Fair Trade Experiences #1

Fair Trade Events 

On Saturday, October 5, 2013, I attended the Global Links grand opening Community Day and worked at the Mira Fair Trade booth selling our items. There were many other booths featuring handmade and Fair Trade items, including one from Ten Thousand Villages Pittsburgh. I realized first hand what it took to set up a booth, talk to people and try to sell them the idea of Fair Trade without coming off as a tree hugger or annoying salesperson.

Global Links Grand Opening

Jennifer (left) and me (right) at Global Links event

I also attended the Ohio Fair Trade 2013 Expo at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, October 12, 2013. I got to take some photos, and I even met Natalie Yoon from United Students for Fair Trade (USFT)! She bought a pair of our Gold Shimmer Earrings and modeled them for us.

Me and Meera, Ohio Fair Trade Expo 2013

Natalie Yoon, President of United Students for Fair Trade

Even though I was tied to the booth all day, it was an excellent experience to meet other Fair Trade businesses. When Meera and I were first setting up around 8:30am, a guy in a Banana suit came around to hand out free Equal Exchange Fair Trade bananas. It was excellent. There was also a Fair Trade bake-off, and we were able to purchase brownies and cookies made with Fair Trade organic cocoa and chocolate chips.

At the end of the day, I managed to have a few minutes to look around at other booths and tables, and I visited the Equal Exchange booth to get free chocolate samples and grab more information about bringing Fair Trade to Greater Allegheny.

Overall, I have been extremely pleased with my experiences at Fair Trade events and with my internship. I have met new people and made new connections with individuals and businesses who support Fair Trade in all its variety.

Fair Trade - How & Why

Fair Trade has a huge impact on everyone and everything--me, you, family, friends, the local community, foreign countries, the environment, and even the world economy. 

Some of the issues that Fair Trade addresses include protecting the planet, building businesses, empowering women and families, supporting education, fighting poverty, and providing healthcare to people in need.

Reasons to Buy Fair Trade

Cost is a major concern for people who want to buy Fair Trade products. The Fair Trade Resource Network provides an excellent breakdown:

Do Fair Trade goods cost more than comparable non-Fair Trade goods?

Generally, fairly traded crafts don’t cost more than other goods because the large percentage taken by middle people is removed from the equation. The cost remains the same as traditionally traded goods; however, more of the sale price goes to producers (Fair Trade Resource Network, FAQ).

Fair Trade Makes a Difference

Start thinking about where the products you buy come from, who makes them, and how they are living. Sometimes we take the simple things for granted. Now is the time to turn around our consumption habits and make a positive impact with our choices.

Resources and additional links:

Black Gold - FTRN says: “This documentary has captured the dilemma of the coffee farmer: how to get a fair price for quality coffee in a market that is set up only to make money for powerful international traders in cities far from the farm.” Summary/Review: Black Gold follows Tadesse Meskela, the leader of an Ethiopian coffee cooperative, on his travels through Africa and around the world seeking a fair price for the coffee grown by cooperative members before they are forced to declare bankruptcy. Meskela travels to London and Seattle in an attempt to find a coffee buyer willing to pay a fair price, while the film documents the enormous power of world coffee traders and the double-dealing of trade ministers during World Trade Organization talks. (Youtube, 77 minutes, 2005).

The Dark Side of Chocolate - FTRN says: “This video is most useful for showing the horrors of child labor and trafficked children in W. African cocoa farms that supply major corporations and brands. It also demonstrates the lack of interest by major corporations to solutions like Fair Trade.” Summary/Review: This film goes undercover to Mali and Ivory Coast to document child trafficking, forced labor and other worst forms of child labor that should have been eliminated under the Cocoa Protocol signed by major chocolate industry groups in 2001. It also shows footage of major chocolate company executives in Europe uninterested in the transgressions and solutions presented by the film. (Youtube, 45 minutes, 2010).

The Price of Sugar - A documentary which follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. This film raises key questions about where the products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced. (YouTube, 1 hr 30 minutes).
From Crop to Cup: The LWR Coffee Project (Part 1 of 6) - FTRN says: “This accessible video gives a good introduction to the coffee process and how Fair Trade makes a difference for farmers and the environment.” Summary/Review: Video explains that consumers can do right by Nicaraguan farmers by purchasing Fair Trade coffee like Equal Exchange, partner of the Lutheran World Relief Coffee project. (Youtube, Lutheran World Relief, 22 minutes, 2009)

Farming communities
http://www.fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade/global-reach-map 

http://strongertogether.coop/food-coops/co-op-faqs-and-facts/

Fair Trade - Who & What

As I stated in my previous post, my blog topic for the semester is Fair Trade. The great thing about October (besides the Pirates) is that it is Fair Trade Month. 

So what is Fair Trade, and who does it affect?

Fair Trade is not only a social justice movement, it is also a means of providing economic support and improving living conditions for producers of food products through social enterprise and Fair Trade certification. 

There are many organizations that provide certification to businesses as well as resources, networking, and opportunities for impoverished individuals and communities around the world. Some organizations work primarily with farmers and co-ops for food products, others with retailers and wholesalers of non-food products.

Major Fair Trade Organizations

The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) - Global network of committed fair trade organizations
Charter of Fair Trade Principles | 10 Principles of Fair Trade

Fair Trade International (FLO) - Standards | Workers' Rights

The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) - Started in 1994 as the unofficial North American Alternative Trade Organization (NAATO) 
FTF Principles | History of Fair Trade in US | Myths

Fair For Life - Key Aspects

Global Exchange - Not necessarily Fair Trade; "an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.

Definitions of Fair Trade

Fair Trade is a global trade model and certification allows shoppers to quickly identify products that were produced in an ethical manner. For consumers, Fair Trade offers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their everyday shopping. For farmers and workers in developing countries, Fair Trade offers better prices, improved terms of trade, and the business skills necessary to produce high-quality products that can compete in the global marketplace. Through vibrant trade, farmers and workers can improve their lives and plan for their futures. Today, Fair Trade benefits more than 1.2 million farming families in 70 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. (Fair Trade USA) 

The Fair Trade Resource Network states:

The word “fair” can mean a lot of different things to different people. Fair Trade is about more than just paying a fair wage. It means that trading partnerships are based on reciprocal benefits and mutual respect; that prices paid to producers reflect the work they do; that workers have the right to organize; that national health, safety, and wage laws are enforced; and that products are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural resources.

From the United Students for Fair Trade website:

Fair trade is a social justice movement that seeks to empower producer communities, by radically redefining power structures through people-centered, democratic trading alternatives. Fair trade is more than just trading: it proves that greater justice in world trade is possible. The fair trade movement values cooperative work and democratic, transparent decision making as a critical component of empowerment. It builds peoples’ power in the face of globalization and highlights the need for change in the rules and practice of conventional trade.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 mutually agreed upon trading conditions to and securing the rights of marginalized producers and workers (WFTO).

Look for my next post on the How & Why of Fair Trade!

Resources and additional links:

http://www.fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade/impact
http://befair.org/
http://www.globalexchange.org/programs/fairtrade
http://strongertogether.coop/
http://www.globalexchange.org/fairtrade/faq