If you’re a consumer who bases buying decisions on your values and those of the companies whose products and services you purchase, don’t stop with your favorite beverage. Buying fair trade coffee promotes gender equality worldwide. Here are four ways mindful purchasing decisions improve women’s lives around the globe.

4 Ways Fair Trade Improves Gender Equality

1. Promotes Leadership

The standards espoused by organizations such as Fairtrade International focus on supporting disadvantaged minority groups and women. Women in the fair trade coffee industry may enter women’s leadership schools to gain skills and knowledge in business, finance, and negotiation. Then, they use their knowledge and abilities to improve their earnings, purchase land, and better their communities and the lives of their children.

2. Bars Discrimination

In many countries that grow coffee, women are barred from working if they’re pregnant. If they’re married, they’re expected to stay at home to raise children. Coffee growers that follow fair trade standards are not allowed to discriminate against women based on their marital status nor deny employment to pregnant women.

3. Aligns Businesses With Fair Trade Standards

Businesses that adopt fair trade standards believe in their employees. They want to see women thrive and look to Fairtrade International for resources to facilitate gender equality. By purchasing fair trade coffee, you’re supporting growers and producers that empower women to earn higher wages, hold stable jobs, and better their lives and those of their families.

4. Fosters Gender Analysis

Some suppliers of fair trade coffee seek to understand the current states of their staff by implementing gender analysis. Through polling and communicating with gender-based committees and programs, they’re learning how to alter their policies to better support women in the workplace. 

If you’re interested in purchasing fair trade coffee, try the unique beans at U-Roast-Em. The Russo family sources coffee from Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, and Yemen just to name a few and also enjoys educating home roasters and coffee lovers about their growers and producers. Call their Solon Springs, WI, location at (715) 378-2448, or visit their website for information about nationwide shipments. They offer free shipping on orders over $50 plus 5% off on orders over $200. They also sell coffee-related accessories, including home roasters, authentic market bags, custom-order aprons, coffee bean bags, and flavorings.