What is this Fair Trade thing about?

Coffee is big business - it's one of the most heavily traded commodities in the world. But for the majority of small coffee farmers, who live in rural communities in some of the poorest countries in the world, the benefits are small. The chain of events that leads from the farm to your cup is long and expensive: Processors, creditors, exporters, brokers, and a cast of middlemen - known to Latin American farmers as "coyotes" - can all come between you and the farmers before you get to sip your morning brew. With world coffee prices constantly changing and "coyotes" paying the lowest price possible, coffee farmers never know how much they'll get for their crops. Isolated from markets, they struggle to make a simple living. The producers of a rich crop are often trapped in poverty.

But there is an alternative. Using internationally recognized fair trade standards, Equal Exchange seeks to balance the inequities found in the conventional coffee trade. Coffee is a leading source of income for the Developing World. Through fair trade, it can be a delicious and powerful tool to bring about positive change for small farmers and their families. Educate yourself and those around you. For more info on the Fair Trade industry, visit www.equalexchange.com.

Some other sites dedicated to fair trade:

www.tenthousandvillages.org
www.fairtraderesource.org
www.fairtradefederation.org
www.maketradefair.com
www.oxfam.org/eng/
www.coffeeresearch.org
www.globalexchange.org
www.transfairusa.org

We think it should be easier for vegetarians and the lactose intolerant to find something that fills a craving and provides for their nutritional needs. So here at Lemonjello's, we don't charge extra for soy or rice milk in your latte. We even have a non-dairy fair trade chocolate if you're craving a mocha and don't want the dairy. Our bakers prepare a wonderful vegan oatmeal-walnut-raisin cookie from scratch (seriously. not a spec of egg or dairy) and make sure we always have homemade hummus for a bagel or pita wedges. When you're on the go, make sure to check out our Pure Bar selection, a great little snack bar that started here in Holland. They're vegan, kosher, organic, and more. If you're looking for healthy juice options, we carry flash-pasteurized fruit juices by Odwalla.