FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Global Exchange
February 22, 2001
Contact: Deborah James or Jason Mark, 415-255-7296

World market prices for coffee, set on the New York "C" market, reached 8-year lows this week as prices dipped under the $.60 per pound mark. The drop in prices will push already cash-strapped coffee farmers even closer to bankruptcy, giving new urgency to efforts to promote "Fair Trade Certified" coffee here in the US, fair trade advocates say. Fair Trade Certified coffee guarantees farmers $1.26 a pound for their harvest, offering them a living wage that allows them to avoid debt and support their families.

"By guaranteeing farmers a living wage for their harvest, Fair Trade coffee triples the earnings of farmers in the world's poor countries," says Deborah James, Fair Trade director at Global Exchange, an international human rights organization that promotes sustainable and equitable development. "With coffee prices so low, it is more important now than ever that coffee drinkers here in the US ask for Fair Trade Certified coffee."

Coffee is the second largest US import after oil, and the US consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. But few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

Recent drops in world coffee prices have made the farmers' lives even worse.. Prices are currently at an eight-year low, sliding below 80 cents a pound last August and reaching 59 cents this week. With production costs averaging around 90 cents a pound, farmers right now are pressed to feed their families--never mind paying their outstanding debts - and often lose their land.

"The drastic fall in coffee prices means, in two words, poverty and hunger for thousands of small producers in Latin America," says Merling Preza Ramos, Director of PRODECOOP Fair Trade cooperative in Nicaragua.

Fair Trade Certified coffee corrects market imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum price for small farmers' harvest and encouraging organic and sustainable cultivation methods that are safer for communities. Fair Trade farmer cooperatives are provided badly needed credit and assured a minimum of $1..26 per pound. With the extra profits, coffee growers are able to invest in their families' health care and education. Fair Trade Certified coffee currently benefits 500,000 farming families in 20 countries.

Consumers can purchase Fair Trade coffee at approximately 7,000 retail locations in the US. More than 80 roasters and retailers now offer Fair Trade coffee, including Starbucks, Tully's, Diedrich, Peet's, as well as several companies that offer 100% Fair Trade coffee including Equal Exchange, Peace Coffee and Café Campesino.

"With world market prices as low as they are right now, we see that a lot of farmers cannot maintain their families and their land anymore. We need Fair Trade now more than ever," says Jerónimo Bollen, Director of Manos Campesinas, a Fair Trade coffee cooperative in Guatemala.