Did you know that coffee is one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world? This is why purchasing Fair Trade coffee should be important to all coffee lovers. But what exactly is Fair Trade and what does it have to do with my morning coffee?

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade provides farmers a fair price for their harvest with a guaranteed minimum price and community development premium, which means they can invest in their crops, their communities and their future. The price of coffee fluctuates wildly because it is so heavily traded. Farmers never know how much they’ll be paid for their beans. If those prices fall below production costs, farmers can’t produce quality coffee and start to struggle. This allows farmers to survive and keep our cups full of delicious coffee.

Fair Trade builds economic independence by:

• Guaranteeing a fair price
• Providing affordable access to credit
• Promoting sustainable farming practices
• Providing access to consumer markets and cutting out the middlemen
• Enabling farmers to plan for the future

We can help these farmers that produce one of my favorite products by buying Fair Trade coffee. Green Mountain coffee offers the largest selection of Fair Trade Certified Coffees in the United States. 25 delicious varieties of Fair Trade Certified coffees can be purchased through Green Mountain Coffee.

This post was made possible by Green Mountain Coffee as a K-cup ambassador. The opinions are my own.