I was reading a post, Bringing Fair Trade Into The Classroom, today when it occurred to me…”do I know what, “Fair Trade” means?”
Like with so much in life, I have a somewhat fuzzy idea. Sure, I have seen the Fairtrade Certification Mark on my coffee. I also became aware of the term “fair trade” being tossed about by various folks in and out of the know. I too, would blithely toss it around, as long as it wasn’t obvious that I only had the vaguest idea of what I was talking about.
Well, now I’ve made a concerted effort to try to determine exactly what it IS that I am talking about…for a change. OK.
Fair Trade products are loosely defined as those that are manufactured or raised by companies that practice environmental and social responsibility and pay a fair wage. Fair Trade goods usually are those produced in developing countries where we, in the
Use of The Fairtrade (note that little difference – Fair Trade vs. Fairtrade) Certification mark we see on all sorts of , usually agricultural goods is granted by, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International , a non-profit network of producers and labelers that certifies that products are grown in accordance with fair trade principles. The actual audit of working conditions is done by Flo-Cert- based in
In other words, a FairTrade Certification Mark means neither the workers, the land nor the culture of the producer country is getting screwed over by some grabby, greedy entity. (You can replace entity with: “soulless large corporation” or “uncaring capitalist” if you like.) And somebody has gone down there, checked it out and verified that this is the case.
The Fair Trade Certification mark, however, is only for agricultural goods. Makers of toys, clothing and household goods are out of luck. Or are they?
There are a variety of organizations including The International Fair Trade Organization that will certify all sorts of products as being made by companies following “Fair Trade” principles. Or, more or less following the golden rule.
The term, “Fair Trade”, however, it appears can be tossed around with impunity, by just about anybody. I’ve found, as in the case of organic vs. “certified organic”, that most small companies tend to just not be able to afford to pay for the certification process yet and use the more generic term, minus any mark or logo, in the meantime. You can read more about this here.
Now, as grubby tales of overworked teenagers in
While in many cases, Fair Trade goods tend to be more expensive, there are a few ways to look at this. When large corporations, such as Wal-Mart which, in a radical change of heart and under the suspicious eye of consumer advocates, is doing all sorts of socially responsible things these days, offers Fairtrade certified goods, you can be pretty sure, you’re paying a little extra but, it’s worth it to salve your conscience. Goods produced by companies using The International Fair Trade Organization mark also are perhaps a bit more expensive but more ethical.
In general, depending on how suspicious you are, you can assume that most people are using the words, “Fair Trade” fairly…if perhaps a bit loosely. Until I see it plastered on every chemical containing, plastic encased product on store shelves, I’ll assume somebody’s paying attention to the people, the culture and the environment of the country in which it is made.
BTW- After writing this post, I found a great site called Ecolabelling.org, a global directory of 295 ecolabels. See a label on a product you want to but, don't understand what it means? Enter it on this site to find out.Share this post:
Did you enjoy this post…or at least found it interesting?
Technorati Tags:fair trade, easy definition, Fair trade Certification, Fair Trade mark, fair trade logo
7 comments:
Glad to know you are okay...I was wondering and just about to drop you a line!
Well done, Not Quite Crunchy Parent. I work in Fair Trade awareness-raising and as you say, people have only a vague idea about what it all means. You've done a good job of summarising.
Here in the UK we start our annual Fairtrade Fortnight on February 25 and there will be events all over the country to promote the sale and use of Fairtrade products. I would just say that it is not just agricultural products that are certified with the Mark - there are in fact around 4000 items on sale here and these include sports balls, cotton wool, all kinds of cotton clothing and some cosmetics. The Fairtrade Foundation website on www.fairtrade.org.uk is worth a look.
FTleftie
I have been making a concerted effort to be much more socially responsible in my purchasing habits... yes, cost is a factor, but so is long term cost.
Great post!
Thank you for this--it is very informative.
Glad to see someone doing their homework. You'll find, as you look deeper into the Fair Trade world, that there is a lot of controversy still over what is and what isn't Fair Trade, even within the certifying world.
The organization you cited (IFAT - International Federation of Alternative Traders) has been around a lot longer than most of the certifying agencies and has a membership that includes LOTS of third world Fair Trade artisans and farmers who cannot afford to get certified by the -generally First World - certifiers.
I've spent the last decade working in the Fair Trade world and am very enthusiastic about the opportunities that first world consumers have to make our dollars count by working in partnership with people whose lives and villages have been pillaged by big corporations. Fair Trade really helps to turn this around.
The place I have been working is SERRV International, a fifty plus year old Fair Trade partner in the US that works with over 80 artisan and farmer groups in more than 40 countries. Our site is www.serrv.org.
Thanks for the input from the Fair Trade community. It was with some trepidation that I posted this fearing I still may not have it right. I'm interested in continuing to explore this area of interest and writing about it for we ordinary consumers rapidly becoming more socially aware.
I read an interesting article a few weeks ago in Edible San Francisco about how many of the larger certified organic farms don't treat their workers very well. There's now apparently a push to have a domestic fair trade certification for farmers who are union-friendly and provide a living wage & health insurance to their workers, etc.
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