More Thoughts on the Recent Starbucks Decision

by Shayna Harris

Published November 03, 2008 @ 08:42AM PT

Editor's Note: Since last week's announcement of Starbucks' recent Fair Trade decision, the Fair Trade movement is still buzzing about it. Guest blogger, Shayna Harris offers her take on it.

As I read the news about the Starbucks, Transfair, and FLO announcement from down here in rural Brazil, I'm hopeful, and yet reminded daily that Fair Trade is a continually evolving process.

Indeed the announcement about Starbucks' increased commitment to purchasing Fair Trade Certified beans is promising. During my time as Oxfam America's Coffee Program Organizer, I visited coffee farms & coffee trade shows, and had the chance to meet family farmers from Ethiopia to Nicaragua to East Timor. While each context presents its own challenges, farmers always told me that their biggest challenge was accessing markets that paid a fair and stable price, and that while Fair Trade did open up markets, because of good old supply and demand farmers still had problems selling all of their beans on the Fair Trade market. Which meant that a good number of their beans were sold at conventional prices, despite meeting Fair Trade criteria.  There is absolutely an excess of Fair Trade Certified beans, and that access to these specialty markets are in high need for Fair Trade farmers. In this regard, considering pure coffee supply issues, the Starbucks announcement is exciting.

However, Fair Trade is not finite; it's a continuum. Signing onto Fair Trade, and then committing to higher volumes, are just steps in the continual process of becoming 'fairer traders,' righting the faults in our global food & trade system. As activists and/or consumers we can celebrate Starbucks' announcement, which comes after years of encouraging the company to do more & to do better, and we can also remain active to continue to encourage companies to strive towards totally transparency and fairness in their supply chain. There are Fair Trade industry leaders who set a strong example, who are continually striving to evolve as 100% Fair Traders…. companies like the members of Cooperative Coffees, Equal Exchange, Divine Chocolate and Oke USA's banana project. These companies maintain strong relationships in farming communities and are continually challenging themselves to co-create stronger, fairer trade standards.

This is where our power as consumers lies.  We have to power to chose to buy our products from companies that do truly maintain their "Commitment to Origins," those that continue to show leadership at evolution along the continuum of Fair Trade.  What would a next step for a company like Starbucks be, after an announcement to reinforce a commitment to Fair Trade? Well, it could be to encourage transparency and accountability in Starbucks' transactions, so that we know exactly how much Starbucks is actually paying directly to farmers per pound of coffee (Fair Trade Certified or not), how much money is going into social and environmental projects, and what kind of financial impact this is having at coffee origin; the same kind of accountability that we demand from coffee farmers who are involved in the Fair Trade Certification system, and that some leading mission-based, 100% Fair Trade companies already report online (see http://www.coffeepath.org/).

Furthermore, while guaranteeing a price to farmers in unstable commodity markets like coffee is as important for a farmer's income today as it is in helping them plan for the future, Fair Trade goes so much beyond this price.  It truly is about partnerships and trading relationships.  Most often what I see is that the difference that Fair Trade makes is not merely based in the price, but moreso in community-implemented development projects, in access to knowledge, information, and trainings that farmers receive, in farmers' leveraging of collective power via cooperatives and associations, in access to credit and long-term contracts, and in the links to global networks of NGOs, student organizations, government programs.

As I currently conduct research on agroecological, fair trade relationships here in northeastern Brazil, I am finding that these same factors are important to meaningful, impactful, and sustained community development, even at the very local level of trade at the weekly farmers market here in Umarizal, Rio Grande do Norte. My friend Eliane who participates in an all-female, community garden project tells me that it's not just the price that's important for her, it's the growing self-confidence and validation that she feels as she and other women sell their healthy, chemical-free products to the community. She tells me that, "this gives me the courage to keep farming, despite the challenges. If we work together, if we build direct relationships with consumers, we only have room to improve our collective future."

This is where the transformative power of Fair Trade lies; the Starbucks-Transfair-FLO announcement is a promising beginning. As consumers and activists continue to encourage positive social and environmental innovations in the marketplace, we have a lot to celebrate, and yet a lot of work ahead of us!