How does fair trade works to promote a higher quality coffee? Find out on this week's episode of The Farm Report as Erin Fairbanks is joined by Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing for Equal Exchange. Hear about the initiatives Equal Exchange has started to develop common language so that producers, retailers and consumers are all on the same page. Language barriers, personal relationships and honesty are all integral to ensuring that fair trade standards are maintained and upheld, and Todd gives listeners inside perspective into the process of managing all of the systems that get coffee from crop to cup, ethically and responsibly. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

"You can have fair trade coffee that is commercial grade, and fair trade coffee that is super high quality. It can be both things, and it's not a prerequisite one way or another. It's about the individuals in the supply chain." [07:00]

"What I'd like to see is greater levels of research and investigation to increase productivity on rural Latin American farms." [32:00]

--Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing for Equal Exchange on The Farm Report

By now most of you have probably seen this viral video but today Jason Colucci takes you to the man behind the 12 year old, Jeremiah McDonald, to start off the Morning After with a laugh. Then stay tuned as Toby Smith of Toby's Estate coffee talks about taking your trade seriously and, in the case of coffee, the importance of choosing your sources. Following that vein guest artist and piano-wielding chanteuse Stephanie Ault talks about how she got into her trade after following many different paths from acting to working at Mast Brother's Chocolate, which subsequently inspired he latest album. This episode is sponsored by The Hearst Ranch.

"[On the practice of cupping] Cupping, for the trade, is to find defects. But a lot of cupping now is about identifying coffees that really stand out on the table. And the great thing about cupping is that it is a very simple brewing method, you can put 50 cups on a table and cup so many coffees and find one that really stands out."

--Toby Smith of Toby's Estate on The Morning After

On today’s THE FOOD SEEN, Michael Harlan Turkell hosts a special one-hour episode devoted to The Food Book Fair. Founder Elizabeth Thacker Jones will talk about all of the exciting additions to this year’s lineup, as we’re joined by a few of those guests in studio. Oliver Strand, a NYTimes coffee contributor, and Lars K. Huse of illustration and coffee, discuss their upcoming FBF Coffee Crawl . Melia Marden, chef/owner of The Smile, discusses her new cookbook, Modern Mediterranean. Christophe Hille, owner Northern Spy Food Co., will be on the FOOD + LABOR panel, touches on the “living wage” injustices of working in the restaurant industry. This episode has been sponsored by White Oak Pastures. Thanks to Cookies for the show's theme music.

"Coffee just moved the needles in a way that no other topic ever has. People were just so engaged after my first article, and I was really interested in that. People really don't know a lot about coffee." [5:15] -- Oliver Strand on THE FOOD SEEN

"I try to make things as simple as they can be, and as best as they can be- whether it's for the restaurant or my cookbook." [28:15] -- Melia Marden on THE FOOD SEEN

"Restaurant work is not like clerical work or office work... a restaurant is like a little military operation. If one person doesn't show up, it's harder to make the ship move." [46:00] -- Christophe Hille on THE FOOD SEEN