Agriculture is big business, but for the majority of farmers the benefits are small. In developing countries most farmers work modest plots of land and are isolated from markets. The path leading from their farms to your table is long and filled with powerful intermediaries. As a result, little of the money that you spend on food reaches farmers.
But there is an alternative. Equal Exchange has created a different path to the market for farmers that brings them closer to you, and delivers more of your dollars to them. Equal Exchange does this by purchasing coffee and other crops directly fromfarmer co-ops around the world, adhering to Fair Trade standards. Through this model we believe food becomes a delicious and powerful tool for creating positive change for small farmers and their families.
When you purchase fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks through the Disciples of Christ Coffee Project, you join a growing network of congregations who have joined hands with more than 30 small farmer cooperatives in 19 countries, receiving fair prices, affordable credit and long term trade relationships built on trust and respect. See what farmers have accomplished through fair trade:
Colombia: The CCAOC cooperative of small coffee farmers has established education scholarships and a school lunch program. Farmers have learned to protect the environment and have renovated their organic farms, improving family nutrition.
Sri Lanka: SOFA, the only small farmer tea organization in Sri Lanka, has organized hundreds of farm families. Vital income from fairly traded tea sales allows SOFA to educate members on quality, sustainable agriculture and organic farming techniques.
Dominican Republic: The CONACADO cooperative of small cocoa farmers has used fair trade premiums to dig wells for clean drinking water and has repaired school buildings. The cooperative has invested in cocoa processing improvements like new cocoa fermentation tanks and drying tunnels.
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Interfaith Program 
