Assessing fair trade's effects on development and small farmers requires a balance between effects for individual farmers versus the reach of the fair trade standard: the higher the fair trade premium the smaller the market share.

Time magazine asks "What price for good coffee?"

Fair Trade pays $1.55 per lb. for Antonio's  organic coffee, almost 10% more than the market price. But Antonio is left with only 50¢ per lb. after paying Fair Trade cooperative fees, government taxes and farming expenses. By year's end, he says, from the few thousand pounds he grows, he'll pocket about $1,000 — around half the meager minimum wage in Guatemala — or $2.75 a day, not enough for Starbucks' cheapest latte.

The price per pound suggested by Christopher Bacon, and colleagues, of the University of California, is $2.00 / pound. However, the Fair trade labelling organization (FLO) and Transfair USA are concerned about the effect this would have onfair trade market share:

"What good is it to have $2-per-lb. coffee if you can only serve tens of thousands of farmers" instead of millions? asks Paul Rice, president and CEO of TransFair USA, the California-based nonprofit that oversees Fair Trade in the U.S. "You risk killing the goose."

The goose that is fair trade is force for change, but it is still subject to market forces...

Football (soccer) is the world's most widely played game and most of the time the ball is made by workers in terrible conditions for low pay. Fair Trade Sports provides an alternative ball for those who want to play a game with the knowledge that they are contributing to the livelihoods of others rather than risking workers' lives:

Bringing us sports balls that are third party certified (not internally certified) green and Fair Trade. Fair Trade Sports, Inc is the first sports equipment company in the US to launch a full line of eco-certified Fair Trade sports balls, ensuring fair wages and healthy working conditions for our adult workers. Be sure to also check out our sweatshop-free apparel. We have both an online retail store and wholesale store.

More and more brands are coming to see fair trade as part of the future of sport (Umbro). 

Farmworker unions in Ontario are a hot potato for governments. We hate to hear about heat deaths or "accidents" on farms but we also love the idea of the "family farmer". This has left farmworkers (mostly migrants) vulnerable to exploitation and poor work conditions. Labour inspections, fines and a meaningful ability to organize would help to alleviate this deplorable state.

In 1994, the NDP government passed a law permitting unions on farms although not permitting strikes or lockouts (Agricultural Labour Relations Act, 1994). This law was repealed by the Mike Harris Conservative government in 1995. Despite successful farm worker appeals all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada (Dunmore) and more recently to the Ontario Court of Appeal (Fraser v Ontario pdf file), workers are still unable to form meaningful unions to allow them to negotiate better work conditions. What are the Ontario government and Dalton McGuinty waiting for? Here is a video that says this in a "whistly" tune...

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has signed an agreement with a major food service company to improve working conditions for the some of the most exploited farm workers in the United States. The CIW advocates for fair labour standards and the end of forced labour conditions. Working in terrible heat and humidity endangers workers and has led to only the most vulnerable members of society working in the tomato fields. Lack of immigration status ("illegal aliens"), isolation, and outright tyranny by employers has led to brutal exploitation of farm workers in the Florida tomato industry. Organizing has been effective because of a broad coalition and the targeting of food service companies (fast food). The most recent agreement arose with Bon Appétit Management Company and the CIW.

Gerardo Reyes of the CIW: "The future of a fairer tomato industry is being written today, and this agreement is a rough draft. It's not a final product, and it's not meant to be. But it is a great first cut at building a relationship between farmworkers and their employers based on a genuine appreciation for the value of farmworkers' labor - something that has been absent since the birth of the agricultural industry in Florida - and driven by a vision of universal human rights. We see this as a golden opportunity for Florida's smaller, family-scale farmers to gain access to a market that has traditionally been beyond their reach, and to help elevate Florida's agricultural industry in the process."

Fedele Bauccio, CEO of Bon Appétit Management Company: "America's agricultural workers do jobs that are far more difficult and dangerous than the average retail or restaurant worker, yet these jobs are critical to our entire food chain. When I met with workers in the fields and saw first-hand how difficult their lives are, I knew that I could not, in good conscience, contribute to such a system. We buy almost 5 million pounds of tomatoes a year. I decided to use that power to make a real difference in the supply chain."

Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder, UFW: "We congratulate Bon Appétit Management Company for their support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to bring humane treatment to those that bring the food to our table. This historic partnership between the food industry and farmworkers can end the slavery and slave-like conditions that farmworkers are subjected to in Florida and other states. ¡Si Se Puede!"