Farmers question value of 'responsible' coffees

Coffee farmers at Guatemala's small Chanmagua cooperative opened their land and growing methods to stiff scrutiny last year, in the hope an "environment-friendly" seal would bring them higher prices. The fifteen farmers who entered the program let inspectors see their accounts, raised wages for contract workers and cut down on fertilizers and pesticides so their coffee could be labeled environmentally and socially responsible. But after all the hard work the farmers, who grow high-grade coffee on mountains close to the border with Honduras, say they are disappointed with the small premiums over market price fetched by the coffee.