If your day hasn’t really begun until that first sip of coffee, you’re not alone. According to the National Coffee Association, more than 80 percent of U.S. adults drink coffee on a regular basis.
But consumers are getting wiser’and choosier’about which coffee brands they buy. There’s a definite trend toward coffee-lovers voting with their dollars. And what they’re voting for are organic, shade-grown and fair trade beans.
What are conscientious consumers not buying? Coffee grown on corporate-owned sun plantations, produced with a heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and with little regard for the health and welfare of plantation workers and small, sustainable farmers.
October is Fair Trade Month. But beware: Not all fair trade products are equal. And that warning applies to coffee brands, too.
Read the FWP coffee guide
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