lives. I mean really, by paying people pennies to produce their goods and then still selling those goods to us at exorbitant prices, we all win in the end!
meow that’s reality, I didn’t invent it. Those who work in those places have better lives than those who don’t. Of course we could pay them all $20.00/hr and a crappy shirt would cost us over $100.00.
If you want to exploit people for cheap labour, fine. Just don’t go parading around like you’re doing it from the goodness of your heart, when in fact you’re taking advantage of desperate people to rake in millions of dollars from their backbreaking labour.
Bro Tim, no one mentioned paying garment makers plumbers’ wages except you. Apparently there’s no middle ground?
Them I suggest you buy from places that pay their employees a living wage (Western standard). Do the same for food and any other product.
The economy of the third world is vastly different than ours. Those poor slave labourers live much better than most in their areas.
For example, in Halifax you can live on $10/hr, now that’s not fancy living, but it can be done. Try living in Manhatten with that. You can’t. The economies are different. Here they advertise two and three bedroom apartments, in NYC they advertise 3 or 4 room apartments and most starting at $2,000/month. Different places, different economies. You cannot compare.
It’s true subsistence living is better than starving, but there’s no chance of ever saving any money to move on or better yourself/your family. They get to survive – that’s all. I’m not saying that everyone needs big screen TVs and jacuzzis, just that no one needs to feel great about what goes on there. It’s kind of like, hey, you need a leg, so I’ll give you a toe, but only if you break your back for me, and don’t you dare be ungrateful.
I’m not trying to judge anyone who doesn’t buy fair trade stuff. I buy used stuff for the most part or be creative with what I already have, and I buy FT food when possible but it’s not always possible.
I’m just saying, don’t expect me to get all warm and fuzzy about it.
I’m not sure that it’s possible to even fairly compare NYC and Halifax as a parallel analogy because the economies of third world countries are affected by many things which we’re isolated from, such as war and colonialism, which are fed by the West.
I can’t believe how many people just want a coffee that tastes good no matter who produced it. If you found out the owner of your corner store was a wife beater, pedophile or just a plain asshole would you go down there and buy potato chips? Maybe you would but I sure wouldn’t. Just because you’re so far removed from something doesn’t make it any less real.
It’s pretty damn hard to research everything you buy but I think it’s important to avoid certain brands that you know are “evil”. Pick one company whose practices you oppose and boycott that company. It’s the only way that the reality you “didn’t invent” will ever change.
fair trade coffee is a good idea, but then everyone got in on it, making it nothing more than a fad, then a buzzword, and now a distraction from more important issues. coffee is coffee, whether its the wonderful vietnamese rubusta found in chinese shops or your standard shit floating around in foil bags ready to pour into coffee machines everywhere.
Agreed, Rango.
There’s a great quote out there that I’ll butcher:
“A person controls what exists in the world by what he/she spends his/her money on.”
true that