You see, co-ops and Fair Trade are not only compatible, but extremely complementary. They make each other stronger and more inspiring. And (in our opinion) Fair Trade could not, and cannot, exist without cooperatives.

The Fair Trade model helps farmer co-ops to thrive, and enables consumer co-op members to connect with farmer co-op members and do business with one another, sustainably and in solidarity.

Sometimes a worker co-op like Equal Exchange acts as the bridge, potentially creating a completely co-op supply chain. This is one of the best examples of the 6th Co-op Principle: Cooperation Among Cooperatives. (If you’re unfamiliar with the seven universal Co-op Principles check out: www.ncba.coop/abcoop.cfm.)

Conversely, in the 1980s co-ops, here and abroad, made Fair Trade possible. Today, they offer the Fair Trade system it’s most meaningful expression. I say “most meaningful” because, more recently, plantations and publicly traded corporations like Wal-Mart and Hershey’s have entered the Fair Trade market to an extent. While that development constitutes an improvement over these groups’ historic track record, it doesn’t represent as profound a model as that of co-opbased Fair Trade.

When the Fair Trade system for crops like coffee was created in the 1980s, only small-farmer co-ops could participate. And still today, farmer co-ops supply all of the nation’s Fair Trade Certified coffee, cocoa and sugar. (In contrast, the official standards for Fair Trade tea, bananas and other crops allow for the participation of plantations.)

Measured by weight, at least 90% of the nation’s supply of Fair Trade Certified foods are still supplied by farmer co-ops. However, some of us are launching efforts to push that number back toward 100%, such as introducing new co-op-sourced Fair Trade Certified organic teas.

At this end of the global Fair Trade supply chain, consumer food co-ops definitely “punch above their weight.” That is, that no group of retailers in the U.S. food system does more for Fair Trade, proportionate to their sales, than America’s food co-ops.

But the good news goes beyond the buying and selling of coffee and such. Right now, co-ops of all stripes, in both the global North and South, are working together to build a stronger, more just co-op economy — and Fair Trade is a part of those efforts. One example is Oké USA, a Fair Trade banana importer that’s 50% owned by a global co-op of banana growers, 30% owned by non-profits and 20% owned by Equal Exchange, a worker co-op.

Right now is such a dynamic time in the food industry and our national food culture. Some of the changes — genetically modified organisms, massive factory poultry and hog operations — are dismaying. Yet there are also trends heading in the other direction, such as the growing interest in environmental issues, animal rights and the need to fix the federal Farm Bill.

For decades, food co-ops have been at the forefront of new approaches, including that of Fair Trade — and we just wanted you to know a little about what you are helping to make possible every day. Rodney North, the “answer man” for Equal Exchange, has been with the worker co-op for 11 years. He also serves as vice-chair on its board (email: Rodney@equalexchange.coop).