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Article: Fair Trade coffee demand sparks debate on workers' wages, lives.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- October 8, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Jake Batsell
BALGUE, Nicaragua _ Coffee has helped provide water for Jose Felix Centeno Castillo's home, school for his nine children and a better life for his fellow farmers.
Castillo and other members of his farming cooperative receive among the highest prices in the coffee industry _ $1.61 a pound _ for the beans they grow under towering trees on the volcano slopes of Ometepe Island, Nicaragua.
But do not look for a Fair Trade Certified label on the packages that carry Castillo's coffee. That coveted stamp of approval costs money _ farmers and roasters pay for the label _ and would shave hundreds of dollars from his co-op's annual ...