At the Net Impact conference yesterday I saw a presentation called "Fair Trade Coffee: A Sustainable Development." Speakers from Green Mountain Coffee and Pura Vida Coffee emphasized that an important part of their marketing program is communicating how farming families are sustained by the higher prices paid for certified Fair Trade coffee. The quality of the coffee has to be above average, but the romance of contributing to the economic and educational welfare of a family is strongly communicated with portraits of the individual families and news about their kids and successes. This approach plays directly into the growing desire for more authentic connections in the marketplace.

Coffee was called a "failed market" by Barbara Fiorito, chair of Oxfam America. At the end of the 1990’s, the open market price for coffee beans fell below the cost to produce them. The livelihood of 25 million families was jeopardized, many of whom were manipulated by middle men who controled their access to information as well as the market. Some farmers turned to growing crops that produce illegal drugs. Fair Trade practices, certified in the U.S. by TransFair, have saved many families.