Meanwhile pesticides had leached in

Meanwhile pesticides had leached into local streams, the only source of all local water needs from drinking to bathing.

But El Guabo's approximate 600 family farms, on average five acres in size, became a fair trade certified co-operative ten years ago. Through certification organisations such as Fair Trade USA, farmers have adopted sustainable farming methods, eliminated the use of pesticides and fair trade premiums mean they can now afford to educate their children beyond elementary school. The rampant respiratory and skin diseases that plagued many children in the community have subsided. According to Fair Trade USA's CEO Paul Rice, these children can now safely enjoy and drink the local water. In an interview with Rice, who has immersed himself in fair trade since he lived and worked on coffee farms in Nicaragua during the 1980s, he touted the ability of this movement saying, "Whole Foods, Sam's Club and other retailers who we've reached out to are now starting to sell bananas from these and other co-ops. It's amazing to see the direct impact that fair trade labels have on these bananas and other products."

The environmental stewardship and awareness that fair trade can catalyse not only remediates the local environment, but also offers children opportunities to learn how they can protect the land and guarantee their rights to a safe environment for future generations. Coffee growing regions throughout Latin America often suffer water pollution problems because water used to process coffee beans is dumped into local lakes and streams. But in Costa Rica, CoopeTarrazú, a coffee-growing co-operative, diverts some of its fair trade premiums to education programs. Now these same farmers in CoopeTarrazú not only have access to safer methods to process coffee, the co-operative funds an education program that teaches their children about issues including biodiversity and organic farming.

Fair trade not only helps farmers earn a just wage that boosts their living standards, but provides their children with access to healthy land and water and the opportunity to gain the tools necessary to ensure that future generations be able to play, swim and learn without the constant threat of pollution and illness.