Fair trade

[Megan]

Just out of curiosity what do the Nerdfighters think would make an effective campaign towards raising awareness of fair trade produce such as coffee and chocolate to businesses and the general public?

what it's all about for those who don't know what it is/ would like to find out more :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade

equality for everyone is such an important issue in todays society - i'd love to know your opinions on the matter

:) DFTBA

<3

[sabelmouse]

i buy fairtrade, but a lot of people don't seem to care. what to do about it? i don't know. people usually cite the prise then go of and spend the same or more on a logo!?

[Ben Alexander]

We wouldn't need it so much if countries like our own didn't subsidize poor practices in order to undercut these poor farmers in the first place. There are many reasons that commodity prices are so low, some good and most very very bad. Buying stuff that is supposedly traded fairly is awesome.

Also, can this become one of those threads that takes off and we discuss forever? No one I know seems to ever agree on the best way to help the world's poor farmers, so let's talk about it on the Ning!

To kick it off, I say that many of these poor farmers are uneducated and have little access to information resources that would increase their crop yields, protect their soil, and increase their income without depending on first world prices going up. I say we need a shifting focus to empowering small farmers and taking agricultural education away from Monsanto and Company. We need to think of high yields as something done with a hundred hand hoes and not one tractor. With the right education, a small farmer who is paid fairly can compete a whole lot better with the technician-farmer.

[Megan]

yeah, i've been reading about this to. With any organization like this it's hard to know where the money is going/who it's helping/ if it's even helping.

[Ben Alexander]

So cynical! I've seen where at least some of the money goes, and it does go where they say. I believe it. I just am not sure that a pseudo market based practice is the solution to problems caused by policy.

Isn't there somebody who thinks fair trade is super duper fantastic? (And knows way more about it than me?)

[Megan]

what i've read about it, it seems like a fantastic idea! there's just a lack of awareness out there about it especially when it comes to business stocking fair trade items.

[Ben Alexander]

You mean the end distributor making bank off liberal guilt?

[Megan]

um? I meant that stores or coffee shops etc need to know more about the good that these fair trade organizations are trying to do.

[Ben Alexander]

Ohhhhh. Yeah, probably. That's where underpaid, highly enthusiastic nonprofit workers and volunteers like us come in. We hassle people. Hooray!

[Megan]

haha true true

[sabelmouse]

would you rather give your money to slavers?
and i am not exagerating. this is not like people getting a little less money than they should. it's much worse and the same goes for clothes and many other things.
the prosperity of the british empire was build on sugarplantations, the rest of europe also exploited colonies and these days much of our comport, prosperity and ability to buy cheap products is based on exploiting those same peoples.


Safia MInney from People Tree explains why the Fair Trade fashion company and War on Want are protesting outside a new Primark store in South London

[Startled Panda]

As oposed to big companies like Nestle ot Coka Cola where you know excactly where the money goes, mainly into the pockets of executives.

[Ben Alexander]

I wouldn't say that is a very big concern. Fair trade is not meant for local markets, its meant for export to people well off enough to repay in some small way the damage their affluence represents.

So the cartels and price floors are bad only in that they cannot possibly include all of these small farmers. For the people who don't get it, things still suck, but not any more than before, and probably a little less, since now their neighbors can afford to build better schools, demand cleaner water, etc.

My question is, why not just either 1. do that stuff to begin with or 2. forget the handouts all together and help people help themselves with better agricultural methods, access to markets and access to credit?