Table of Contents
What does being Fairtrade mean?
Fairtrade is a system of certification that aims to ensure a set of standards are met in the production and supply of a product or ingredient. For farmers and workers, Fairtrade means workers’ rights, safer working conditions and fairer pay. For shoppers it means high quality, ethically produced products.
What is an example of Fairtrade?
Bananas, coffee, chocolate, tea, flowers, sugar – these are all items we often take for granted and are all examples of Fairtrade products. Fairtrade is a way of making sure that the producers in developing countries get a fair deal on their products.
Who benefits from Fairtrade?
Fairtrade gives shoppers the opportunity to live and shop according to their principles and take action to support farmers and their families. Fairtrade provides consumers with an opportunity to connect with the people who grow the produce we enjoy and need.
What countries use Fairtrade?
Fairtrade is a global organisation There are over 20 Fairtrade organisations across Europe, Japan, North America, Mexico, Australia and NZ as well as networks of producer organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Why is Fairtrade important?
Fairtrade enables consumers to demand a better deal for those that produce our food. Through choosing Fairtrade consumers can demand the highest standards from business and government, ensuring people and planet are not exploited to create the products we enjoy.
What is the main goal of Fairtrade?
Fairtrade Standards ensure fairer terms of trade between farmers and buyers, protect workers’ rights, and provide the framework for producers to build thriving farms and organizations.
Is Fairtrade really fair?
The truth is that Fairtrade and certified coffee, chai and cacao are anything but fair, and have never been fair to farmers, farm workers or to their children. Most certifications claim falsely that they are taking farmers out of poverty.
What are the negatives of Fairtrade?
The Downside This puts small importers who deal 100 percent in fair trade at a competitive disadvantage. Certification doesn’t take into account that what constitutes a living wage or a fair payment in one area may not be enough for someone in a different location to subsist on.
Are Fairtrade products more expensive?
Are Fairtrade products always more expensive than non-Fairtrade products? Not necessarily. Over the last year, the Fairtrade Foundation has looked regularly at the prices of both products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark and similar conventional products. Some Fairtrade products are actually cheaper than non-Fairtrade ones.
How does Fairtrade affect consumers?
A new study conducted at the University of Bonn and published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience found consumers are willing to pay on average 30 percent more for ethically produced goods, such as chocolate, fats and oils, fruit and sugar, compared to their conventionally produced counterparts.
How do you know if something is Fairtrade?
Looking for a label is only your first step in determining if something is fair trade or not. After looking for a certification label, the next thing you need to do is examine the company, or the site itself. Also, ask if they’re members of Fair Trade Federation or World Fair Trade Organization (WTFO).
What products do Fairtrade sell?
Fairtrade products Bananas. A go-to snack for people on the run, bananas are a supermarket staple. Cocoa. Chances are you ate some this week – the world loves cocoa, but wouldn’t love the conditions of many of those who grow it. Coffee. Flowers. Sugar. Tea. Cotton. Fruit/Juices.
Who started Fairtrade?
The earliest traces of Fair Trade in Europe date from the late 1950s when Oxfam UK started to sell crafts made by Chinese refugees in Oxfam shops. In 1964 it created the first Fair Trade Organization.
Which is better free trade or fair trade?
With the differences highlighted above, fair trade is better than free trade. This is because fair trade aims at producing a product without the exploitation of both labor and the environment. Free trade, however, aims at generating more profit regardless of the production methods.
Does Fairtrade help poor workers?
Fairtrade is currently perceived as a suitable development tool to benefit smallholder farmers and rural communities more broadly. In short, the study concluded that, while fair trade benefits those closest to the farmer cooperatives, those benefits do not trickle down to the most marginalized workers in the system.
How do you explain Fairtrade to a child?
Fair trade is a way of buying and selling products that allows the farmers to be paid a fair price for their produce, and have better working conditions. Trade is ‘unfair’ when farmers receive very low income and have poor conditions while the companies that sell their products make lots of money from them.
How does Fairtrade affect me?
Fair trade empowers people to make choices for the good of themselves and their community, regardless of gender, status, position in society, or position on the globe. Rigorous standards give farmers and workers a voice in the workplace and the community.
Why is Fairtrade unfair?
Fair trade is unfair. It offers only a very small number of farmers a higher, fixed price for their goods. These higher prices come at the expense of the great majority of farmers, who – unable to qualify for Fairtrade certification – are left even worse off. Fair trade does not aid economic development.
