World Fair Trade Day 2024 is on Friday, May 10, 2024: what does 'fair trade coffee' mean?

Friday, May 10, 2024 is World Fair Trade Day 2024.

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Because the world is so in love with coffee, the workers that make the coffee are being exploited by large corporations. Basically, they work very labor-intensive jobs and they don't get paid a fair day's wage. Its difficult for them to feed their family and they are often very impoverished.

Fair trade coffee is around to prevent the exploitation of those farmers and workers. When you buy fair trade coffee, you are guaranteeing that all involved in the production of the coffee are receiving a fair day's wage.

Also, fair trade coffee producers frequently use agricultural practices that are safer for the environment. A fair trade label does not necessarily mean that the coffee is eco-friendly, but the chances of it being so are much higher.

Often the price is not much higher (if at all) than regular coffee, and you can feel good that you're not supporting the starvation of the hard working farmer that produced your coffee.

Joe Nathan for Chipper Jones trade?

I wouldn't say the trade is not fair, it really depends on the needs of the teams. I know everyone says that Jones is injury prone (which is true), but Nathan has minor injury concerns as well (which is why he did not compete in the World Baseball Classic). Also keep in mind that it is easier to get quality closers than it is to get good third basemen. 15 pitchers had at least 30 saves last year, and several teams finished last year with a different closer than they started with. Personally, I would rather have Chipper Jones for 110 games than Joe Nathan for 75 games. If you trade Nathan, you may be able to pickup guys like Manuel Corpas, Brandon Lyon, Jason Motte, or Leo Nunez, all of whom are expected to be closers on opening day.

Wangaran Trade?!?

Amazingly, the Wangarans and the Arabs never came face to face in the trade; they never even saw

each other. Instead they conducted what is now known as the Silent Trade. Here’s how it worked:

When the Arabs arrived in Ghana with their salt (as well as other goods such as silk, copper, and

metal pots), they placed it in piles along the river with each trader marking his own pile of goods

for identification. They then beat drums to announce the opening of the market. The Wangarans,

upon hearing the drums, would sail up the river with their gold and ivory. In the meantime, the

Arabs would retreat about a half day’s journey away. When the Wangarans arrived at the market,

they would place their gold alongside each pile of goods, based on their estimation of its worth, and

then withdraw. If the Arabs were satisfied with the amount of gold left, they would sound the

drums again, signaling the end of the barter. If they were not satisfied, they simply retreated once

again and waited for the Wangara to increase their payment. This back-and-forth process continued

until both sides were satisfied.

Ghana was able to control this – and profit from it – by providing the services necessary for

this very valuable trade to take place. First, Ghana made certain both parties entered and exited the

trade area without threat from bandits or raiders. Their presence also ensured the trade would

always be fair. Ghana had one of the largest armies in the world at this time. Because of this it could

maintain peace in the area, thereby assuring safe trade for the Arabs and Wangarans. Secondly,

Ghana maintained the value of this gold by limiting the amount that was traded. “The nuggets found in

all the mines are reserved for the king, only gold dust being left for the people. Without this

precaution, the people would accumulate gold until it had lost its value.” Ghana, then, stabilized

the trade by holding a monopoly over the gold. In return for these invaluable services, the Arabs and

Wangarans would pay Ghana a portion of their profits from the trade – a tax. Over time these profits grew

to be an unbelievable sum.

The next question is – how did Ghana become so powerful thus allowing them t