Fair Trade

For this first week back at school we have been learning about Coffee and how it goes from a little bean, to the yummy drink you by daily. Coffee has become a big part of the economy in our country, Coffee starts out by being planted and grown on a farm. The farmers then harvest the plant and they sell the beans or grounds to stores. Farmers can sell their product to big companies and they don’t get to choose the price of their products. Farmers would get paid the very least they could because they had no say otherwise. Most farmers barely made a living wage. Because farmers couldn’t make enough money, they went looking for better ways. Farmers can also interact in fair trade. Fair trade means there are less middlemen to pay and more money for the farmers. Root Capital is the bank that helped farmers have fair trade. Root Capital was made so farmers could sell directly to the buyer. Root Capital lent $253 million to 305 rural businesses in 35 counties with a 99% repayment rate.