Buy Fair Trade Coffee

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And not just coffee, but chocolate and handicrafts too!
crsfairtrade.org/

Its nice to know that Catholic Relief Services is promoting fair trade for persons in lesser developed nations.
 
And knives, too!

Send me $10,000 and I will send you one of my hand-crafted knives (with sheath!)😉
 
No thanks.

Folgers, Hershey, my ol’ lady’s knitting and (sorry Vern) Schrade work for me.

Unless I can find Maxwell House, Nestle, or Buck at a better price.

At the rate I lose pocket knives, $10K is a little steep…

Come to think of it, fair trade finger puppets may be cheaper than my wife’s hobbies.

Although I’m not exactly impoverished, it does get lean around here from time to time, so if someone wants to buy my 87 Accord for $10 grand or so, I could sure use a new(er) car.
 
hoosiertoo said:
No thanks.

Folgers, Hershey, my ol’ lady’s knitting and (sorry Vern) Schrade work for me.

Unless I can find Maxwell House, Nestle, or Buck at a better price.

At the rate I lose pocket knives, $10K is a little steep…

Come to think of it, fair trade finger puppets may be cheaper than my wife’s hobbies.

Although I’m not exactly impoverished, it does get lean around here from time to time, so if someone wants to buy my 87 Accord for $10 grand or so, I could sure use a new(er) car.
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Ah, but we’re talking fair trade here. Is it fair to buy cheap knives from big companies when small knifesmiths like myself are struggling? If I could sell as few as 20 a year at that price, I could live comfortably and not have to split my own firewood.

Tell you what – buy** two** knives from me at my price, and I’ll buy your Honda Accord for $10 grand.😉
 
vern_humphrey said:
Ah, but we’re talking fair trade here. Is it fair to buy cheap knives from big companies when small knifesmiths like myself are struggling? If I could sell as few as 20 a year at that price, I could live comfortably and not have to split my own firewood.

Tell you what – buy** two** knives from me at my price, and I’ll buy your Honda Accord for $10 grand.😉
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I’ve an even grander idea!

You give me two knives and I’ll give you the Accord. I’ll even throw in the old RotoHoe out behind the shed for a 3rd knife.

And a rick of wood so you don’t have to split it - but I would have to get a Carbon Credit from you since you’ll be burning the wood instead of me. And another knife.

Are we getting close?
 
hoosiertoo said:
I’ve an even grander idea!

You give me two knives and I’ll give you the Accord. I’ll even throw in the old RotoHoe out behind the shed for a 3rd knife.

And a rick of wood so you don’t have to split it - but I would have to get a Carbon Credit from you since you’ll be burning the wood instead of me. And another knife.

Are we getting close?
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You have to take into account my expenses. There’s shipping costs, new belts for my sander, more charcoal for the forge, and I need to replace my tuiere.😃
 
Dang.

Guess I’ll have to fix the old Honda and the older hoe.

Do you have a website? I wouldn’t mind checking out your catalog - send it PM, of course; 🙂 hate to run afoul of the rules.

I think my points are mostly expired by now. 😃
 
I want fair trade organic coffee, finally found some locally, did not realize it was beans, not ground. duh. I’ll have to see if my blender is also a coffee grinder.

the difference since I started drinking organic is amazing, I will have trouble going back to folgers after this.
 
I’m sure Starbucks thinks the price of a pound of their stuff is “fair.”

I’m glad at least one of us does.

:eek:
 
hoosiertoo said:
Dang.

Guess I’ll have to fix the old Honda and the older hoe.

Do you have a website? I wouldn’t mind checking out your catalog - send it PM, of course; 🙂 hate to run afoul of the rules.

I think my points are mostly expired by now. 😃
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If I could afford a website, I wouldn’t have to charge $10,000 per knife, now would I?😃
 
The topic is not RotoHoes (yes, I looked it up to make sure it wasn’t dirty) or sanding belts - it’s fair trade coffee. Please stick to the topic or I will be forced to close this thread and dole out whappings.

Mane Nobiscum Domine,
Ferdinand Mary
 
A just price is one that has been agreed upon in the course of a voluntary transaction. If a seller grants a discount or a buyer pays a higher price to help the poor - as is the case with fair trade coffee - the prices paid are not only just but probably - undertaken in the right spirit and keeping in mind other possible uses for the money - praiseworthy acts of moral solidarity.

Imposed by government, these same prices, regardless of whether or not they are beneficial to the poor, cannot be in compliance with social justice because by consenting the purchasers do not redress any wrong for which they are responsible.

The simulated barter exchange between the overpriced knife maker and myself is another example of fair trade, especially if I could have talked him into an exorbitant price for my car - because I’m relatively poor, of course.*

In other words:

Fair trade coffee good! That is, if you can afford it and you want it and the money wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere. More power to the people!
  • It’s all good! :cool:
 
Ferdinand_Mary said:
The topic is not RotoHoes (yes, I looked it up to make sure it wasn’t dirty) or sanding belts - it’s fair trade coffee. Please stick to the topic or I will be forced to close this thread and dole out whappings.

Mane Nobiscum Domine,
Ferdinand Mary
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Please do not take this as criticism or an objection.

We are talking about fair trade coffee – specifically about the “fair trade” part of the discussion. We are demonstrating by reductio ab absurdum that fair trade cannot be established by fiat.

A thing is worth what a willing buyer will offer and a willing seller will accept.

I don’t have a right to demand someone pay $10,000 for one of my knives – no matter how many children I have to support, or how worthy I am personally.
 
vern_humphrey said:
Please do not take this as criticism or an objection.

We are talking about fair trade coffee – specifically about the “fair trade” part of the discussion. We are demonstrating by reductio ab absurdum that fair trade cannot be established by fiat.

A thing is worth what a willing buyer will offer and a willing seller will accept.

I don’t have a right to demand someone pay $10,000 for one of my knives – no matter how many children I have to support, or how worthy I am personally.
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I didn’t close the thread because I understand this; I’m just hoping that you’ll stay a little closer to the OP’s topic to demonstrate what you want to.

God Bless, and please proceed.

Ferdinand Mary
 
hoosiertoo said:
A just price is one that has been agreed upon in the course of a voluntary transaction. If a seller grants a discount or a buyer pays a higher price to help the poor - as is the case with fair trade coffee - the prices paid are not only just but probably - undertaken in the right spirit and keeping in mind other possible uses for the money - praiseworthy acts of moral solidarity.

Imposed by government, these same prices, regardless of whether or not they are beneficial to the poor, cannot be in compliance with social justice because by consenting the purchasers do not redress any wrong for which they are responsible.

The simulated barter exchange between the overpriced knife maker and myself is another example of fair trade, especially if I could have talked him into an exorbitant price for my car - because I’m relatively poor, of course.*

In other words:

Fair trade coffee good! That is, if you can afford it and you want it and the money wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere. More power to the people!
  • It’s all good! :cool:
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Precisely my points.

However I would add that giving farmers added incentive to produce a crop that’s already in such oversupply that the fair market price is too low for them tu survive on it is a losing strategy.
 
Ferdinand_Mary said:
I didn’t close the thread because I understand this; I’m just hoping that you’ll stay a little closer to the OP’s topic to demonstrate what you want to.

God Bless, and please proceed.

Ferdinand Mary
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We’ll be good – we promise.

God bless and keep you.
 
vern_humphrey said:
We’ll be good – we promise.
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:getholy: :coffee:

Or as good as I can get anyway. I was not on the list of students that teachers wanted to see in class on the first day of school.
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vern:
However I would add that giving farmers added incentive to produce a crop that’s already in such oversupply that the fair market price is too low for them tu survive on it is a losing strategy.
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Even more to the point. The artificially high price for coffee is not sustainable and will likely cause even more problems for the poor farmer down the road.

Imagine the lifestyle change you make between $16K per year and $20K per year and the resultant problems if you income were to drop back down to $16K!
 
hoosiertoo said:
:getholy: :coffee:

Or as good as I can get anyway. I was not on the list of students that teachers wanted to see in class on the first day of school.

Even more to the point. The artificially high price for coffee is not sustainable and will likely cause even more problems for the poor farmer down the road.

Imagine the lifestyle change you make between $16K per year and $20K per year and the resultant problems if you income were to drop back down to $16K!
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You’re right – this begins to look a bit like the “Great Society” (albeit on a smaller scale), where with the best intentions in the world, we made things much worse for the people we were trying to help.

And, as I have pointed out before, projects like this don’t have a feedback mechanism built it. There is nothing to tell us when they are failing, or worse, counterproductive. In fact, those who most fervently push these programs seem to regard the suggestion that they might make things worse as a form of heresy.
 
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