Is Fair Trade certified coffee organic?!
Is Fair Trade certified coffee organic?
Answers:
They're not necessarily one and the same.
Organic coffee is grown without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers of any type.
Fair trade coffee means that the plantations are managed in such a way as to treat the workers with respect, to pay them a livable wage, to subsize schools and health care for the workers and their families, etc.
Not necessarily
"fair trade certified"
just means they paid the people that produced the bean a fair wage for their crop.
Enjoy!
"fair trade" has to do with the way the coffee farmers are paid. It doesn't have anything to do with being organic.
No. Not necessarily. One has nothing to do with the other. Although fair trade is all about improving worker conditions, too -- which means fewer pesticides. But the two things are completely different subjects. Here's Wikipedia's entry for fair trade coffee (link below).
BEGIN CITATION:
Fair trade coffee
"According to the International Fair Trade Association and the other three major fair trade organizations (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association), the definition of fair trade is "a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade." (1) It offers better trading conditions to marginalized producers and workers. Fair trade organizations, along with the backing of consumers, campaign for change in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. Fair trade coffee creates a trade environment in which the coffee importer has a direct relationship with the coffee producer, excluding the middlemen. (4) Middlemen prohibit relationships between importers and roasters and promote coffee's extremely unstable market. Coffee importers provide credit to farmers to help them stay out of debt with coffee traders so they can develop long-lasting trade relationships. Small farmers included in the International Fair Trade Coffee Register are guaranteed a minimum of $1.26 per pound of coffee, the "fair trade price," from coffee importers.
END CITATION
It may be since they market to the same upscale crowd but the issues are not the same and a free trade grower is not required to be organic.
Free trade is about economics and organic is about health.
Fair Trade helps third world countries, like Rwanda, out by paying farmers an amount that corresponds to the amount they are selling it for. It can give one farm the income to feed a village.
"Organic" just means that there are no conventional pesticides being used on the plants, not that no pesticides are being used. Most of our organic agriculture that's available in places like Whole Foods comes from California, or places in South America like Argentina or Peru. In my humble opinion, if you're really concerned about social reform, you'll look for "sustainable agriculture" products, like from farmer's markets. This generally means it was grown locally at small farms. I don't believe there are any strict regulations about calling your food sustainable agriculture, though, unlike the term "organic."