As you may have heard, I’ll be leaving for Mexico to learn more about organic and fair trade farming at Ejido Benito Juarez Leyes de Reforma. The work experience has been set up through Discovery Organics and Baja Organics to help spread awareness around the impacts that Fair Trade has on farming communities.
The following is a post from my blog. You can read more here.
Coyotes are a big problem in Mexico — and no, not the feral kind.
In Mexico, a coyote is someone who preys on small farm operations. Usually, the coyote is someone local — someone who brings in a harvesting crew and takes a crop, packs it, and then sells the produce to an importer.
Coyotes are the middlemen who exploit farmers at the end of a huge communication gap that separates producers from the world market. These farmers are vulnerable because they don’t have the skills, the technology, or the connections to market and sell their product on their own.
Randy Hooper of Discovery Organics describes the situation where the grower not only doesn’t know how to market, but isn’t savvy to current market prices. He explains, “Someone will eventually come by the farm and say, ‘what are you growing. Oh, bell peppers. Okay, I can sell all those. I can sell them organic in the states. No problem.’ And then they come in and they put it on a truck and say, ‘bye.’” The farmers might eventually receive a small payment for their crop several months later, or they might not. Either way, they won’t see the person ever again. Either way, they’ll get ripped off and have built no long-term business relationships, which also means no long-term security.
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The African Fair Trade Society is a socially conscious organization that imports the highest quality Shea or Karite Butter from West Africa. This Shea Butter is sold in health stores and online and is used to help employ hundreds of West African women, which in turn helps them to support their families and themselves. Currently the African Fair Trade Society is helping to provide employment for women living in villages in Senegal and Guinea.
While in Costa Rica last November, my wife and I connected with two fair trade co-ops. The first was a pineapple, or piña co-op called Asoproagroin. Having made contact with the manager of the operation, Yoriely Villalobos, she offered to pick us up from where we were staying and drive us to the packing plant for a tour. This may sound trivial, but even with a GPS it would have been difficult to locate this facility. Not only was it over an hour drive, but it was also buried deep in the forest and well off the main roads. The long drive gave us a great opportunity to talk about the co-op, their history, and the impacts of the fair trade model on their business. 
Canterbury Coffee is western Canada’s largest small-batch roaster of 100% Arabica coffees. With over 30 years of roasting expertise, Canterbury is a noted leader in roasting technology and processes, packaging, and quality control. We are committed to sustainable souring, roasting perfection, and efficient distribution of quality coffee and complementary beverage products to foodservice, grocery, and specialty cafes across Canada.
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Choices Markets is a BC owned and operated retail grocer specializing in natural and organic foods. They are committed to sourcing quality products from regional growers, producers and manufacturers whenever possible. Since the opening of its flagship store on West 16th in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood over twenty years ago, Choices has expanded to include six stores and a rice bakery within the Lower Mainland and one store in Kelowna.