Fair Trade has long been the province of smallscale farmers and food justice advocates, but according to a recent article by Food First, when changes in fair trade certification enabled large corporations to enter the market, the concept of "Fair Trade" was irrevocably altered. Now some say Fair Trade is dead. Is it?
Food First's enlightening article on the struggle for food justice in Fair Trade is worth a read in its entirety, but to sum up, they write that unless fair trade can "renovate its governance structure and return to its original, more transformative components, it risks becoming alienated from the growing movements for food sovereignty and food justice."
In response to this article, one reader who works with small farmers in Mexico said it this way:
Real fair trade is in small-farmers and their democratic cooperatives as well as in our hometown farmer's markets, small businesses, and communities—these things are connected and worth supporting and fighting for. Authentic fair trade is a mutual agreement between people who produce things and the people who buy them. Its standards are the result of equals transparently negotiating in good faith with the intention of both parties satisfying their basic needs. All of this results—little by little—in a world where "producers" and "consumers" see each other as people and together work toward creating a sustainable global economy and global society.
• Read More: The Struggle for Food Justice in Fair Trade at Food First
What do you think?
Related: Wine: All About Fair Trade Wine
(Image: Megan Gordon | The Kitchn)
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"begs the question" does not mean the same as "the question begs to be asked". "Begs the question" means "Assumes the hypothesis is true in order to prove it true".
How do I, as a consumer, identify a product as providing a fair price to the producer if not by using the FairTrade certification?
Yamikuronue: The phrase has moved out of formal logic and into conversational English. I think that's ok.
As a consumer you can identify them by starting with the Fair Trade label and researching the authenticity of it. If there is less than Fair Trade going on its bound to be all over the internet.
I often wonder about the label as big suppliers such as Target and Starbucks have their own coffee with the label and it never seems to be out of stock.
I second Yamikuronue.
http://begthequestion.info/
The conversational version is plain wrong. It's gained traction for sure, but you really lose credibility as a journalist when you use it that way - it's like your and you're...