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Originally Posted by d~rek

only 3.7% of starbucks coffee is fair trade.
that is not much
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks#Coffee_bean_market

3.7% of their volume is A LOT of fair tradedcoffee.

how much fair trade coffee you think was being bought and sold BEFORE starbucks?

look, that very link you provided tells this:

Transfair USA,[43] the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the United States, has noted the impact Starbucks has made in the area of Fair Trade and coffee farmer's lives by saying: “ Since launching FTC coffee in 2000, Starbucks has undeniably made a significant contribution to family farmers through their rapidly growing FTC volumes. By offering FTC coffee in thousands of stores, Starbucks has also given the FTC label greater visibility, helping to raise consumer awareness in the process.

the perfect is the enemy of the good, etc etc. realistically, small business owners are quicker to give people the shaft than big corporations. i am one of them; i know.

Originally Posted by Dead-Air

Starbucks is an awful corporation because they do things like buy out their best competition, such as Coffee People here in Portland who were way better in every respect, and then shut them down entirely.

[...]

Meanwhile, I'll keep buying my Green Tea at Stumptown and tipping the baristas, in hopes that the evil behometh doesn't swallow them up next.

Tell me, did Coffee People pay employee benefits? Health insurance--for part timers? Did they offer stock options? How much did the workers profit from the sale of Coffee People? Eh??

And it's atrocious when workers have to depend on the caprice or charity of customer "tips" to make a living-- Thank you, massa, for your generosity! May the Lord bless you and increase your riches, Sire! pffft--- tips are ultimately a slap on the face-- a notch above whoredom.