Comments on: Eating Some (Fair-Trade) Humble Pie

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:22:32 +0000

I heard an interview (yes on NPR) by some director who made a documentary on the slave plantations where chocolate is grown. He said he tried to get access to some of the “fair trade” chocolate plantations but was unable to do so. None of the fair trade chocolate places would let him in. Which makes you wonder whether they really are fair trade or just trying to get you to pay more for your bean byproduct of choice.

By: andy

andy — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 19:40:07 +0000

i think it’s disgraceful that your badmouthing fairtrade, it’s about time we stopped using slaves to do our work for us. who cares about the stupid logo get a life.

By: green LA girl

green LA girl — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 15:28:40 +0000

On the topic of logos — one thing I’ve wondered is — Why’s our fair trade logo so ugly? You’ll notice that the UK (fairtrade.org.uk) for ex, has a much cuter, colorful logo… In contrast, the US one’s quite drab…

Glad you enjoyed the coffee, peterb

By: daw

daw — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 10:14:45 +0000

By the way, I mean the fair trade logo. Not the monkey logo, which is indeed pretty awesome.

By: daw

daw — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 10:10:53 +0000

Hold out! You could still badmouth the *concept* of ‘fair’ trade — which is really what you were criticising all along — even if the actual beverage happens to be agreeable. Do you really want to see that preachy little logo on your coffee every morning, reminding you that some bunch of sanctimonious bureaucrats has unilaterally taken it upon themselves to decree that your choice is ‘fair’?

Truth be told, the cheap fairtrade chilean carmenere they sell here is pretty good too (in a clumsy sort of way), but by god, I hate the *idea* of it!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 07:35:13 +0000

Coffee beans with the sheen of obsidian… your choice of words makes me want to grind my own coffee for the first time in my life!

By: pghgirlinexile

pghgirlinexile — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 04:03:46 +0000

I’m glad to hear you’ve changed your mind. I’ve had good and bad fair trade. And in Eugene, fair trade, organic coffee is everywhere. Besides Estima (and now, the Monkey), what else have you had?

Reading back on your rant about how fair trade coffee is doomed, I’d have to say I respectfully disagree. Not only because there is good fair trade coffee out there, but also because I live in a community where people do buy things based on the grounds of environmental stability and/or human rights.

On a slightly different note, just in case you get a bad organic beer some day (and subsequently send them all to doomdom), I’d like to recommend Fish Tale’s organic amber.

By: Amos the Poker Cat

Amos the Poker Cat — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:32:09 +0000

Nnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooo!

A sure sign of the coming apocalypse.

… but will you actually order more?

Me, I’ll stick with my Lion Kona.