What’s the point of Starbucks having fair trade coffee if you can’t buy a cup of it?
Starbucks says a lot about supporting small farmers through fair trade. But try buying a cup of brewed fair trade coffee in any American Starbucks and you’re in for some blank looks and a long wait.
Fair trade fights common forms of labor exploitation including human trafficking, child labor, and other abuses. No wonder Starbucks wants to promote the fact that they source coffee from fair trade certified farms. But walk into any Starbucks in the U.S., and it’s likely that you won’t see a fair trade coffee on the menu. Ask for it specifically and you’ll have to wait for a whole new pot to be brewed before you can even get your hands around a cup of it.
Former Starbucks barista Sam Greenblatt has started a petition on Change.org asking Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz to live up to Starbucks’ fair trade ideals by making a fair trade option brewed and available to every customer. Sign Sam’s petition to get a brewed fair trade option available to every American Starbucks customer, everyday.
Fair trade is able to improve the lives of small farmers by connecting them directly to consumers — through labeling that tells consumers where products come from and certifies the fairness of the exchange. Without fair trade, many coffee farmers can only sell their harvests for less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.
Thanks to the enduring efforts of advocates, 100% of Starbucks’ brewed espresso sold in Europe is Fairtrade Certified. This means every cappuccino, pumpkin spice latte and caramel machiatto is ethically sourced as well as delicious.
It’s time for Starbucks to not just talk the fair trade talk, but walk the walk by making fair trade coffee options easily available in their U.S. stores. Sign Sam’s petition to get a brewed Fair Trade Coffee option available in every American Starbucks, everyday:
http://www.change.org/petitions/ceo-howard-shultz-offer-brewed-fair-trade-coffee-daily-in-us-stores
Thanks for being a change-maker,
Amanda and the Change.org team
If you wanna celebrate fair trade month, go grocery shopping at 
Fair trade teas! You can get Choice bagged teas, or chilled bottles of Honest Tea in the refigerators.
Then there’s fair trade yerba mate from Eco Teas and Guyaki. I’m actually not a big fan of mate, but some people love it –
Pick up a couple bars of fair trade chocolate from 
There’s also fair trade sugar, just below the fair trade cocoa.
In the bulk area, you can get fair trade, organic basmati rice, both white and brown. 
You may already’ve known that 
