Tag Archives: Fair Trade Certification

322. Recommendations for the future of FT4All

2012-11-29 Comments Off on 322. Recommendations for the future of FT4All

The world’s first Fair Trade Certification pilots with independent smallholder coffee farmers are winding down in Colombia.  CRS supported one of those pilots. Based on that experience, we offer three recommendations for future pilots: two to ensure they generate the kind of rigorous, results-based evidence we believe should drive decisions about the future of Fair […]

320. The future of FT4All

2012-11-26 Comments Off on 320. The future of FT4All

When we announced here back in May that CRS would support a Fair Trade for All pilot project with independent smallholder farmers in Colombia, we identified “influence” as a leading motivation: We believe we are uniquely positioned to independently document the impacts of FT4All’s pilots and influence the evolution of the Fair Trade model. Nearly […]

319. Please call me by my true names

2012-11-19 Comments Off on 319. Please call me by my true names

CRS has been working to support smallholder coffee farmers — both in the coffeelands and in the U.S. marketplace — for the better part of 10 years.  For most of that time we have kept a low profile, working quietly to help farmers increase coffee productivity, quality and income at origin and  expand the market […]

311. Big news in coffee

2012-10-10 Comments Off on 311. Big news in coffee

I have been so busy preparing for and participating in Sustainable Harvest’s 10th annual Let’s Talk Coffee in Colombia last week that I am just getting caught up on some recent news in coffee. Here are some of the biggest stories in specialty coffee from the last month.

296. Back to school special: Fair Trade reading list

2012-08-27 Comments Off on 296. Back to school special: Fair Trade reading list

Over the past few years, I have interacted both online and off with university students and faculty who have incorporated Coffeelands blog content into their studies of agroecology, journalism,  sustainable trade, etc.  Of particular interest to university readers has been the current split in the Fair Trade movement caused by Fair Trade USA’s Fair Trade […]

295. The Nation takes a ringside seat at the Fair Trade “brawl”

2012-08-23 Comments Off on 295. The Nation takes a ringside seat at the Fair Trade “brawl”

The Nation magazine, the venerable weekly that has been a progressive standard bearer since the Civil War, has weighed in on the state of the U.S. Fair Trade movement in its 10 September 2012 issue.  In “The Brawl Over Fair Trade Coffee,” The Nation writer Scott Sherman reaches farther and wider than any other coverage […]

290. Em [power] ment

2012-08-01 Comments Off on 290. Em [power] ment

Empowerment is a popular term in the fields of international development and Fair Trade.  It has been mentioned many times in the current debate over changes to the Fair Trade system — including several times on this blog — by people who are both for FT4All and against it: Ed Canty buys Fair Trade Certified […]

288. What we know (and don’t) about the impact of Fair Trade

2012-07-09 Comments Off on 288. What we know (and don’t) about the impact of Fair Trade

As readers of this blog will know, recently we decided to get involved in a Fair Trade for All pilot project in Colombia, in part because we want to understand and document the impacts of Fair Trade on independent smallholder farmers.  As part of our effort to design a strong impact assessment, I have been […]

287. The Fair Trade split — and CRS — in the news

2012-07-05 Comments Off on 287. The Fair Trade split — and CRS — in the news

It is turning out to be a Green Mountain week. On Monday, I published this guest post by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Fair Trade coffee buyer Ed Canty on the company’s approach to the Fair Trade for All pilots with independent smallholder farmers and estates. And today, the Burlington Free Press — the Green Mountain […]

286. Guest post: Ed Canty explains Green Mountain’s approach to FT4All pilots

2012-07-02 Comments Off on 286. Guest post: Ed Canty explains Green Mountain’s approach to FT4All pilots

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters became the world’s largest Fair Trade coffee buyer in 2010, when it purchased over 26 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee.  The person responsible for all those purchases is Ed Canty, the company’s certified coffee buyer.  But Ed isn’t only in charge of Fair Trade coffee buying for GMCR.  He […]