The coffee trade is unhealthy for two reasons, Clark says: because the United States refuses to permit quotas that would prevent surpluses, and because a few behemoth buyers like Nestle purchase large quantities of really bad, really cheap coffee (they cover up the taste with artificial flavors). The best-known proposed fix for these problems is what is called “fair trade,” an arrangement in which consumers willingly pay higher prices in exchange for assurances that their coffee was acquired ethically.
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Fair trade farmers, he says, get paid a fixed price, so they have no incentive to produce quality coffee—”It’s an open secret,” he writes, “that Fair Trade beans have historically been much lower in quality than their unsanctified cousins.” And how many consumers will really pay a higher price for worse coffee? Starbucks, meanwhile, buys high-quality beans on the open market, for which it typically pays a few cents less per pound than the sanctioned fair trade price (last year, it paid more).
[ Drip Grind by Doron Taussig, in Washington Monthly ]
