How fair is Fair Trade coffee?

By Bradley Meacham
Seattle Times business reporter

MARIO LOPEZ / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Residents of Nicaragua's northern coffee region wait to be examined by medics last week. Drought and plummeting coffee prices have left farmers without means of subsistence and thousands of people suffering from malnutrition.

MATAGALPA, Nicaragua — The 200 workers at Eddy and Mausi Kuhl's coffee farm are paid living wages and have homes with electricity, running water and concrete floors. They help make decisions about the operation of the 560-acre farm, and their 400 dependents receive benefits, including an on-site school and health clinic.

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