As the (former) Producer Relations Coordinator at Equal Exchange, people are always asking me why we choose to focus our relationships and purchasing strategies on small farmer co-operatives. Most people familiar with Fair Trade understand the critical importance that higher prices, advance credit and direct relationships have on growers. Through decades of organizing, educating, and advocating, the Fair Trade movement has succeeded in raising the bar for much of the “ethical trade” industry, at least in coffee. Today, many coffee companies source direct, provide credit, and offer higher than market prices –and we’re excited about that.
Yet, there’s another equally – some would say even more important – reason we work with farmer co-operatives. Sometimes I get tired of making this point, but I think it’s actually a hard one for many of us in the U.S. to fully grasp. In our culture, “individualism” is steeped into our subconscious from an early age. From the days of the Wild West, heroic individualism is applauded. It’s the American Dream that anyone who works hard enough can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” Anyone can become a millionaire – or the country’s President. At least that’s what we’re told to believe.
That’s probably why we often choose to associate “success” with the ingenuity of a CEO or the charisma of a political movement leader. Our culture has a hard time with the idea that movements are built by many anonymous, “ordinary” people each putting in “their grain of sand.” Many indigenous cultures are built around the central theme of “community”. Certainly the Central Americans who fought civil wars, formed “base communities” practicing the values of liberation theology, and created agrarian co-operatives know the value of community. For people who have had to shed blood and lose family members to earn their most basic rights, it’s a given that true success can only happen through collective efforts, organization, and cooperation.
And so when we state that one of the most important values of Fair Trade is to support co-operative movements, what do we mean exactly? There is power in organization. Yet, power is another concept that makes some people uncomfortable. We’re okay with “direct relationships”; we’re okay with poverty alleviation and charity, but somehow, when the disenfranchised organize themselves and begin taking control over their own lives, businesses, and communities, gaining economic power in the marketplace and political power in their countries… well that makes some people a little nervous.
Why? With all our talk of how important “democracy” is to “Americans”, I’ve never quite understood why the concept of a democratic organization bringing its members political or economic power should make people uncomfortable; why we’d rather raise money and give to those less fortunate, but it does seem to be the preferred strategy. For me, that’s the missing ingredient, when folks start talking about “going direct”, or seeing co-operatives as the “middle person” or the body to try to “go around”. The strategy places too much emphasis on one person’s benevolence, and gives that person, or company, the upper hand. Today, I come to your village and establish a friendship, tomorrow I might go elsewhere. Here’s a scholarship for your family’s children. It’s a strategy, that while well-intentioned and produces positive results, does little to build democratic control and power at the producer level. And it keeps the attention on the giver, trader, buyer, project developer.
These same strategies: scholarships, direct relationships, community projects, have a completely different, and I would argue stronger impact, when they occur within the framework of an organized co-operative, association, or community. It’s a question of who’s in control, who makes the decisions, who is acquiring experience, and ultimately who has the power to set the terms.
For me, Fair Trade is all about changing the balance of power. It’s about producers, consumers, and alternative trade organizations working together to ensure that the terms of trade are more fair. Higher prices – yes; advance credit; direct relationships; and social projects… all of these are critical. But the emphasis and ultimate goal of all our work needs to be about equity and social justice. That’s the point we’re trying to make when we talk about small farmers, co-operative movements and big change.
Small Farmers. Big Change. 
Nice.
There’s power simply in the act of organizing.
Well stated Phyllis! This idea of community advancement is definitely harder and harder to grasp in the U.S. mentality of individualism and even transiency. How many folks hesitate to get involved in their own community because they don’t know if they will be there next year? But this is at the root of creating lasting, grassroots change and if Fair Trade isn’t about that then it’s just another feel good term to appease our conscience.
Great article – thank you for sharing it.
When we give Fair Trade talks here, the concept of community advancement is definately the one that the audience finds hardest to grasp.
Hi there,
Thank you for your thoughtful write-up and response to me Phyllis. I think everything you wrote is right on. The only thing I am left wondering is how the Fair Trade model connects consumers to the producer when Equal Exchange is in the middle. That is to say, why doesn’t Equal Exchange help build the cooperatives capacity to sell directly to the consumer and then back off?
Alexander
Hear hear, Phyllis. When I was in Nicaragua this past month we visited a farmer who was a member of CECOCAFEN. One of the trip participants asked him what prompted him to join a cooperative. He seemed surprised that anyone would bother to ask! As a lone farmer you are prey to loan sharks and coyotes, predatory appellations for predatory people.
I think that in the US we shy away from the idea of cooperatives because it reminds us of communism or socialism, when in fact cooperatives are democracy at its finest. The US waged war against the Sandinistas in the 80’s partially because of our fear of the spread of communism in Central America; the Sandinistas were huge supporters of cooperatives.
It is certainly ironic that for all of America’s love of democracy we don’t support its use in our economy or day to day life. I think this is part of America’s identity crisis, which will have to be resolved in the next few years as we determine what role we are to play on the global stage.
Excellent post, you NAILED it!
Here’s a few quotes for ya’ll:
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” – Dom Helder Camara
“The ideal for the business world is based on a pair: you and your television. Be connected to the television or computer and not talking to your neighbor.” – Noam Chomsky
“The ideal is to create a completely fragmented atomized society where everybody is totally alone, doing nothing but trying to pursue created wants, and the wants are created.” – Noam Chomsky
Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments! And Alexander, as to your question, I’m going to break it into two parts:
How does Equal Exchange connect consumers to producers?
Our mission is to support small farmer co-operatives by trading fairly which means all of the things I talked about in response to your last question on the blog at Change.org:
http://fairtrade.change.org/blog/view/repairing_the_food_system_and_a_movement (higher prices, advance credit, direct relationships, access to market and solidarity networks, project support – social and productive, quality exchanges and trainings, and much more).
A second part of our mission is consumer education: the importance of Fair Trade, the challenges facing small farmers, and the overall economic, political, and social forces which affect farmers, consumers, and our food system.
We believe that our mission is best accomplished by connecting producers and consumers and we do this through a variety of ways: indirectly through educational events, workshops, and written materials and directly by hosting farmer tours in the U.S. and by inviting consumers, interfaith representatives, natural food store, food co-op, cafe and restaurant staff, teachers, investors, and many others to accompany us on producer trips.
It is not unusual for us to organize and lead 8 – 12 of these trips annually. We meet with local organizations who can give us an idea of the country’s history as it pertains to small farmers, and the current social, political and economic factors affecting rural communities. We spend days (and nights) at the co-ops, in the farmer’s homes and on their farms. On these trips, we participate in the harvest and learn about the production and processing of the coffee (tea or cacao).
Most importantly, we share ourselves – our lives, our visions, and the respective work we do to strengthen our partnerships, our businesses, and our mutual interest in the Fair Trade system. (in Spanish this is called “convivencia”)
Your second question, “why don’t we just build the capacity of the producer co-ops to sell directly to the consumers and then back off,” is an interesting one.
Probably you would need to ask our producer partners if they would like us to “back off”; personally, I would guess that the co-ops we work with regard us as an asset, an ally, and a partner. Nevertheless, I understand your point -in an ideal world, wouldn’t the producers be better off selling directly to consumers, thereby capturing more of the value added of the product?
I think it’s an interesting question, and you aren’t alone in asking how to strengthen the producer end of the supply chain. However, the answers aren’t as straightforward as they may at first seem.
I won’t get into all the technical issues, but there are many… first there’s just roasting technology and costs, then there’s the shelf-life of the product (the moment coffee is roasted it begins to lose its freshness and quality… it can take months to ship coffee from origin to the U.S. and then must be stored in a warehouse until the consumers are ready to purchase.)
There’s the quality of the actual bag and its seal (which maintains the quality of the coffee.) And the question of distribution. How exactly would a co-op, even one that had all the financial and technical resources available to address these issues, actually market, sell, and distribute its coffee to thousands of stores, cafes, restaurants, universities and churches all over the U.S.? One way or the other, the co-op would need someone based in the country to do this work for them.
Then there’s the question of what consumers actually want: the flavor profile, the roast, the blend. Someone needs to research these preferences, blend the coffee to meet the consumers’ taste, package it to protect the quality and convey a sense of what’s in the bag. I could probably go on, and I’m sure I’ve left out many factors as well, but I think the point here is that many of our partners want us to understand the consumer market and be successful in it… just as we want them to understand the agro-ecological factors in growing coffee and to be successful in what they do.
Ultimately, it’s a question of whether we see them as “suppliers” or partners and whether they see us as “intermediaries” or partners. We hope we are creating a model where we are relying on each other, to each work hard and be committed to a mutual vision of a world in which trade is conducted fairly and equitably and those involved benefit: as the Nicaraguans like to say the goal is threefold: high quality products for consumers, high quality relationships with integrity and dignity between partners, and a higher quality of life for the producers.
We still have a long way to go, but we are dedicated to this mission.