In Search of an Ethical Bean This recent article from News Leader in Staunton, Va., gives a recap of local efforts to ensure fair trade for coffee farmers. It's a nice article covering the benefits of a variety of price premiums for farmers. But in the seventh paragraph, Melissa Scholl, co-owner of Lexington Coffee Roasting Company and a Coffee Kids member, makes a great point.

"Fair Trade Certified coffee is a wonderful program, but it's only part of the answer," she says.

Fair trade and other price premiums are all good approaches, but poverty is complex and the real problem in many of these communities is not so much a low price as the complete dependence on one crop. That's why Coffee Kids isn't involved with the commercialization of coffee.

We work exclusively in coffee-farming communities, but we really have little to do with coffee. Our approach to helping coffee communities lift themselves out of poverty is to help them develop vibrant local economies that can function independent of coffee. Without complete dependence on one crop, coffee farmers can continue raising coffee without the daily worry of how they will survive.

Coffee Kids isn't the only answer either, but complex problems are solved with a variety of approaches. Check out our programs and find out how you can help.