[jmj4]

>So you're saying that fair trade coffee benefits "the white man" rather than the producers in the third-world country? That's exactly the opposite of what fair trade means.

Does Fair Trade really benefit all of the producers in the third-world? What are the side effects of Fair Trade? I think you could postulate that it drives down conventional coffee farmer's profits, since non-fair trade coffee will try and compete on price.

Wouldn't this lead to lower wages and higher poverty for the majority of the farmers?

I have no data to back this up. Anyone know any facts about this and care to share?