Coffee and Community: Maya Farmers and Fair-Trade Markets

8: Conclusion: A Fairer Future

207 W W hen I first began this research, nearly a decade ago, few people I encountered were familiar with fair trade. I was forced to continuously explain the then-novel idea to my friends, family members, and colleagues. Today this is no longer the case as fair-trade coffee has entered the mainstream of North American culture. No longer do you have to buy your fair-trade coffee at fund-raisers held in church basements. Rather than scooping your (inevitably stale) fair-trade coffee out of the bulk bins at natural foods cooperatives, you can now grab vacuum-sealedbagsof itoff yourlocalgrocerystore’sshelf or, depending on where in the United States you live, you can buy a steaming cup of it at your corner McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts. However, this mainstreaming has had the unintended effect of ushering in public doubts and criticisms of fair trade. Fair trade has been criticized in the popular press as a “misguided attempt to make up for market failures” (Economist 2006) and for encouraging market inefficiencies and overproduction (Lindsey 2004; 8 Conclusion: A Fairer Future Conclusion: A Fairer Future 208 Hartford 2007). Furthermore, several media exposés have questioned exactly how “fair” fair trade is (Stecklow and White 2004; O’Neil 2007), suggesting that it is an inefficient channel for improving economic opportunities while hinting that retailers unfairly mark-up fair-trade products and that certified producers do not earn substantially higher incomes. In writing this book I have attempted to move beyond the rhetoric surrounding fair trade and to use ethnographic research to illuminate the reality of fair-trade coffee networks. Despite the many interviews and the hours of observation, like all anthropology (and, for that matter, all research regardless of disciplinary origin) this book can offer only partial truths. I have highlighted the ways in which I think fair trade is truly “fair” (or fairer) for the members of La Voz. Yes, cooperative members earn higher incomes than their nonmember neighbors; however, they are certainly not getting rich. On the other hand, there are other benefits of fair trade that are rarely discussed in the popular press. In addition to price premiums, cooperative members have access to new markets, credit, training, and information. Perhaps more importantly, their participation in this transnational commodity network provides them with a secure organizational space and an affirmation of their indigenous identity that is a stark reversal from the centuries of inequality, oppression, and violence that they and their forebears endured. However, these benefits do not necessarily negate what some view as a critical flaw limiting the development potential of contemporary certified coffee networks—that the vast majority of coffee produced by these farmers is exported. Pinning the hopes for prosperity onto foreign markets undeniably continues the region’s historical dependence on agro-export markets. Indeed, fair trade is not a quick fix for the myriad problems facing small-scale producers in underdeveloped countries. However, although participation in the fair-trade commodity network might not radically alter the daily reality and grinding poverty of the members of La Voz, it is providing new life opportunities for the next generation. As demonstrated in Chapter 3, the members of La Voz are investing their fair-trade coffee profits heavily in their children’s education, and as a result many of their offspring have escaped the agrarian dependency on foreign export markets for the shade and comfort of a professional career. Moreover, some cooperative members have invested their fair-trade profits in diverse economic pursuits. For example , the cooperative’s former president, Juan, runs a bakery with his wife and bought a machine to seal purified water into small plastic bags to sell on street corners. Similarly, the former agricultural monitor, Santiago, invested his profits in the general store he owned with his children. The store, San Conclusion: A Fairer Future 209 Juan’s answer to Walmart, sold farming implements and food next to computer disks and printer cartridges. I discussed in Chapter 4 how Santiago resigned from the cooperative because of the members’ collective refusal to sanction the manager. At the time, I suspected that Santiago’s decision was not necessarily a reflection of his moral convictions but instead emerged from his desire to devote more of his time to his family’s growing business. When I returned to San Juan in 2006, Santiago and his children had moved their store from the front room of...