Mexican Fair Trade

To begin, migrant farmers are not paid fair wages. In Source D, the graph demonstrates that a farm worker will earn only $.30 for every $100. of produce that he harvests. The majority of the earnings are split between the manufacturers and the retailers. This does not leave the farm worker with an adequate salary to feed and clothe his family. Furthermore, with such measly wages, the farm workers cannot live “The American Dream.”

I watched the video “The Coffee Go-Round” which talks about how the cost of coffee seems to be dropping and as a result this has a negative impact on coffee producing countries. One of the strategies mentioned in the video is to grow different crops, this strategy isn’t so great since many of these farmers don’t have enough money to grow different crops. Another strategy mentioned is to move out of the land and go into the city, this is a good and bad option. It’s a good option since in cities there are more jobs being offered. However, it’s not such a great option because many of these farmers have lived their whole lives on their land, and moving to the city is a drastic change especially if they have a family. Lastly, another option is fair

The article, “Displaced People: NAFTA’s Most Important Product”, written by David Bacon for North American Congress on Latin America, discusses how economic crises have caused Mexicans to be displaced. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has caused the price of crops in Mexico to lower so much that there are no economic benefits from planting them. There are around 500,000 indigenous Mexicans from the state of Oaxaca now living in the United States as farmworkers. The article states that between 2000 and 2005, the countryside in Mexico has lost a million and a half jobs. This causes indigenous Mexicans who relied on planting crops to make money to migrate to the United States. Families that cannot migrate to the United States and are now jobless will go hungry as they search for buyers to buy the crops they grow. While the crops they grow continue to lose money value, the price of the food that they need to survive keeps increasing. After Mexico adopted NAFTA, the price of tortillas has more than doubled and companies continue to monopolize tortilla production. Poor Mexicans are left with no ability to make money and

Historically, agriculture has been the most important sector of Mexico’s economy, since plants and grains were first domesticated to today’s modern world. Today, Mexico’s main agricultural products like corn, fruits and vegetables that make up about 80% of agricultural production, which in many states is the only source of income that people have to survive day to day. Unfortunately, this livelihood has become threatened by the American subsides that create unfair competition with local Mexican farmers and small business, by offering to the Mexican market a vast supply of agricultural products along with low prices that take away jobs from millions of farmers. These unfortunate circumstances are damaging consequences

According to the CIA, Mexico has become the US ' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2014, two-way trade in goods and services exceeded $590 billion. Mexico has free trade agreements with 46 countries, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2012, Mexico formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and formed the Pacific Alliance with Peru, Colombia, and Chile. Mexico’s economy is made up from the agriculture industry and several other industries. The agricultural products are: corn, wheat, rice, beans, fruit, cotton, coffee, wood products, and soybeans and the industries services are: iron and steel, food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, petroleum., textiles, mining, and tourism. (CIA.GOV) In Coastal cities like Cancun, tourism, is an essential part of local economy. A clear majority of Mexico’s population lives in poverty. According to Boundless, 44.2% of Mexico’s population lives below the poverty line as defined by the country’s National Council of Social Development Policy Evaluation. This part of the population has trouble meeting basic human needs such as stable shelter, food, and health care. According to Geo-Mexico, the same report found that almost 60% of Mexico’s population matched the criteria for “lower class”, while only 1.7% of the population could be best described as “upper class.” Mexico’s wealth

According to the CIA, Mexico has become the US ' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2014, two-way trade in goods and services exceeded $590 billion. (###) Mexico has free trade agreements with 46 countries, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. (###) In 2012, Mexico formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and formed the Pacific Alliance with Peru, Colombia, and Chile. Mexico’s economy is made up from the agriculture industry and several other industries. The agricultural products are: corn, wheat, rice, beans, fruit, cotton, coffee, wood products, and soybeans and the industries services are: iron and steel, food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, petroleum., textiles, mining, and tourism. (###) In Coastal cities like Cancun, tourism, is an essential part of local economy. A clear majority of Mexico’s population lives in poverty. According to Boundless, 44.2% of Mexico’s population lives below the poverty line as defined by the country’s National Council of Social Development Policy Evaluation. This part of the population has trouble meeting basic human needs such as stable shelter, food, and health care. According to Geo-Mexico, the same report found that almost 60% of Mexico’s population matched the criteria for “lower class”, while only 1.7% of the population could be best

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Coffee was introduced to Nicaragua in the mid 1800’s. Since then it has played a crucial role to both Nicaragua’s economy and its environment. It is currently the nation’s primary sources of foreign exchange. Coffee plantations are the economic backbone for thousands of rural communities. Today coffee also supports the 45,334 families that own and operate small farm. In the late 1990s, coffee annually contributed US$140 million to the national economy and provided the equivalent of 280,000 permanent agricultural jobs. Also, the rural communities who cultivate this golden bean are inadvertently helping in preserving Nicaragua’s precious forests and its threatened biodiversity. However,

Chiquita, the oldest banana transnational in Latin America was the primary target of banana worker rights and environmental activists until 2001. The company has since teamed up with the Rainforest Alliance to roll out the Alliance’s standards to its banana farms in Latin America.6 Chiquita prides itself on its recent changes, which have involved revamping the company to promote “The Chiquita Difference”; this includes a philosophy of social responsibility, sustainability, community involvement and food safety.7 These changes arose from the use of political activism by consumers in response to poor workers rights, thus exemplifying the fact that people do realize where their food is coming from and are willing to fight for those who create it. This shows that the process of defetishization has begun for many. Production

An equity issue discussed in the article is food globalization, particularly the effects it has on the Maya people of Mexico. Barry Bogin et al. defines food globalization as the integration of the products of multinational corporations alongside changes in dietary patterns, which influences the biology, social structure and principles of people (12). As much as it is unlikely for globalization to reproduce a “single world society,” the same can be said for food globalization (Bogin et al., 12). According to Sidney Mintz in his book Sweetness and Power (1985), the history of food globalization can be traced all the way back 300 hundred years ago with the exchange of slaves and goods by 18th century European Colonial powers

One reason why I believe that the European fair trade market is drastically larger than the American market is due to the fact that Europeans are more likely to have a greater understanding of the benefits of fair trade due to the common presence of Fairtrade Towns throughout Europe. These towns serve as a means for consumers to adopt fair trade products and to foster a greater understanding of its benefits by following the interactions of their peers. Bente Halkier elaborates on this theory by stating that such “practices come into being in the processes of activities carried out in front of, together with, and in relation to others” (Halkier as cited by (Wheeler, 2012)) The creation of Fairtrade Towns highlights the stronger presence of European

The major goods and services traded between Mexico and the US are agricultural products and US exports of private commercial services. These to go major goods are imported and exported between US and Mexico. According to USTR.gov, "United States goods and private services with Mexico totaled an estimated $536 billion in 2012. Would exports totaled 243 billion! Imports totaled $293 billion. The total US goods and services trade deficit with Mexico was $49 billion into thousand and 12. "Since US and Mexico our neighboring countries, most of the important export come at a better value priced tag for consumers since shipping cost is much lower than other trading partners such as China and Europe. Trade in private services with Mexico (based

Migrant labor is omnipresent in global supply chains that seek labor at a reduced cost. It is of no surprise that migrant labor is being used in coffee cooperatives and plantations in Costa Rica. When visiting Costa Rica we were able to visit numerous coffee plantations. Most of these plantations used migrant labor from Nicaragua, Panama, the regional indigenous population of the Guaymi, and even local Costa Ricans. The focus of this report will be on the Nicaraguan migrant labor due to my own personal experiences and notice of an almost demonization of the Nicaraguan people in some areas of Costa Rica, and ultimately how this could be harmful for Costa Rica in terms of business and economics.

Many producers, usually farmers and workers have been exploited by the “middlemen” who pay the farmers less than what they receive and they keep all the profits.

In the article by Lee and Wilson “The State of Trade, Competitiveness and Economic Well-being in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region” we are given an account how the border is braking economic growth. While the U.S.-Mexico border is a “major milestone of one-half trillion dollars,” it has received virtually no recognition (Lee et al, 2). The article goes on to say how port of entries have not kept up with the increased trade or border region border population growth. Therefore, in this paper will be providing an overview of the economic impact and discussing some of the proposed solutions presented by Lee and Wilson. They include: increasing capacity, increasing traveler and shipper programs, and via US and Mexican coordination and cooperation efforts.

Cohort 4 believes that fair trade is the most prosperous way to trade with other countries. Both free trade and fair trade have advantages and disadvantages. The researchers in Cohort 4 have established a viewpoint regarding fair trade and free trade. Considering the research that the cohort has conducted, they are in opposition to free trade.