Good Intentions (The Fair Trade Ethical Trading Program)

Member Name: jillmurphy

Product:	The Fair Trade Ethical Trading Program
Date:	09/03/04 (357 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Doing the right thing, Yadda, Ad infinitum

Disadvantages: Unless you're from the Adam Smith Institute, there aren't any

"PRODUCED FOR YOU BY SLAVES IN WEST AFRICA!"

If, instead of the usual advertising tagline, your favourite chocolate bar suddenly came emblazoned with that message on its wrapper, would you still buy it? Well, would you?

"PRODUCED FOR YOU BY WORKERS DYING OF PESTICIDE-R ;ELATED RESPIRATOR Y DISEASE!"

If this was printed on the label of the bananas you buy, would you still buy them? Well, would you?

If you wouldn't ? or even if it would make you stop and think - then this opinion on Fair Trade might interest you.

● WHAT IS FAIR TRADE?

Fair Trade is an international movement which seeks to help address global trading inequalities. Across the world, farmers in poor countries often struggle to live on the money big multi-national corporations pay them for their crops. They also suffer from trade subsidies and quotas organised by the rich nations ? that's us folks ? in order to protect their own interests. The Fair Trade Foundation was launched by various NGOs (um? non-governmental organisations; charities, faith groups, campaign groups) because they wanted to offer consumers in the west a range of goods produced under different conditions. They figured that offered the choice, many of us would prefer to buy goods from people who were earning a living wage, from people who had dignity of labour. Here, from the Make Trade Fair website, is the official
, agreed definition of the term Fair Trade in this, its capitalised sense:

"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers -especially in the South. Fair Trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness-raising, and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade."

The Fair Trade Foundation doesn't sell things directly. They are an accreditation body. If you buy goods stamped with their logo ? that little dinky black square with Fair Trade written on it ? you can be assured that the producers are getting a deal which ensures not only that they receive a fair price for their crops, but also that bad labour conditions are outlawed. Fair Trade also gives farmers security in that it offers long term contracts and often payments in advance; something the multinationals rarely do. And over and above these benefits, Fair Trade also involves a "Social Premium" ? an extra amount given towards investing in community projects which include such things as clean water supplies, health care and education.

You can find the full list of requirements here: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/about_standards.htm

● WHY DO WE NEED FAIR TRADE?

You read my spoof advertising taglines at the top there, right? Well, y'know? they might have been spoofs, but they weren't jokes. People are suffering out there folks, they really are. Workers producing those bananas you eat are facing infertility because of the danger
ous pesticides used with little or no protection. Many suffer from potentially fatal respiratory diseases far above the normal incidence. Have you read about the coffee crisis? Twenty five million coffee farmers are facing destitution. They are receiving less than half of the money for their crop than they did ten years ago. Yet the profits made by the multi-national purchasers of those crops have increased! So have their sales! People out there are not receiving back even the cost of producing their crops. They don't have enough money to provide themselves with clean water supplies, let alone feed their families properly, let alone to provide healthcare for one another, let alone to educate their children. Yet we all want to drink tea and coffee. We all eat bananas. We buy sugar by the barrel-load. Why must these people live in abject poverty while we continue to eat, drink and make merry? Something's gotta be wrong, hasn't it? Hasn't it? I think it's blindingly obvious why we need Fair Trade.

● WHAT'S AVAILABLE IN THE FAIR TRADE RANGE? AND WHERE CAN I BUY FAIR TRADE GOODS?

I'm going to stick to Fair Trade goods you can buy which have been accredited by the Fair Trade Foundation and which bear the little logo. There are other goods, but I'd be here all day if tried to cover them all. If you want to look, type Fair Trade UK into Google. You'll find pages and pages of results. You can buy coffee, both instant and ground. The most famous brand is probably Café Direct, an offshoot of Traidcraft. You can buy tea ? C
;lipper is probably the brand you'll recognise. You can buy sugar, honey, and dried fruit. You can buy wine. You can buy bananas, mangoes, oranges and various fruit juices. You can buy chocolate ? Dubble, Divine and Green & Blacks are probably brands you're already familiar with. And you can buy cereal bars ? you may well have seen Traidcraft's Geobars on the supermarkets shelves.

A few years ago, you may well have struggled to find any prominence at all given to Fair Trade goods in most places you shopped. I used to haunt my local health food shop and Oxfam shop to find them. You might have seen a dusty jar of Café Direct sitting on the bottom shelf at Sainsbury, but it was a pretty hit and miss affair. Things are different now. Sales of Fair Trade goods have increased hugely ? you see; lots of people do care! You won't need to ferret around hippy emporiums to find these goods at all. Leading lights in the stocking of Fair Trade goods are the Co-op. They stock almost everything available, even in their small village outlets. Better still, ALL the Co-op's own brand tea, coffee and chocolate are Fair Trade. Big up to them, I say. Even Sainsbury do own label Fair Trade tea and coffee alongside a pretty good range of other items. Waitrose have a good choice and are committed to extending it further. Tesco and Asda are not so good ? but they do stock the basics of tea and coffee at least in most stores. You can even sit down to a Fairly Traded cup of coffee at both Costas and Starbucks now!

You can find a full list of suppliers here: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/suppliers_retailers.ht m

● ARE THERE ANY PROBLEMS WITH FA
;IR TRADE?

It all sounds pretty good so far, don't you think? I can't imagine there's a soul out there who doesn't acknowledge the noble intentions of the Fair Trade movement. It's pretty hard to knock. In fact, you might be wondering what possible arguments there could be against such a fine endeavour. Well, there are quite a few actually. I can't possibly address them all here, but I'll try to give you a quick overview.

Fair Trade has been criticised for being unwieldy. It takes a long, long time to give accreditation, to farmers, to manufacturers and especially to new foodstuffs. It can take years. And it can cost a lot of money to do it. And while all the investigations and checks and paperwork are being undertaken, people are still suffering. Shouldn't there be a faster way to do it? Well, much as it would be great, I don't really see it's possible. The Fair Trade mark has to stand for something. It has to be reliable and trustworthy. And while it's frustrating to wait, I think we must wait. There are too many unscrupulous people out there I'm afraid. I'd rather see products added slowly but be able to rely on the integrity of any product with a Fair Trade logo.

Many dedicated campaigners feel that emphasis should be put not on getting Fair Trade goods onto supermarket shelves, but on the wider issues of ethical consumerism. They think we should be encouraging shoppers away from the big five supermarkets and towards buying local products from independent traders. They think we should be buying fewer goods of higher quality. They think we should give a lot more consideration to food miles. Well, I guess they're right. But in the end, are they realistic? I think not. Most Fair Trade items
are basic items ? tea and coffee are never going to be grown locally as far as the UK is concerned. And it's hard work, changing your buying habits. I should know, I've spent the last three years gradually whittling away at the things I buy, yet I still spend about a third of my grocery and food budget at supermarkets and I feel that I've still a way to go to get to where I want to be. I don't want you to think it's a terrible chore ? actually, I feel empowered, liberated and much more in control of my buying choices these days, and the pleasure we take in what we eat has increased tenfold at least. But still, it's required an awful lot of effort. With the best will in the world, not many people are going to put in that effort. But many people will make the simple choice of buying a Fair Trade coffee, for example, over their usual brand, if it's sitting there in front of them on the shelf at Tesco.

What else? Um? it's argued too that developing countries shouldn't be encouraged to concentrate on producing cash crops. They should be producing subsistence crops ? to feed themselves. They're poor y'see ? no money to buy things. It's also argued that the opportunity to sell crops to Fair Trade companies will lead to over-production and to even lower prices in the market. Not only do I find this argument patronising, I also find it illogical. Why should developing countries be excluded from lucrative export markets? And if those lucrative export markets bring currency into the country, won't this encourage local economies to produce things for local markets? Because, of course - what with the fair price paid an' all - there will be some money available to spend on local produce! I think Fair Trade ? especially considering its social premium for education ? works brilliantly
in conjunction with those charities providing micro loans for small businesses or those providing livestock. The two combined could make real differences to local economies in the developing world.

There are other objections, but they're along similar lines and you're getting my drift, right?

● AND IN THE END?

As you might have guessed, I don't really buy any of the arguments against Fair Trade. But then, neither do I think it's the answer to all the problems associated with global trading. Rather, I think it's one answer among many. I think it provides something of enormous value in a range of products which are readily available and which require no more time or effort on the part of the consumer than putting jars and packets into their shopping trolleys. It isn't the answer, I only wish it was. But it really is one answer. It's a movement, however small, in the right direction. And I'm quite sure the five million people who now have secure and fair markets for their crops would tell you the same thing. Five million people are a lot of people. No, Fair Trade won't change global trade regulations all by itself and no, it can't hope to address the plight of all those who are working and trading under unfair, unacceptable conditions. And no, it won't replace lobbying and campaigning. But ? through our till receipts ? it can send a powerful message to decision makers. But more than that?

Indulge me for a moment. Imagine that the electorate, in fit of right-on-ness, has voted in a radical party (yes, yes, I know, unbelievably silly thought, but bear with me). Top on the manifesto and thus first piece of legislation for the new government is a requirement for brutally frank food labelling. There are two jars of coffee in the su
permarket and their labels now read as below. Which coffee would you buy?

"Our coffee is produced by farmers living on the breadline. We've manipulated a situation whereby we're paying such a low price for the coffee in this jar that those farmers can't afford healthcare or education for their children. Several million of them went bust last year and are now destitute. Never mind that though; you can buy our coffee for 99p and we can make extortionate profits. Quick now! You've just saved 51p by not buying that Fair Trade liberal rubbish. Spend it on some of our shares. You'll be laughing all the way to the bank!"

And?

"Our coffee costs £1.50. This is because we ensure that we pay a price for the beans equating to a living wage for the farmers producing them. The price we pay is based on how much the beans cost to produce and not on the vagaries of an artificial commodity exchange. We also try to make up for years of unfair trading by giving the farmers a social premium funding health and education projects. Slowly, these people are moving out of abject poverty. They're dying less too. We also make a reasonable, but not extortionate, profit on each jar we sell."

Y'see, folks, to me this is what it's all about. I don't really care about anything the academics and pundits have to say ? from any side of the political divide ? because to me it's about me. It's not about what happens after Cancun. It's not about what the superpowers decide to do. It's about what I do, what I buy, how I feel. It's about my own personal integrity, my conscience. It's about what I see when I look in the mirror. To me, it's a simple choice between buying something produced by suffering and buying something which may well not be perfect, but doe
sn't leave me with the uncomfortable feeling that I'm partially responsible for that suffering. I don't think posterity will look too kindly on us you know, as we sit around gawping at our Sky Sports and our MTV or mindlessly bashing away on our latest Playstation games while millions around us die of preventable disease and starvation. I want to be one of the people who got up and did something about it.

So, which jar of coffee? To me, it's simply no contest.



FURTHER READING

For information: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
For information: http://www.maketradefair.com
For information: http://www.newconsumer.org

For shopping: http://www.traidcraft.co.uk

There's loads more places to go to find out more. You only need to ask me!

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