Just what is a fair price for coffee and who is not paying it?

I recently read the book "Starbucked" by Taylor Clark. He has some great insights on coffee producing countries and their struggles and just who is responsible for much of it. It would seem the biggest threat to specialty coffee in the world today is the fabrication of the big four (Proctar and Gamble, Nestles, Sara Lee, and Kraft). The big four continue to pay around $0.40/lb for coffee. They encourage farmers to grow and cultivate robusta varieties. They deliver around 70% of the coffee delivered in the U.S. not to mention a big chunk of Europe and Asia. They are creating a demand for the lowest grade coffee grown in the world today and are more than happy to watch small specialty shops, baristas and roasters box it out with Starbucks as they continue to cripple the coffee market.

With the climate changing and coffee being such a volatile crop, a crisis in the coffee producing regions of the world is almost imminent. It is important to support our neighbors and friends in these regions all we can. So just what can we do? Stop buying coffee from the big four, educate friends, family and customers, write the big four, support the ICO, inform yourself, ... What do you think?

good article about the issue http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/markprince/11-27-2002