Trading fairly: you can make a strong statement with your dollar by buying fair trade products. Here's why.(analysis of fair trade)

Millions of Americans reach for coffee each day, but while we're well versed in its power to give us a little oomph, very few of us have any idea what's involved in the production of our beloved brew.

Long before coffee beans arrive on our shores, a farmer in some far-off land labors to provide citizens in affluent countries their required beverage. You'd think coffee's growing popularity would mean a pretty good lifestyle for those who produce it. Think again.

unbalanced trade

Many farmers from countries such as Honduras and Guatemala have difficulty maintaining their crops and meeting basic living expenses thanks to the low prices they receive for products such as coffee beans, sugarcane, cocoa beans and tea leaves. While middlemen and corporations prosper, peasant farmers are forced to sustain themselves, their families and their land on as little as a dollar a day.

Factors such as corrupt governments, poorly educated farmers and cheap labor (some of it forced child labor in West Africa) contribute to the problem, with the result being a vicious o/de of poverty for the grower. Finding bananas for a rock-bottom price in Montana is a good indicator that somebody wasn't paid very well to produce them.

But the future for many poor farmers is looking brighter thanks to a movement that's gaining real momentum--fair trade.

the fair trade advantage