Green Parrot Coffee was created with only one thing in mind.  Social justice for the Honduran coffee plantation worker which translates into providing a living wage.  The current daily wage of a field laborer is only $3.20.
                                IT IS NOT A LIVING WAGE
Understanding the difficulties faced by poor Honduran coffee field laborers requires an intimate knowledge of past and current multifaceted factors.  Most coffee farms are located in remote mountainous areas which are severely underdeveloped.  There generally is no electricity which makes access to other basic services such as health care and education very limited.  Many villages located in the heart of Honduran coffee country were actually created when whole groups of people were relocated to private lands for the sole purpose of working the farms.  These villagers who are now in their third generation as coffee field workers, are essentially trapped in a cycle of poverty.  They have never owned their own land because they were originally placed in housing provided by the coffee farm owners.  They are generally illiterate as even primary education was not available until recently when the Honduran government began to officially recognize these small villages as real entities deserving of government support.  Because they have never owned land, they have been denied access to even micro-credit which has made relocation or development of other small enterprise nearly impossible.  In essence, they are trapped in their circumstance.  And, as long as wages continue below subsistence living, so too are their children trapped in a cycle of poverty which denies them the opportunity to dream for a better tomorrow.

        CONCERNED ABOUT CHILD LABOR?
The heavy presence of child labor on coffee farms in Honduras is a deep concern.  However, there are some things you should know.  Children have always worked during the coffee harvest.  Even the school year is organized around the harvest season. The school year ends in early December, just as the harvest begins and  then resumes in early February, when the harvest is nearly over.  One of the principle reasons why children work with their parents in the fields during this time is because the harvest season is when most families make the majority of their money for the entire year.  Field work which consists of cleaning, pruning and fertilizing the coffee plants, takes place outside of the harvest.  It is sporadic, paying very little.   Instead of daily wages, during the harvest, workers earn by the gallon of ripe coffee picked.  It is a family event in which each member contributes to the family's well-being.  Many children work during harvest to earn money to purchase school supplies, new clothes for the year or perhaps a special toy their parents could not otherwise afford.  Still, Green Parrot Coffee is dedicated to the elimination of child labor. However, it would require that producers be paid a fair price for their coffee so they in turn could pay their adult workers a living wage.  This would allow those same workers to provide for the needs of their families.  The only way to realize this dream is by exporting a high quality final product directly to the consumer, assuring that the majority of the profits directly return to deserving conscientious coffee farm owners , fields laborers and finally those projects which enhance their quality of life.