i've had a few recent conversations where fair trade has come up. it seems like one of the largest hurdles to overcoming extreme poverty and human rights violations is simply education. i don't profess to be well educated on the pressing social issues of our day, but as i'm currently enjoying a cup of fair trade coffee at taft street coffee (attached to ecclesia, in houston), it seems reasonable to do my part.
the international justice mission website says that "more children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-atlantic slave trade: millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner." most of us, including myself, aren't even aware that we support slavery with the consumer-driven products we buy, but we do. for instance, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, and when you purchase $5 coffee at starbucks, who refuses to purchase fairly traded coffee and would rather purchase coffee at extremely low world prices while maintaining high consumer prices, the corporation pockets the difference. as a christian, or a human for that matter, this is very disturbing. there's an entire campaign to break this corporate stronghold and alleviate the impoverishment of coffee farmers and their communities.
to sum up fair trade, here's the criteria a product must meet to be considered "fair trade":
the international justice mission website says that "more children, women and men are held in slavery right now than over the course of the entire trans-atlantic slave trade: millions toil in bondage, their work and even their bodies the property of an owner." most of us, including myself, aren't even aware that we support slavery with the consumer-driven products we buy, but we do. for instance, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, and when you purchase $5 coffee at starbucks, who refuses to purchase fairly traded coffee and would rather purchase coffee at extremely low world prices while maintaining high consumer prices, the corporation pockets the difference. as a christian, or a human for that matter, this is very disturbing. there's an entire campaign to break this corporate stronghold and alleviate the impoverishment of coffee farmers and their communities.
to sum up fair trade, here's the criteria a product must meet to be considered "fair trade":
- Paying a fair wage in the local context
- Offering employees opportunities for advancement
- Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices
- Being open to public accountability
- Building long-term trade relationships
- Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context
- Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible
- Ensuring that there is no abuse of child labor
8 comments:
thanks for posting this. it's sometimes difficult to keep these things in mind. it seems so harmless to buy a product in america, but we never stop to think about its journey to this country, and the people who are affected along the way.
"when you purchase $5 coffee at starbucks, who refuses to purchase fairly traded coffee and would rather purchase coffee at extremely low world prices while maintaining high consumer prices, the corporation pockets the difference."
actually the world price for coffee is above the fair trade price. fair trade companies pay maybe a few pennies more for a pound of coffee, but charge you a few bucks more. It's a scam. At least with Starbucks you'll get a decent cup of coffee.
david k.- i realize there will always be opponents to any movement that promotes fairness; history is a great indicator for that. i sense that by the time that you must have taken to search for and find this blog post (and probably countless others), you're one of those opponents. i'm not sure where you've gotten your information, but its false. however, given that you're clearly a fair-trade opponent and you view issues through that lens, you probably won't believe any statistics and/or references i could give you, but for the benefit of others i'll try anyways.
current fair trade prices are set at $1.26 per pound, plus a $0.10 per pound social premium and and additional $0.20 per pound payment for organic (that's pretty good!). when the market rate for coffee exceeds the minimum fair trade price, a premium is paid above the market rate. this pricing mechanism has consistently kept the fair trade price above the market price. let's not forget that fair trade practices remove middlemen involved as well, allowing substantially more of the consumer price to be passed on to the farmers. it's also important to note that fair trade is not about charity or a hand-out, it's about a fair exchange. it's such a good idea, that even the european union has unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing its benefits.
it's also not true that you'll pay "a few bucks more." for some fair trade products, this may be true, but for many, it's not. the efficient nature of fair trade makes the consumer prices equivalent or less, in many cases. i can tell you i paid less for a fair trade cup of coffee than a starbucks one. since you're frequenting starbucks, i don't think this is a concern to you, anyways.
i think it's more than fair to say the fair trade, is NOT a scam.
for references, or any other questions, consult fairtrade.net.
Not bad, but that's a long way from your comment that Starbucks will only "purchase coffee at extremely low world prices while maintaining high consumer prices". As I mentioned, fair trade coffee companies pay a few pennies more, but like to make it seem like they they're providing huge benefits to farmers. Considering the huge markup, up to 1000%, you'd think they could give a real "fair" exchange, not just a few pennies more. I won't give them a dime of my money until they can do that.
david k.- the coffee market is extremely volatile. setting a price floor gives farmers much needed consistency. in june 2007, the robusta coffee market hit a nine-year high of $0.88 per pound. in 2001, it hit a low of $0.17. the benefits are more than substantial for the farmers and their communities. it's also worth nothing that the fair trade labeling organization (FLO) performs price reviews intermittently and adjusts if necessary. so, depending on the market at the time, it's absolutely true that starbucks purchases coffee at extremely low world prices while maintaining high consumer prices.
i appreciate your interest in debating this, but unless you've personally talked with coffee farmers in africa or south america, and have anecdotal evidence to substantiate your claims that fair trade is not helping them and their communities, i think i'll agree with the overwhelming amount of fair trade testimonials (see oxfamamerica.org, transfairusa.org, equalexchange.com, www.fairtrade.net, to name a few).
instead of debating the merits of fair trade on my blog (which does nothing), i suggest you write the fair trade organizations and express your concerns to them. as one of their criteria is being open to public accountability, they would probably welcome it.
if you want, you can have the last word.
so does this mean no more Starbucks for libby? that's a tough sell.
i like the back and forth between you and david.
talk to you soon bro.
headed out to the homeless lunch with Cody and Jimmy...we are supposed to meet a homeless guy that Cody ran into last week. It reminds me of that time we tried to set an appointment with Robert...
oh, I mean donald - not robert.
wonder whatever came of donald and eric?
time for a new post i think....
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