33 Brown University Leadership & Global Engagement Summer 2103 Trade + Justice = Fair Trade & Equal Exchange Rodney North

Traditional, shade-grown coffee farms like this…

Were replaced by large scale, chemically intensive, monoculture plantations

The World in 1986 – Cont’d ▪ Market failure ▪ Destructive industrial, chemical-intensive farming ▪ The “mis-incentives” & mis-alignment of large corporations ▪ Uninformed / disengaged consumers ▪ Chronic poverty & hungry, marginalized small farmers

A Radical Response Was Required ☼ Support democratic co-ops of small-scale farmers

A Radical Response ☼ Direct trading relationships / cut-out the ‘coyotes’ & elites

A Radical Response ☼ Direct relationships Replace these 8 links …

A Radical Response … with these 5 links

A Radical Response ☼ Fair Trade: ◊ Higher, more stable prices

Higher, stable, more predictable prices

A Radical Response ☼ Fair Trade: ◊ Higher, more stable prices ◊ Affordable credit ◊ Direct, long-term relationships with farmer co-ops

A Radical Response Support organic farming

A Radical Response ☼ For ex. what kind of farming works here?

A Radical Response ☼

☼ Devastation from Hurricane Stan, 2005, Nicaragua

☼ Advocacy in partnership with activists & faith-based organizations:

☼ Consumer education / storytelling

☼ Practicing economic fairness & democracy at home, too Equal Exchange is a worker co-op with an egalitarian, democratic 1 person / 1 share / 1 vote structure

The Worker Co-operative model a.k.a. “the John Adams & Adam Smith business plan” ▪ Democratic ▪ For-profit + ▪ 4-to-1 pay ratio ▪ Can’t be sold

Sounds good – but has it really worked?

Pounds of Fair Trade coffee imported into the U.S. The Early Years

Companies that have begun to offer at least 1 Fair Trade product:

Other signs of success, viability, & scalability

Our sales

$10k investment in EE vs. S&P500 over 10 years

☼ Steady growth in our partnership:

Growth of product line / # and type of farmers served / industries touched

Lessons Learned? The importance of challenging / changing institutional power and… of helping people stay on their land