FAIR-TRADING IN SUSTAINABILITY

Bill Harris met a coffee farmer in Guatemala in 1996 and his life has never been the same. At that time, few people had heard the expression "free trade", although the specialty coffee boom was well underway. Bill knew a bit about commercial coffee from his family's food distribution business in south Georgia. But, he confessed, "I didn't know much about trade or how products were grown."

Conversing with local farmers in Guatemala, he learned that coffee trade usually involves between six and eight people between the farmer and the consumer, leaving the farmer and his family with a trickle of revenues. In order for the farmer to get a fair price for his coffee, Bill began scheming about how to create more direct markets that reduce the number of middlemen.

In 1998, he imported his first 40,000 pound container of green coffee and began to sell directly to coffee roasters. He established Café Campesino in Americus as a roasting and wholesale distributing business. To expand his small enterprise, he set off in his VW bus and visited roasters around the country. He recruited six roasters to become part of a coffee co-op supporting free trade. Today seventeen roasters are part of Cooperative Coffees, including Café Campesino.

What kind of impact is Bill's life work having? "Marginally, we are providing a better life in these places and bringing options to families. In Guatemala, the average farmer may see his revenues increase from $400 to $1000. That may not seem significant, but when a medical clinic visit costs $2 or annual school fees are $30, the financial difference can do amazing things in these isolated locales.

On the home front, Bill's work is also making a difference. More people are asking the question "where do products come from and what is the affect of the dollars I spend?" Fair trade provides the consumer a positive choice that more directly benefits farmers.