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Starting around 2000, labor abuses in the cocoa industry began to get international attention. You may have heard about poverty wages, unsafe working conditions, the worst forms of child labor and even modern-day slavery. You may have heard that farming practices that damage the environment were common, too. But what’s going on with that now? Have things gotten any better? (Article updated February 2024)
At Equal Exchange, we take pride in our model of truly responsible sourcing that promotes economic justice, environmental sustainability, and community development in regions where our products are grown. Despite the efforts made to cultivate positive change, however, there are certain macro-level issues that continue to impact our sourcing partners and their communities. For avocado farming co-operatives PRAGOR and Integradora Vics—our partners in the state of Michoacán, Mexico—the most pressing challenges include falling sales prices amid rising input costs, market rigidity in US stores, and the negative effects of climate change.
Farmland can be conservation land—when managed with that goal in mind. Monarch butterflies could soon be listed as endangered because of their drastic population decline. While you could plant native milkweed or nectar plants as waystations to help support the population, the farmers in central Mexico who supply Equal Exchange avocados are also protecting and restoring the forests where these amazing butterflies spend the winter.
Antitrust laws were put into place for a reason. The more consolidated our food system becomes and the greater control corporate monopolies exercise, the worse the outcome will be for farmers, workers, consumers, and the planet. As we continue to double-down on our efforts to support small farmers employing sustainable farming practices, we can—and must—take back our food system.
Equal Exchange imports avocados exclusively from democratically structured, organic- and Fairtrade-certified cooperatives of small-scale farmers (each possessing under 10 hectares of orchard) in Michoacán. With direct weekly pricing negotiations, additional Fairtrade premiums paid to the cooperatives, and collaborative efforts to maximize efficiency, both parties strive to thrive ethically in an industry dominated by large, foreign-owned corporations.
As we enter a new stage of Equal Exchange expanding our capital model, Equal Exchange Co-Founder and President Rink Dickinson reflects on the history of our capital model and its central role in our success in building an actual alternative economic model.