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This is a re-post of a blog from November 12, 2011when Equal Exchange staff Beth Ann Caspersen and Lynsey Miller visited coffee producers in Uganda.To read more about their travels, visit Equal Exchange’s blog series.

Portrait of a Gumutindo Coffee Farm

Lynsey describes walking through a coffee farm on their fifth day:

 Looking Up

There is so much to take in on Jennipher’s small farm in Nasufwa. Banana trees tower above us, as if keeping watch over the activity below. The bunches of bananas are still to green, not yet ready for harvest to sell, not yet ready to mash into matoke and enjoy.

Eye Level

The coffee trees look good, the first red cherries will soon be picked. Many more green cherries will ripen in the coming weeks. We pass an older coffee tree and Beth Ann and Jennipher talk about options for replacing this old tree with a new seedling. A new tree will produce at least three times the coffee that this aging tree is mustering, but there is a trade off: the seedling will take a few years to get to that peak level of production. When is the right time to cut your losses on the aging tree, forgoing its small harvest for several years of no harvest, but knowing you’re investing in a better future return? Every decision on this farm is thoughtful.

Waist High

I keep bumping into this intriguing plant. Its giant leaves sway slowly, and this morning’s rain still clings to it. I am surprised to learn that it’s a yam plant. What a showy display for a root crop.

Down Low

At first glance the lower plants look like a chaotic array of tropical weeds. Of course that isn’t so. A patch of chard is to the right, beans climb to the left. Just visible through the branches of the coffee tree is a patch of brown the size of a small room. The lumpiness of this unassuming plot is a giveaway for the potatoes growing underneath.

The Soil

The ground itself gets as much attention as the plants that sprout from it. Jennipher composts her family’s food waste. She has a trench to capture soil during floods, to later redistribute it instead of losing it. She has a whole system for turning her cow’s manure into organic fertilizer.

The Sounds

I’ve never strolled through a coffee plantation, where rows and rows of coffee are all that the eye can see. I’m told they are silent, devoid of animals, birds, and even of most insects. This farm is raucous: cows are braying, birds are chirping, bugs buzzing and – best of all – the family who lives on this farm tells us all about it, proudly.

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Tim Robertson

The following guest post by Tim Robertson, Director of the California Fair Trade Coalition, originally appeared on Huffington Post:

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Why is the TPP Such a Big Secret?

Next week in Dallas, negotiations for what’s likely to be the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in U.S. history will continue in near total secrecy, despite growing demands for an open process. The darkness surrounding the talks isn’t surprising, considering the American public’s increasing disapproval of FTAs and the laundry list of corporate handouts under discussion.

What is surprising is United States trade representative Ron Kirk’s growing crackdown on public involvement, despite claims of “unprecedented transparency.”

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP) is being negotiated as a nine country FTA between the U.S., Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Canada, Japan and Mexico are all expected to join talks, and many see more Pacific Rim countries including China and Russia eventually signing on. With floundering WTO talks, the TPP could very well establish U.S. trade policy for the next generation, yet all talks are happening behind closed doors and public influence has been increasingly suppressed.

Just this February, during unannounced TPP meetings in Los Angeles, the USTR apparently strong-armed the host hotel into canceling a health group-sponsored luncheon seeking to expose how Big Pharma’s patent rights demands challenge AIDS treatment worldwide.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox, itself lobbying for severe copyright measures, were permitted to give trade negotiators a multi-hour tour of their film-production facilities.

This lopsided allocation of influence has been standard for the TPP. Corporations and their lobbyists have seen consistent access to the negotiations — about 600 corporate advisors can review and comment on working TPP texts — and trade negotiators from partner countries.

The Washington International Trade Association’s “World Trade Reception” for Trans-Pacific FTA negotiators featured the A-Team of corporate lobby groups and some of the most powerful corporations in the U.S. hobnobbing amongst trade ministers, with nary a voice for the public, unions, environmental or public health groups.

So, what exactly is the USTR hiding? Well, there are quite a few damning secrets:

Secret No. 1: The TPP is covertly attacking the same internet freedom rights that spurred online protests over ACTA and SOPA.

Secret No. 2: The TPP would make it more enticing for corporations to offshore jobs by opening our market to Vietnamese labor, which has significantly lower average wages than China.

Secret No. 3: The TPP could be a death sentence to patients with AIDS, tuberculosis, and other treatable diseases around the world.

Secret No. 4: The TPP would ban capital controls and impose limits on financial regulation, including post-recession checks on firm size and risky investments.

Secret No. 5: Americans hate FTAs! Recent polls have found more than twice as many Americans think FTAs hurt than help, and 69 percent of Americans think they cost jobs, which they do.

The list goes on, as there are 26 separate negotiating chapters, covering issues as diverse as labor, environmental, and procurement rules, which just drew the ire of 69 Members of Congress.

Congress has also lamented the continued secrecy of the negotiations. After proposing Senate amendments forcing TPP transparency, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) told Kirk, “I feel very strongly with respect to TPP about getting the proposals that you’re looking at… online so that the public can have a chance to be heard on it,” during a March Senate Finance Committee hearing.

None of this has dissuaded the USTR from the non-democratic nature of the talks. Starting in Dallas, he’s actually doubling down by eliminating the day-long stakeholder presentation program, leaving civil society just a side tabling session.

The only way the corporate shopping list that is the TPP can get past public scrutiny is if no one ever hears about it. Fortunately, activists are fighting back May 8 to 18 in Dallas, and an online petition has already garnered thousands of signatures calling on Kirk to release TPP proposals.

We’ve learned from past FTAs that exposure to the light of democracy can stop them in their tracks. The TPP is no different. Please help return democracy to trade talks by signing the petition and sharing this article.

The following is a guest post by Jacob Schmalzle.

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MADE IN CHINA…Or Is It?  The Outsourcing Rabbit Hole

As the founder of my church’s Fair Trade mission, I’ve witnessed untold billions of dollars wasted on ineffective programs to alleviate poverty. Without belittling these efforts, the complex problems of economic injustice have clearly not been solved. Though well-intentioned, these altruistic motives are often no match for the powers of greed, desperation and the willingness of the greedy to exploit the desperate.

Exploitation takes on many forms. It is with different political structures, different cultural tolerances, and with varying perspectives that we recognize (or fail to recognize) exploitation around the world, even in our own backyard. The efforts of watch-dog groups that fight for human rights have made serious progress in the task of illuminating social injustice. However, when you turn on the kitchen light and see a multitude of roaches scatter into hiding, the smart ones will end up at your neighbor’s house rather than succumb to extermination. The roaches that exploit desperate people for underpaid labor are scattering from Asia into Africa.

While not the only contributing factor, outsourcing in the last several decades has spawned an industrial revolution across Asia. The desire to maximize profit is a function of every business model, and outsourcing to cheaper labor markets continues to be a logical move for many companies. The problem is when profit ceilings are not defined by basic ethics, and workers are exploited or worse, enslaved.

After decades of economic growth, Asian economies are becoming more developed and have moved away from manufacturing toward services and technologies. Following the corporate hand-washing model of outsourcing accountability along with production, Asian factories have now re-outsourced to cheaper African labor markets as the “last frontier”. Export Processing Zones (EPZ), factories that operate without corporate tax, import/export duties and without any notable workers rights, are becoming common. It’s like an “African Bermuda Triangle” of manufacturing. Companies are slashing production costs while neglecting to provide gainful employment to producers or any cost savings to consumers.

I have been on private tours of several clothing factories and was shocked to recognize clothing being produced for mainstream labels. Raw textiles are imported duty-free, clothing is produced with underpaid labor, free of corporate taxes, and then exported back to Asia where a “Made in Asia” label is attached. The clothing ends up on racks of retail stores in developed countries. One factory owner told me that not a single article of clothing will cost them more than $2, including labor and shipping. How much did you pay for your last pair of brand name dress slacks? Do YOU feel exploited?

If we thought it was tough fighting exploitation, it just got a lot tougher. The web of corporate outsourcing and re-outsourcing, combined with political policies that have been over-engineered to attract foreign commerce, leaves the human rights warrior picking their jaw up off the floor.

The good news is that the Fair Trade movement is uniting people from many different platforms to provide alternatives. As we educate consumers, they realize that exploitation of workers is also usually accompanied by unjustifiably high retail pricing. Why do I pay $50-100 for the dress pants that cost $2 to produce?

Eliminating exploitative middlemen to pay producers a fair wage also eliminates the profit margins of those middlemen. As Fair Trade volumes increase, prices must come down so we can simply phase out the exploitative model by natural market competition. There are no more “last frontiers” for the exploitative roaches to hide.

While the people reading this right now might cringe at the very mention of the word “sweatshop”, let’s face it, the average shopper is only out to help themselves, their image or their sex appeal. If we can keep Fair Trade prices lower than non-Fair Trade substitutes, consumers will ALWAYS make the ethical choice to save money AND help people. The future of Fair Trade cannot depend on the good will of a select few…the future of Fair Trade must depend on competitive positioning within the general market.

Fair Trade needs to lose the “lone rangers” who try to put an overpriced fence around their corner of the market. Fair Trade needs to be a movement that breaks into the global market with quality substitutes at competitive prices. May our collective advocacy of Fair Trade and the impact we make continue to be blessed!

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Jacob Schmalzle is the Founder and Managing Director of Village Markets of Africa, the Fair Trade mission of the Lutheran Church in Kenya. He can be reached at jacob@villagemarketsofafrica.com.

Sachiko (far right), Gilbert (3rd from left), Courtney (2nd from left) with Global Exchange store staff.

The following was written by Global Exchange Fair Trade Store intern Sachiko Muraoka, who will be finishing her work here with us this week. We will be sad to see her go, but excited to see what great things she does next!

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On Saturday, July 23rd, the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store in Fair Trade Town San Francisco hosted a Fair Trade Talk with Gilbert Ramirez from CoopeAgri in Costa Rica and Courtney Lang from Fair Trade USA. Gilbert’s town Pérez Zeledón is the very first Fair Trade Town in Latin America.

Before the talk, we all enjoyed tasty Fair Trade Peace Coffee. Yum! Then Courtney started off the event with a brief introduction to Fair Trade.

Next, Gilbert shared his experiences with and visions of his coffee and sugar cooperative, CoopeAgri, which at the beginning had more than 300 farmers. It is located in Pérez Zeledón, a biologically diverse city in the central valley of Costa Rica. By 2010, about 12,000 members have joined the cooperative, 65% male and 35% female members.

The cooperative was established in 1962, before the Fair Trade movement was established. CoopeAgri started a Fair Trade development model in 1994. They are committed to producing sustainably produced coffee and sugar. For example, their coffee mill conserves the use of water and energy and they practice forest protection programs. Most of their coffee is exported overseas, especially since their coffee became Fair Trade Certified in 1994.

Their coffee sales have increased dramatically over time, but they’re hoping to grow much more moving forward. The cooperative exports their coffee to more than 70 countries but their coffee is not being distributed in the United States as much as Gilbert would like. At this point, CoopeAgri exports 70% of its coffee to Europe and 16 % to the United States.

Fair Trade coffee farmer from CoopeAgri

Gilbert told us that they are aiming to export more coffee to the US and that during his trip here one of his main goals was to explore how to make this a reality. According to The Coffee Book by Nina Luttinger and Gregory Dicum, 1.5 millon cups of coffee is being consumed worldwide every day and the U.S. represents one-fifth of it. Given that the U.S. consumes more coffee than any other country, it makes sense that this is a critical goal to coffee cooperatives such as Pérez Zeledón.

Although Fair Trade has been promoted as a means to equalize the economic gap between developed and developing countries, Gilbert mentioned that Fair Trade can offer more personal connections besides its economic and environmental impacts. Fair Trade brings a direct connection between producers from the community, and buyers and customers. This is possible in part because the Fair Trade model cuts out the middlemen usually present in the conventional trade system.

House (before) CoopeAgri Fair Trade premium funded renovation

The Fair Trade model also helps fund community development projects, thanks to Fair Trade premiums producers receive. CoopeAgri provides a variety of benefits to its members, including social security and medical, housing funds which more than 70 families have benefited so far, and education and sports programs for children.

House (after) CoopeAgri Fair Trade premium funded renovation

The cooperative also provides some social services for community members who do not belong to the group.

CoopeAgri will commemorate its 50 years anniversary next year. We all hope they will maintain and increase their positive development. These days it is not difficult to find Fair Trade coffee in the United States, particularly in a city like San Francisco, with its numerous markets and coffee shops providing Fair Trade coffee. But meeting directly with a coffee producer…so not common!

This event gave me a better understanding of and new perspectives about Fair Trade coffee and its positive impacts on one producer community. Long-term relationships between cooperatives, importers, and customers are important.

A big thanks to Courtney and Gilbert for participating in this event. I’m looking forward to tasting CoopeAgri´s coffee in the United States in the near future. ¡Muchas gracias!

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