Jeffrey A. Nelson: What's In Your Cup?
October is Fair Trade Month.
Fair Trade is the paying of a set minimum wage to coffee farmers, first to pay them what they need and deserve and second to help stimulate the economy in which they find themselves. These farmers find themselves in more depressed regions of Latin America and South America, and in a free trade environment see diminishing returns for their labor, barely enough to support themselves. The United States consumes 1/5 of the world's coffee, and coffee is second only to oil in how widely-traded a commodity it is. So yeah, it's important.
Learn more about what Fair Trade is here.
And here's something I wrote a while ago about how much better Fair Trade coffee tastes. Drink a cup of Equal Exchange "Mind, Body and Soul" and then a cup of Maxwell House and seriously tell me Maxwell House is better. I will laugh at you. HA.
That's how justice tastes, man. Truly good to the last drop.