We are told that simply by sipping our morning cup of organic, fair-trade coffee we are encouraging environmentally friendly agricultural methods, community development, fair prices, and shortened commodity chains. But what is the reality for producers, intermediaries, and consumers? This ethnographic analysis of fair-trade coffee examines the collective action and combined efforts of fair-trade network participants to construct a new economic reality. 

Focusing on La Voz Que Clama en el Desierto--a cooperative in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala--and its relationships with coffee roasters, importers, and certifiers in the United States, Coffee and Community argues that while fair-trade does benefit small coffee-farming communities, it is more flawed than advocates and scholars have acknowledged. However, through detailed ethnographic fieldwork with farmers and by following the product, fair-trade can be understood and modified to be more equitable. 

This book will be a must-read for anyone interested in globalization and the realities of fair-trade.