Never quite got what fair trade coffee is all about? Lucky for you, here’s a one-paragraph explanation of why fair trade coffee’s necessary, brought to you by a travel article titled “Destination: The Java Zone” in Sierra magazine written by Gregory Dicum, eco-journalist and co-author of The Coffee Book:

Almost all the major coffee-producing countries are former colonies, and the problems inherent to colonization still haunt the industry. Deforestation continues in many countries–especially Vietnam and Brazil–and the appalling labor practices of early coffee cultivation, when slavery was commonplace, have given way to a system in which some 25 million impoverished farmers worldwide compete to grow the cheapest beans, regardless of environmental or social costs.

In short, fair trade coffee seeks to address these socio-enviro issues. For one, fair trade certification offers a guaranteed minimum price to coffee growers with few resources who are often scammed by middlemen and shafted by large corporations. Plus, organic coffee get an additional premium above that minimum price, providing an economic incentive for farmers to move toward sustainable agriculture.

Those reasons are the basic incentives why many people opt for organic, fair trade coffee. Of course, some people like fair trade coffee simply because the stuff generally taste better, since farmers are more likely to have the financial incentive and resources to improve the quality of their product. In fact, fair trade coffees often win prestigious coffee taste tests!

In the Sierra article, Greg talks about his visit to a fair trade coffee co-op in Nicaragua — a fitting locale to start thinking about fair trade coffee. After all, “The first fair-trade coffee sold in the United States, Equal Exchange’s Cafe Nica, was launched in 1986 specifically to challenge the Reagan-era embargo against Nicaraguan products,” Greg points out.

Want to combine your eco-consciousness with social activism? The Sierra Club sells organic, fair trade coffee! And many other double-certified coffees are competing for your taste buds, so you can indulge in while supporting a cause you care about. Here are five eco-ethical coffees to jolt you into 2009

To find out more about how best to pick out your favorite caffeinated drink, read my 6-Step Program for the Caffeine Addicted. Then follow these great blogs to find out more about both coffee and fair trade:

>> Equal Exchange’s Small Farmers Big Change blog. Find out what the co-op that first brought fair trade coffee to the U.S. has to say about fair trade today.

>> Change.org’s Fair Trade blog. Written by Zarah, this blog covers the latest news in the fair trade world.

>> Global Exchange Fair Trade Store blog. This blog explores fair trade issues from the perspective of a nonprofit fair trade organization.

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