Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and SurvivalFair trade is a fast-growing alternative market intended to bring better prices and greater social justice to small farmers around the world. But what does a fair-trade label signify? This vivid study of coffee farmers in Mexico offers the first thorough investigation of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of fair trade. Based on extensive research in Zapotec indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Brewing Justice follows the members of the cooperative Michiza, whose organic coffee is sold on the international fair-trade market, and compares them to conventional farming families in the same region. The book carries readers into the lives of coffee-producer households and communities, offering a nuanced analysis of fair trade’s effects on everyday life and the limits of its impact. Brewing Justice paints a clear picture of the dynamics of the fair-trade market and its relationship to the global economy. Drawing on interviews with dozens of fair-trade leaders, the book also explores the movement’s fraught politics, especially the challenges posed by rapid growth and the increased role of transnational corporations. It concludes with recommendations to strengthen and protect the integrity of fair trade. This updated edition includes a substantial new chapter that assesses recent developments in both coffee-growing communities and movement politics, offering a guide to navigating the shifting landscape of fair-trade consumption. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
A Movement or a Market? | 11 |
Coffee Commodities Crisis | 36 |
Nations most reliant on coffee exports 1998 | 47 |
World C coffee price and fairtrade prices 19882006 | 56 |
One Region Two Markets | 58 |
Yagavila and surroundings | 59 |
Map of Rincón de Ixtlán Oaxaca Mexico | 60 |
Livelihoods and Labor | 93 |
Composition of household income Yagavila and Teotlasco 2003 | 104 |
Household income and expenses Yagavila and Teotlasco 20022003 | 105 |
Michiza member with new house under construction Yagavila | 116 |
Handselecting coffee to meet export quality standards | 126 |
A Sustainable Cup? Fair Trade ShadeGrown Coffee | 133 |
Food Security and Migration | 165 |
Dancing with the Devil? | 199 |
Most important crops in Oaxaca 1991 | 67 |
Coffeeplot size in the Rincón de Ixtlán region 2003 | 68 |
Michiza member harvesting coffee cherries Yagavila | 70 |
Spreading parchment coffee to dry Teotlasco | 71 |
Coyote with parchment coffee exchanged for merchandise Yagavila | 76 |
Michiza member family with annual coffee harvest Teotlasco | 79 |
Checking dryprocessed coffee for quality before export | 80 |
Loading green coffee for export to Germany | 88 |
Strengthening Fair Trade | 247 |
Acknowledgments | 327 |
Notes | 349 |
373 | |
384 | |
391 | |
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Common terms and phrases
activists agricultural bananas beans benefits Café cash CEPCO certifiers coffee crisis coffee farmers coffee market coffee plots coffee prices coffee production coffee sales commodity consumers conventional producers cooperatives corn corporate costs coyote crops ducers economic environmental Equal Exchange export fair trade Fair Trade USA fair-trade certification fair-trade coffee fair-trade market fair-trade members fair-trade movement fair-trade organizations fair-trade prices fair-trade producers fair-trade system fair-trade-certified Fairtrade International FTUSA global South harvest hectares hired labor Inmecafé interview Ixtlán kilogram label land libre Max Havelaar Mexican Mexico Michiza members migration milpa minimum price mozos neoliberal Nestlé Oaxaca City organic certification organic coffee parcels peasant percent pesos plantations premium producer groups producer organizations purchase Rainforest Alliance region retailers Rincón says seal sell small farmers small producers social standards Starbucks sumers survey tion Transfair USA transnational Tyrtania United village Yagavila and Teotlasco Zapotec