Fair Trade: We Can Do Better

We as consumers have to exercise our power. We can do this by choosing fair trade whenever possible, by asking our local retailers to carry more fair trade products and by telling our friends and family why it is important to support fair trade.

While consumer power is part of the solution, it goes much further than that. Unfortunately, labor exploitation is part of the corporate trade formula. Somehow, sourcing products from third world countries with no child or slave labor laws, no minimum wages, no health care nor environmentally sustainable practices became normal.

Those of us in the fair trade movement are astonished that we have to fight for fair trade. Shouldn’t that just be the way we trade, so that all parties are treated fairly? This isn’t a noble cause, really. We are fighting for basic human rights.

The fair trade movement has many challenges remaining. How do we even begin to change corporate behavior? How do we work with policy makers to write laws to enforce social justice and equality? How do we keep corporations from trying to water down criteria to fit their needs?

Delving into this issue and discovering how ingrained these unjust practices are in our society can be discouraging. But each story I hear about how fair trade has touched people’s lives, seeing for myself the artisan cooperatives in India gives me so much hope. We might not be able to save the world but we can improve the lives of individuals one by one and we can alleviate poverty community by community.

Watch a debate called "Who Owns Fair Trade" for more on this subject.