Never quite got what fair trade coffee is all about? Lucky for you, here's a one-paragraph explanation of why fair trade coffee's necessary, brought to you by a travel article titled "Destination: The Java Zone" in Sierra magazine written by Gregory Dicum, eco-journalist and coffee enthusiast:

Hello World Fair Trade Day! Yes, today, May 10, is World Fair Trade Day. And I hope you're reading this before noon (or 3 pm on the east coast) because that's when the World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break happens.

In case you didn't turn on the news this week, Starbucks pulled off the PR business coup of the year --the year being about 8 or 9 weeks old.On Tuesday night, all 7100 Starbucks-owned coffee shops closed for three hours to "retrain" their baristas. This was followed up with a new company promise posted in their stores, "“Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right.”

If you love adventure travel, becoming a fair trade coffee buyer seems like THE way to combine business and pleasure. After all, coffee's grown in the far reaches of many different continents -- and getting to some of these places can require jumping through some serious hoops -- rafting a truck down a river, bumping down an unpaved road, and even going on a long hike chewing coca leaves.