We recently made the decision to raise the price of Organic Bananas to $1.19/pound.

The banana industry is infamous for unfair labor practices, dangerous working conditions, and perpetuation of global inequalities. The Co-op has long rejected being a part of the conventional banana trade. Instead, we only stock Organic Fair Trade bananas from Equal Exchange. Equal Exchange bananas come from three farmer co-ops in Ecuador and Peru where 1,162 small-scale farmers own and farm 5,000 acres of land.

Over the last decade, conventional banana prices have fallen, with increasing costs passed back to plantations and their workers, rather than to consumers or retailers. According to a study by Fair Trade International, about $6.70 per 40-pound wholesale box of conventional bananas is externalized onto smallholder farmers and the employees of banana plantations, as well as onto the land itself.

Unlike the conventional banana trade, Equal Exchange banana farmers earn a reliable income year-round which supports farmer families and creates local employment opportunities. As democratically-run cooperatives, Equal Exchange co-ops use the Fair Trade Premium Fund and vote on how money is used for community development projects. Equal Exchange banana farmers also receive healthcare, women’s entrepreneurship education, and environmental stewardship resources.

“Invisible” costs really aren’t invisible. We won’t be passing those costs back to the farmers who grow our food or to the land that nourishes all of us. Instead, we hope you’ll join us in supporting small farmers growing the food on our tables knowing that you’re strengthening supply chains and relationships that truly benefit people and planet.