Fairtrade

Our justice movie last week was called Black Gold. Check http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/ Its about the impact Fairtrade coffee has on some communities in Ethiopia. As my family can testify fairtrade makes me angry (something which is usually quite hard to do, unless your grammar is really bad), mainly because I don't get why we don't get it.

Here's the scenario. You can choose one of two products, A or B. Both are made in the same place but by different farmers, A or B. Farmer A is part of a fairtrade co-operative. He receives a fair price for his produce, as a result Farmer A can afford to feed his family and pay for his children's education. Farmer B sells his produce onto a corporation. He receives less than 5% of its total value. Farmer B's children work instead of going to school as their father doesn't have the money to feed all of them. Farmer A is realising his dream of a better life for his family. Farmer B no longer dreams, he is caught in a cycle of poverty for which he sees no end. 

So which product would you rather buy? A or B? Fairtrade or non-fairtrade? Something which helps improve standards of living or something which keeps people locked in poverty?

I don't know about you but I'd rather buy product A. I know what you're thinking, "but Rach you told us that they taught you how to read minds at uni so how come you can't guess our reaction to Fairtrade?" You know what? I don't understand it either. I would have thought that more people, businesses and churches would care more about how they contribute to the economic slavery of millions but apparently they don't, saving an extra few pounds is more important.

There are a range of Fairtrade products available, including: coffee, sugar, tea, bananas, clothes, jewellery and flowers (take note boys queueing round the block to give me flowers - if they're not fairtrade then they better be made from recycled paper). Coffee, sugar, tea and bananas are easily avilable in most supermarkets. Clothes and flowers are a bit harder to access, although I think Marks and Spencer have a few fairtrade options for flowers. I've recently discovered http://www.peopletree.co.uk/ a UK-based fairtrade clothes company. So excited for coming home and being able to buy some.

So how do you know if its Fairtrade? It will have the fairtrade logo on it, you've probs seen it on Dairy Milk bars. Check http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/ for more details.

So yeah, buy more fairtrade. It's not that hard and I'll love you more for it.