Regarding the cost to farmers to become certified as "Fair Trade", the article cited below from the CATO which Jizay favors doesn't seem to mention cost to farmers, but it does mention cost to "producer organizations".
Below are previous post which go over the economics:
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http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/752341-post65.html
The ShopRite in Roxborough has Newman's fair trade coffee. Ground, regular & decaf.
I noticed the regular price was about $1.30 less per pound than Starbucks regular price.
http://www.newmansownorganics.com/food_coffee.html
Target also sells Fair Trade coffee for less than non-fair trade.
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http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/wor...rade-fair.html
FAIR TRADE COFFEE ENTHUSIASTS SHOULD
CONFRONT REALITY
Jeremy Weber
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj27n1/cj27n1-9.pdf
Confronting the Coffee Crisis: Can Fair
Trade, Organic, and Specialty Coffees Reduce
Small-Scale Farmer Vulnerability in Northern
Nicaragua?
CHRISTOPHER BACON *
University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
http://www.ecodes.org/pages/especial...docs/bacon.pdf
WPS4011
"Fairtrade" and Market Failures in Agricultural Commodity Markets
Loraine Ronchi
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/externa...EX/wps4011.txt
‘Fair’ coffee workers paid below minimum wage
By Hal Weitzman in Lima
Published: September 8 2006 22:01 | Last updated: September 8 2006 22:01
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/46cd2578-3f5...0779e2340.html
I should point out that all of these articles are cited in the Weber report to the CATO.
http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/492450-post36.html
"There is a section regarding FT farmer and non-FT farmers, since all the farmers were disadvantaged to begin with it’s difficult to say that the FT farmers have had a negative impact on the non-FT farmers. The Weber report presents two groups in Peru, but does it draw a conclusive correlation showing the action vs. reaction? I don't believe it does because the fortunes of the non-FT farmers rely on many factors which they have no control over. Less control than the FT farmers. Also since only 20% of the FT farmers coffee actually goes to the FT market it would seem that the FT farmer should also be disadvantaged by 80%. However, according to Weber, Bacon, Reynolds, & Ronchi (at the World Bank) they are better off. Also since, according to Wiezter at The Financial Times, they are able to pay their laborers something close to the minimum wage the laborers who work for FT farmers are better off as well."