While coffee addicts might spend $3.60 for a latte or cappuccino at their favourite café, less than one cent of that price goes to the coffee farmer.

As the world's second-most-traded commodity, coffee falls only behind petroleum.

Approximately 25 million farmers and coffee workers in more than 50 countries produce coffee worldwide. But coffee producers, like most agricultural workers around the world, are kept in a cycle of poverty that exploits cheap labour and the land the coffee is grown on. Buying fair trade products, including coffee, is one way you can tackle poverty and help create sustainable environmental practices every time you shop.

Established 50 years ago, Fair Trade has helped hundreds of thousands of farmers and workers gain greater economic stability. Globally, coffee is only one of dozens of Fair Trade Certified products, such as tea, rice, bananas, mangoes, cocoa, sugar, honey, fruit juices and sports balls. They can be found in stores, small and large, across Europe, Japan and North America.

Grounded in Fairness
Under the Fair Trade model, the farmer and farming community receives an internationally agreed upon minimum price for their products. In turn, farmers have greater economic stability and better health since the Fair Trade system rewards farmers for using organic growing methods.

When you see the Fair Trade Certified logo on the coffee you buy, you know that the process bringing it to your table has been monitored and evaluated by Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, an independent international body based in Germany.

Savouring the Benefits
Beyond ensuring farmers are being paid fair prices for their products, Fair Trade prices help them build essential social infrastructures, of which the following are but a few examples:

• Improved access to low or no-interest loans
• Technical assistance for building infrastructure to improve production
• Communications systems and collectively owned transport and processing equipment
• Better health care and education

Go Certified
When buying coffee here in Canada, you can look for the TransFair logo, which is your guarantee that the product is Fair Trade Certified.

More than 200 licensed companies import and sell Fair Trade Certified products in Canada, many of which offer coffee. To search for Fair Trade Certified products available in your area, visit transfair.ca .

A number of national coffee shops have Fair Trade choices. You can ask for a cup of Fair Trade coffee at any Starbucks or Timothy's location.