"These cooperatives retain more of the price, but the price itself is still below the cost of production," Brody says. "The farmers are getting more than 20 cents, but they're still only getting 60. We say that we need higher prices-fair prices."

Brody explains Fair Trade coffee is a chance for consumers to make choices with dramatic consequences.

"If someone buys a cup of fair trade coffee instead of a cup at a conventional market, the farmer is really benefiting and it can have a real effect getting these farmers out of poverty," Brody says. "We've either doubled or tripled the amount of money that small scale farmers are getting. Some communities have been able to invest in schools and health clinic for the first time because of the impact of fair trade."

BREWING UP SUPPORT

HIFT started with a sociology class.

Part of Bar Am's assignment for Sociology 96: "Community Action Research" was to get involved with an existing project or start a new one. Local activists spoke to the class about a number of projects, including Fair Trade coffee, an issue that reminded him of high school.

"One of my teachers junior year talked a lot about Brazil. He would say, 'A lot of coffee is grown in Brazil, but do you think that people in Brzil actually drink it?' I stopped drinking coffee after that. I just became a lot more conscious about farming issues," Bar Am says.