Fair-trade coffee, it’s only fair.

The United States consumes one-fifth of all the world's coffee, making it the largest consumer in the world. But few Americans realize that agriculture workers in the coffee industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the fields." Many small coffee farmers receive prices for their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

I helped create this pocket-size guide to coffee shop selling fair trade coffee in downtown Philadelphia. By providing a tool that can easily be carried around, my hope was to provide people with information to help them find trade if they wanted it. The guide was also combined with an online version on Google Maps.

In addition to location of shops, the guide also provides the user information about the price of a cup of coffee, the overall ambience, wireless availability and if it’s a “stop and go” or “sit and relax” shop.

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Did you know only 2.2% of all coffee purchased in the USA is fair-trade?