This story highlights the diverging opinions on what Fair Trade is. The traditional intention of  fair trade is to allow smaller farmers access to large US and European markets that they’d normally be priced out of. Fair Trade USA, the largest fair trade certifier in the country, believes that definition should be changed to include coffee from large farms and products with only 10% fair trade ingredients, half as much as allowed in most countries.

Critics believe that this practice of extending the certificate beyond small farmers who use 20% or more fair trade ingredients dilutes the meaning of “Fair Trade” and should be considered to be the less specific “Socially Responsible Business”. Over the past decade, the concept of Fair Trade  has become increasingly confusing for consumers and highlights a critical problem around legitimizing certifications in the marketplace as consumers become more conscious of global health, social, and environmental problems.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/30/142935891/is-fair-trade-coffee-still-fair-if-it-comes-from-a-big-farm

Natalie