Comments on: Black Gold: A collection

By: Siel

Siel — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 02:21:28 +0000

Hey Martin111 — I’m not sure who you were refering to when you wrote “him.” Are you talking about FLO? Fairtrade Federation? TransFair USA? In any case, what I think you’re pointing to is a concern that big companies — that aren’t doing a whole lot of good in the world — might be able to greenwash their image by dipping their toes into fair trade certification. You might find this series of posts helpful in thinking through those issues.

By: Martin111

Martin111 — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 21:13:39 +0000

Is fairetrade really better when fairtrade is spending 1/3 of 5.3 m euro that was given to him on communication to promote is product.Fairtrade is already in Mcdonalds around the world do you think is t alright.At Wallmart you can buy a t-shirt made by 6 yo kinds in China turn around and buy a fairtrade product is there something wrong or… see Christian Jacquiau for more detail

By: cali373

cali373 — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:24:41 +0000

Let us not forget our backyard countries in Latin America like Mexico,central America, Brazil and Colombia that also grow coffee. I come from Colombia which the coffee crisis has fueled so much poverty which fuels delinquency. and then I see the major roasters like foldgers, sara lee, nestle profit enormously by selling poor quality coffee. There has to be something wrong. I also want to let Americans know that Colombia exports only the best quality coffee beans to the US, but the major roasters mix it with old coffee and market it as the best coffee beans.

By: JT

JT — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:43:00 +0000

screw fairtrade only once a week, try every day!!! i used to live in madison WI and they a\had about 5 small coffee shops that only sold fair trade coffee and even fair trade chocolate. if these little one-man coffee shops can afford to sell fair trade coffee (yes it is a bit more expensive) and still keep in bussiness, i think starbucks could go 100% FTO and still reap in the money. I personally refuse to buy ANYTHING from starbucks. it’s just not as good as those small coffee shops!

By: jody

jody — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:34:52 +0000

hi there –
maybe you could add a 7th “action item” to your list? our company, higher grounds trading co., is organizing a trip to ethiopia hosted by Oromia. we’ll be visiting farmers in the Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harrar regions, all of them primary co-ops belonging to Oromia. there are a few spaces left but the dates are fast approaching.
dates: jan 3 – 15th
more information is on-line at http://www.fairtradetours.com (a new initiative of our company)
see fair trade in action!