So I’ve talked a lot more about what coffees Not to buy than those TO buy.
Well, for starters, try to buy fair trade.
Or, go a step further and buy coffee only from companies that are 100% fair trade.
Or, if you really want to be anal about it, do what The Green Guide recommends: “try to select coffee that is triple-certified: organic, shade-grown and fairly traded.”
A few e-tailers, such as Cafe Canopy and Caffe Ibis, offer triple-certified stuff, but they’re still pretty rare. More companies, like Grounds for Change, offer double-certified coffee — fair trade and organic certified — also claiming that their coffee is shade grown, just not certified shade grown.
But actually finding organic, fair trade, shade-grown coffee in a physical store you can walk in, grab a pound of the stuff, and take it to the check-out counter, is somewhat difficult.
Add to that the fact that some of the places that sell triple-certified coffee seem not so environmentally or socially conscious themselves. Whole Foods, for example, carries Caffee Ibis’ triple-certified coffee, but also, in a Walmart-esque draconian manner, refuses to let its employees organize.
Enter Trader Joe’s to the rescue (I write this while sipping two buck Chuck). I know they really do treat their employees nicely, because a guy in my graduate program called Jay used to work there, and he said so. Trader Joe’s carries not only three types of organic, fair trade coffees, but also an organic fair trade cocoa — yum!
Trader Joe’s Cafe Pajaro – Organic and fair trade. TJ’s also claims it’s shade-grown.
Cost: $7.69 per pound.
Trader Joe’s Organic Bolivian Blend — Organic and fair trade. TJ’s also claims it’s shade-grown.
Cost: $7.99 per pound.
Trader Joe’s Organic Five Country Espresso Blend — Organic and fair trade. No shade-grown claims, but it is kosher, if you like that.
Cost: $6.45 for 12 oz.
Trader Joe’s Conacado Organic Fair Trade Cocoa — Organic and Fair Trade.
Cost: $3.99 for 12 oz.
Brew and enjoy.
**Update, 11/27/05: Trader Joe’s has added a new fair trade coffee: Ethiopian Fair Trade Organic Shade Grown Coffee — Organic and fair trade certified, and probably shade-grown. Cost: $6.99
Filed in: traderjoes coffee environment fairtrade food organic shadegrown cocoa
