Healthy Environmental Practices

In our last post we talked about Direct Trade. One of the benefits mentioned about Direct Trade is the fact that farmers must use "Healthy Environmental Practices." So what exactly does that mean?

It means that the farmer is taking proactive measures to ensure the health of the ecosystem both on and around the farm. If the farm uses irrigation, are they recycling the water? What happens to the water used for de-pulping and fermentation? Is part of the farm being maintained as forest? If pesticide or herbicide is used at all, is it minimized and applied responsibly? These are the questions asked before a Direct Trade relationship is established with a grower. It is not dogmatic, because it is recognized that there are different realities on different farms, but it is essential that every Direct Trade farm is consciously following protocols that preserve the environment.

As mentioned before this is another example of how Direct Trade takes the idea of Fair Trade a bit further.