Part I Coffee: Product of Columbia

Are we or aren't we helping with purchase 8/15/16

Are we or aren't we helping with purchase? Most of the products people buy are from other countries around the world. Most of the time the farmers don't get the fair share for their work which is brought to light in the four chapters of "Where Am I Eating?" by Kelsey Timmerman. He stated in chapter one "About one cent of a fancy mocha at Starbucks make its way back to the farmers in Colombia." The farmers don't receive much out of the purchase of that fancy mocha at Starbucks. Which we aren't helping much with the purchase because they don't get fair share. Even with all of the purchases we make it's still not enough for the farmers to make a good living. "[B]ut not so impolite or to imply that I'm an idiot for paying such a price for a 12-ounce bag of beans. They get less than a dollar for selling that amount of beans." They would still make less than what Timmerman bought the beans for. A concept that we need to understand before deciding whether or not if we are or aren't helping with purchase is we the people pay more money for the product and the producers get the bare minimum while the companies are getting money from the producers and the consumers. It's  just a matter how one sees it because partly we are helping with buying the products and that same time we aren't because they don't earn much from the purchase but is that our fault or the companies. "The world is drinking more coffee--- and paying more the privilege to do so--- but that unfortunately doesn't mean that farmers like Felipe are seeing their livelihood increase on the scale." People are drinking and buying more coffee while farmers don't see their life progressing. Even though people are buying more coffee it doesn't really help the farmers because they don't see that money but the ones who see all of that money is the companies. "I hope the new agreement between the United States and Colombia can help me earn more for my coffee." This person hopes that the new agreement would help their coffee business. Who is there to say that the farmers don't deserve half of the money for the purchase we make. They deserve half of the money of the purchase we make since they are the ones who do all of the hard work to bring us the coffee we drink and purchase. The coffee we buy is all thanks to the farmers who harvest them and bring the coffee beans to us so in return they should be earning more than what they earn for a living. How would you feel if you were in that situation? Would you want the purchases of the consumers to help or not?  It makes you question if we are helping or not. In a way we are helping with our purchase because they still have a job even though they earn a lot of money. So do you think we are helping with purchase are helping or aren't?