From the perspective of a consumer, this article was eye opening to me. I don’t drink coffee, but I never really pause to think about where and how the products that I use are made. I think coffee was a great product to focus on because new Starbucks seem to pop up everywhere. Most people don’t stop to think about who is suffering to harvest and package the coffee beans, and we don’t care about what independent businesses are struggling as long as we can get our favorite drinks quickly. Even with the rise of fair trade, only a small percentage of the consumed coffee is from a fair trade. When products are manufactured at such a large scale, it is nearly impossible to track down where everything comes from. Every worker is not guaranteed a percentage of the profits, and even within fair trade companies, the people who know how to manipulate the system can overtake smaller companies. It was also interesting to read about COOPABUENA, the company that struggled under fair trade. It made me wonder what the solution for smaller companies could be, particularly those who serve the United States, since our society is driven by consumerism and convenience.
From the perspective of a consumer, this article was eye opening to me. I don’t drink coffee, but I never really pause to think about where and how the products that I use are made. I think coffee was a great product to focus on because new Starbucks seem to pop up everywhere. Most people don’t stop to think about who is suffering to harvest and package the coffee beans, and we don’t care about what independent businesses are struggling as long as we can get our favorite drinks quickly. Even with the rise of fair trade, only a small percentage of the consumed coffee is from a fair trade. When products are manufactured at such a large scale, it is nearly impossible to track down where everything comes from. Every worker is not guaranteed a percentage of the profits, and even within fair trade companies, the people who know how to manipulate the system can overtake smaller companies. It was also interesting to read about COOPABUENA, the company that struggled under fair trade. It made me wonder what the solution for smaller companies could be, particularly those who serve the United States, since our society is driven by consumerism and convenience.
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