Facts on Fair Trade Products
Fair Trade is an international business strategy that gives farmers and artisans in the developing world a system to enter their products into the global marketplace and be assured of a fair price and fair labor practices while encouraging sustainable environmental practices. Certification through Fair Trade organizations gives small business owners in developing countries a voice in the international trade community and helps them develop relationships with other businesses and consumers alike.
Other People Are Reading
-
History
-
Max Havelaar is often cited as the pioneer of Fair Trade certification. Max Havelaar, though, is a character in an 1860 novel entitled "Max Havelaar oder die Kaffeeversteigerungen der Niederländischen Handels-Gesellschaft," in English: "Max Havelaar: Or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company," by Eduard Douwes Dekker. This book was partly autobiographical for Dekker and he originally wrote it under the pseudonym "Multatuli." Dekker worked and lived in a Dutch colony as a government official for several years and found the conditions deplorable. He resigned and wrote about his experiences. His book and character Max Havelaar are still popular in the Netherlands and the name was used as a symbolic gesture of the first Fair Trade organization, established in the Netherlands in 1988. The name has become synonymous with Fair Trade in much of Europe.
The Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO), an international organization for fair trade, came together as an umbrella organization for Fair Trade in many countries in 1997. TransFair USA is a part of that organization and brought Fair Trade certification to the United States in 1999.
Function
-
Fair Trade certification ensures that farmers, craftsman and artisans receive a fair price for their goods and labor, are working in safe conditions, help maintain sustainable environmental practices and are able to participate in the global economy by giving them the tools and education necessary to get their products purchased and exported.
-
How it Works
-
In the fair trade coffee business, for example, small growers join a cooperative that is responsible for the marketing and sales of their coffee to importers in other countries. The cooperative is organized democratically and generally reinvests much of the cooperative's portion of sales back into the community for education and infrastructure.
The more conventional route to trade does not include the farmers in how the coffee is sold. Small farmers generally sell their coffee to a processing mill or estate workers work to produce the coffee on a plantation (the working conditions there may or may not be safe and they may or may not receive a living wage). According to TransFair USA, the coffee is then sold to local middlemen who often pay very low prices and monopolize the transportation and banking system. Often, these "middlemen" will get their farmers to sell their coffee for very low prices and receive loans upon which they must pay very high interest, keeping the farmers in a cycle of poverty. Exporters then purchase the coffee for the lowest possible price and sell it to brokers, who then sell it, on commission, to importers in large cities.
Significance
-
Deciding to purchase or sell Fair Trade certified products enables you to "vote" with your dollars and promote businesses against socioeconomic inequality, environmental destruction and worker inequalities. Finding Fair Trade products is simple. There are directories available online and most stores, particularly large ones like Wal-Mart andTarget, have made a commitment to stock Fair Trade products. If you are unsure if a product is Fair Trade, you can ask the store or look it up online.
Expert Insight
-
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream has long been known for its commitment to environmental and community causes. They have committed to have all of their ice cream Fair Trade certified by 2013. FLO's Chief Executive, Rob Cameron said, "Tackling poverty and sustainable agriculture through trade may not be easy but it is always worth it, and Ben & Jerry's has demonstrated real leadership in laying out this long-term ambition to engage with smallholders who grow nuts, bananas, vanilla, cocoa and other Fair Trade-certified ingredients."
Companies like Starbucks, Seattle Grounds, Dunkin' Donuts, and Einstein Bagels also have Fair Trade-certified items.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit coffee in coffee image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
