Environment
From "Maple Street Co-op News", Apr/May 2004

Free Trade isn't Fair, but Fair Trade is Free
by Mel Smith, Co-op member

If scrabble were the game, both 'fair' and 'free' would have the same value. When the game is world trade, they don't. Third World workers are seriously exploited every day in a system that provides world traders with 'free' trade opportunities. However, by purchasing products that are labelled Fairtrade, you can help free these workers from exploitation by helping them get a fairer share of the profits.

If you're reading this article while having a cuppa, consider your next sip. Have the ingredients in your cup come to you fairly or at the expense of another's liberties? While tea and cocoa are huge export industries, coffee is the second largest commodity in the world after oil.

So do you know where your coffee's 'bean'? Most likely your coffee beans have come from the hands of a farmer in a Third World country and, quite probably, from the hands of the farmer's entire family. The hard truth is: if you're sitting in a café right now, it's likely they would have received around three cents for your $3 cappuccino.

Take Mohammed Ali Indris, a 36-year-old Ethiopian coffee farmer with 12 people in his household since his brother died. "Five years ago," he said, "I was producing seven sacks of red cherry and this was enough to buy clothing, food, children’s uniforms, medicines, and to pay taxes. Now, even if I sell four times as much, it is impossible to cover my expenses. We are mainly eating corn."

Mohammed is being paid less than 20 per cent of what he used to obtain for his coffee and corn crops five years ago. He has sold his only livestock (his family's milk source), the children can't go to school and they can no longer afford staple foods.

The Fairtrade system is the answer for farmers like Mohammed.

Fairtrade – a sustainable approach

The Fair Trade Association Australia & New Zealand (FTA) describes the concept this way: "Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade. It is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade.

"It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing rights of, marginalised producers and workers – especially in low-income regions. Fairtrade is about giving disadvantaged people power – by paying producers and workers fair prices for their work, by helping them gain the skills and knowledge they need to develop their businesses and to operate in the global economy. It is about providing a fair go…"

Quite simply, it is trade that is fair.

In a major development, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) has been created as a governing body for a labelling system that will ensure that Fairtrade practices are followed and that every producer/importer/ processor in the chain is certified. It's an international body that delegates its authority to national initiatives, and in Australia the initiative is FTA. This is a huge step forward for Fairtrade in the same way that certified labelling was for organics.

Co-op support for Fairtrade

The Fairtrade label is being launched nationally on Fairtrade Day, Saturday 8 May. Maple Street Co-op is the only Sunshine Coast retailer to be a host for the launch, and there will be an information stall set up outside the shop on Fairtrade Day.

The Co-op has been promoting the Fairtrade concept for several years and already stocks Trade Winds organic coffee and Green & Black's organic chocolate and cocoa bearing a Fairtrade label.

As it stands, the situation for Mohammed and his family is yet to be alleviated. It is only through consumers making aware choices that these families will feel the support of a Fairtrade system. You can support them and other Third World families simply by being a conscious consumer as you shop. What's more, you can really enjoy your 'feel good' cuppa, knowing that your belly and your heart are being filled with richness.

[Co-op member Mel Smith is a locally based Fairtrade specialist. For more information, visit the websites http://www.fta.org.au/flo/certification.htm, http://www.caa.org.au, http://www.newint.org, http://www.ifat.org and http://www.fairtrade.net.]

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", April/May 2004; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.coop@ serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]