Welcome back to another blog post of “Faces of Fair Trade”. It is a new year full of exciting opportunities for the Fair Trade movement, such as World Fair Trade Day 2010 (in May) and the Fair Trade Futures Conference (in September). This week, I will feature someone who dedicates himself to raising awareness and creating knowledge surrounding Fair Trade for the general public. His name is Jeff Goldman, and he is the Executive Director of the Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN). FTRN is the official organizer of World Fair Trade Day and is also helping put together the Fair Trade Futures Conference.

Jeff Goldman joined FTRN in January 2009. He has fortunately received directions, cultural insights, and genuine kindness from countless locals while working & backpacking in 54 countries across six continents. Just prior to joining FTRN, he served as Executive Director of Mango Tree, a socially responsible business designing & producing low-literacy communication materials in Uganda. He earned an M.S. in Energy and Environmental Policy from MIT, and a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.

What follows is a series of questions I asked Jeff, with the answers in his words.

Juan: Tell me a little bit about you

Jeff: I grew up in suburban Baltimore, and now live in Takoma Park, Maryland. I love backpacking in less industrialized countries, and hiking mountains over 10,000 ft. high. I studied industrial engineering in college, and energy and environmental policy in graduate school. I also taught English in China, environmental science in Bolivia, and social studies at two Washington, DC high schools. Moreover, for five years I led experiential education programs for students at Close Up in Washington, DC, by guiding week-long government & politics education tours. Finally, I love health food, digital photography, playing tennis & adventuring in nature.

Juan: When did you first learn about Fair Trade?

Jeff: I was working as a Listings Coordinator for Green America (then Co-op America), in 1998, and learned about all the Fair Trade businesses who were joint members of the Fair Trade Federation and Co-op America’s Business Network. I was inspired by their practices and values, and remain so today!

Juan: What motivated you to make Fair Trade your career?

Jeff: I returned from 2 years working in Uganda, just after Obama’s election, and wanted to continue working in social justice. I had gained organizational management skills in Uganda, and wanted to run a small nonprofit in the U.S. that advanced any of several areas of social justice. Fair Trade was one of the inspiring fields, and an opening came up at the right time with FTRN.

Juan: What are the highlights of your career (so far) working in Fair Trade?

Jeff: Visiting Fair Trade jewelry makers in Cambodia who worked with Wild Board Creek, and Fair Trade coffee farmers in Uganda. Also, getting to know the inspiring and dedicated people working in Fair Trade in N. America. I love going through time collaborating with such caring and enthusiastic people!

Juan: What do you currently do in Fair Trade?

Jeff: I serve as Executive Director of the Fair Trade Resource Network. Most of my time is involved in coordinating N. America’s campaign for World Fair Trade Day, the largest FT event in N. America, in which over 65,000 people participated at over 450 events in 2009. I also spend time collaborating with Fair Trade allies on creating resources for Fair Trade education, such as the introductory booklet Conscious Consumer (new edition coming February 2010), the first annual Fair Trade wall calendar, the Fair Trade Futures Conference in Boston in September 2010, and FTRN’s website.

Juan: What are your hopes for the future of Fair Trade?

Jeff: I hope Fair Trade deepens its impact, and grows its reach, to empowering even more vulnerable people around the world. I also hope that mainstream business, the public, and government get inspired by Fair Trade’s values and incorporate strict labor, environmental and social justice principles into routine life.

Juan: Any last words of encouragement for fair traders?

Jeff: Follow your values, ask lots of questions, and stay mindful of how much progress Fair Trade and social justice movements have made in the past 60 years!

Thank you Jeff for all the work you do, selflessly promoting Fair Trade and providing educational materials, books, movies, opinions, blogs and other excellent resources through the FTRN website.

We also want to highlight that Fair Trade Resource Network is the official organizer of World Fair Trade Day, an annual celebration of Fair Trade that takes place every May. World Fair Trade Day consists of many campaigns and events including “Fair Trade My Home”, born from Fair Trade the White House campaign.

The official website of World Fair Trade Day 2010 will launch February 1st. Please visit FTRN’s website to check it out!

If you want to get in touch with Jeff, he can be reached at jeff@ftrn.org.

I hope everyone had a great end of 2009 and that you’re enjoying great success 2010. This will be a quick blog post to update you on several things happening at Handmade Expressions.

First of all, Courtney has finished her internship, so for now I (Juan) will be your main blogger. If any of you know of anyone in Austin who would like to do a social media internship with us or a marketing internship with us, please let us know. You can email me at marketing@handmadeexpressions.net. To see a job description, please click here.

Secondly, I am glad to announce that we have completed our analysis of the Fair Trade Survey that we did last October with a University of Texas MBA team. The survey focused on finding out who Fair Traders should target as a potential market, as well as what messages they respond better to. Some interesting conclusions we derived from that study include:

• Women respond most favorably to social responsibility messages. Design marketing materials aimed at women.

• The age group 25-34 respond more favorably to socially responsible messaging.

• People identify with fair wages and employee treatment.

• Wealthy people and people who buy gifts often tend to do it online and in boutiques. A great website, product reviews, and well trained sales people will help you sell.

To see a full presentation on the results, please click here.

We have also added our new products collection to our website. Feel free to browse out Spring/Summer 2010 collection and contact us with any questions you may have!

We have been attending trade shows such as the California Gift Show and the Chicago Market the past couple of weeks to present our new product collection and meet buyers personally. Our next show is the New York International Gift Fair, where we will be in booth 5117 in the Handmade Section. Click here to see a page about this event!

And last but not least, I am proud to present our “About Handmade Expressions” new video! This is the first in a series of videos that we will make about us and about Fair Trade, so you can have a better idea of who we are and what we stand for, how to do business with us, what fair trade is, how to sell fair trade better, etc. Enjoy:

This week, I want to feature a very special person who is involved in the Fair Trade movement. Her name is Zarah Patriana, and in honor of a series of blogs she’s written in the past, we wanted to feature her as a “face of fair trade” in ours!

Born in San Diego, California, Zarah grew up in Los Angeles (or “The Valley” to be more specific). After going to school at UC Santa Barbara, where she studied Political Science, International Relations and French, she moved to San Francisco. “Been working my way up in California since the day I was born, but don’t see myself going any more North”, she shared with us.

What follows is a series of questions I asked Zarah, with the answers in her words.

Juan: When did you first learn about Fair Trade?

Zarah: I had a teacher all through high school that introduced me to social justice/human rights issues, in particular child labor. He opened my eyes to the rug manufacturing industry and the child labor behind making soccer balls and different sports equipment — even helped the students organize to get sweat-free sports equipment at school. Then, at some point in high school the reports about child labor in the cocoa industry came out and I’ve been advocating for Fair Trade ever since. Actually, a year ago I tracked down that teacher’s contact information and sent him an e-mail to update him on my life after high school. I thanked him for all that he taught me, especially getting me involved to be the human rights/Fair Trade activist that I am today. Thanks to him, I am where I am today. He was pretty “verklempt” when I let him know all that. Thanks Mr. Elinson!

Juan: What are your favorite hobbies besides Fair Trade?

Zarah: Baking (with Fair Trade ingredients ;] ), jogging through Golden Gate Park, surrounding myself with music (& dancing to said music), getting crafty, bike rides, getting people to cook for me.

Juan: What motivated you to make Fair Trade your career?

Zarah: As I learned more about Fair Trade and the complete inequality of the free trade system, I delved more in the subject and just started to get more involved. It became clear to me that the Fair Trade system offered more opportunity for the producer to be in control, and just by being a consumer and an advocate it was possible to grow this alternative system, even if just little by little.

I’m real big into crafts and fashion and the idea of being connected to the source and producer of things. I wanted to work with producers/artisans in Africa (which made me decide to study French) AND I wanted to work with human rights. So, when I moved to San Francisco I got involved with Global Exchange and it all more or less fell in to place. So, maybe it was my passion for fashion and human rights that brought me to working in Fair Trade.

Juan: What are the highlights of your career (so far) working in Fair Trade?

Zhara: The chance to actually meet Fair Trade producers and artisans. I traveled to Nicaragua and visited Fair Trade coffee farmers. I stayed with a family, met with the whole cooperative and really got a deeper understanding of the system.

But, perhaps the biggest highlight came this year when I visited India. Thanks to our lovely friend Manish, I had the pleasure of meeting Fair Trade artisans. The day before I met with some Kullu weavers, I had bought a scarf at a cooperative shop in the small town. Then, the next day I traveled to go to different weaving cooperatives to see the scarves and shawls being made. While watching this weaver do his amazing craft, he looked over at the scarf I was wearing and he remarked that he recognized the design and pattern of the scarf because it was actually him that made it. It really blew my mind because it really brought home the point and thing I value about Fair Trade — that strong connection to the artisan. There I was, wearing a scarf and randomly met the man that craft-fully wove that piece. Amazing and tangible people to people ties.

Juan: What do you currently do in Fair Trade?

Zhara: I work for the international human rights organization, Global Exchange, where I am involved with the Fair Trade Campaign and their Fair Trade Stores. I’ve written about Fair Trade in the past for Change.org, have done some writing for the Fair Trade Resource Network and will be doing more writing for the Global Exchange Fair Trade campaign. I’m also involved in the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition promoting and expanding Fair Trade awareness in my community. But most importantly, I am a Fair Trade consumer.

Juan: What are your hopes for the future of Fair Trade?

Zhara: There really needs to be a change in the current free trade system that we currently operate in. We need a system that puts value in equality, in human rights, the environment, brings the consumer closer to the producer, is transparent and values respect.

So, there needs to be a strong push to change the free trade system – end the free trade agreements and keep pushing for a fair trade system. While that struggle goes on, as consumers and as advocates, we need to keep the momentum of the Fair Trade movement going and showing that this alternative way of trade, where people and the planet are valued, does work and has more benefit for all.

I do hope the Fair Trade system grows. We need to increase awareness, but we have to do so very carefully and always keep in mind the producer and the artisan and always make sure that they are the ones benefitting the most at the end of the day. The Fair Trade movement must be strong as advocates and as a community.

Juan: Any last words of encouragement for fair traders?

Zarah: Start early. Teach the youth about equality, human rights, respect and fairness because they are the ones that will be transforming the future and hopefully redefining our current systems — going Fair Trade!

Thank you Zarah for the sharing! I hope her story motivates many more fair traders to take more action within our movement.

If you want to get in touch with Zarah, she can be reached at zarah@globalexchange.org. You can follow her on Twitter @zazazarah, and get inspired by some her blog posts at the Fair Trade Resource Network Blog.

Handmade Expressions welcomed me with open arms, and since Day 1, I felt like I was part of the team. I was included in everything: decision-making, team projects, the company picture. Manish even gave me a key to the office! It’s refreshing to know that companies like Handmade Expressions exist. Everything done here is in the spirit of Fair Trade and all words and promises are put into action.

I’ve really enjoyed being the voice of Handmade Expressions online through social media and connecting with all of you. My time offline has been great too, working with Juan on designing catalogs, writing press releases and developing ways to make Handmade Expressions grow.

During my time with Handmade Expressions, I’ve learned so much about marketing, running a business and Fair Trade, and I cannot wait to use the skills I have learned here in the future!

I would recommend this internship to anyone. So if you’re living in the Austin area, loving marketing and are passionate about Fair Trade, you should definitely apply !

I have another personal story to share, with a moral.

It was recently Courtney’s birthday (your usual blogger) and she spent it in San Antonio, Texas, with her family. We usually celebrate each others’ birthdays at the office, but we forgot to do something for Courtney before she left town. Thus, we decided we were going to send her a gift.

Initially, I wanted us to send her some Fair Trade Certified flowers, and arduously searched in places I thought would have them. Unfortunately, as I found out, many of the national flower companies that are listed in the TransFair USA website around Valentine’s day do not offer FTC flowers year-round. Distressed, I was able to find some lesser known companies that do mail out FTC flowers every day. However, due to their smaller size they cannot guarantee same day delivery.

I resolved to finding a local solution in San Antonio. After giving it some thought, I called the nearest Whole Foods to Courtney’s house. I was greeted by a friendly sales person, and asked to be transferred to the gift arrangements section of the store. I talked to the girl who arranged the gift baskets, and found out that they were able to put together my order over the phone! I asked her if she had Fair Trade flowers, and she knew all about them. I then asked her to fill the basket with Fair Trade chocolate, Fair Trade tea and to attach the flowers as well. She was well aware of what the FTC label meant, and knew some brands of coffee, so she was able to help me out really well. She even delivered the basket herself when she got off of work (so I could save on shipping charges). When she did, Courtney told us that she was very excited to tell everyone that everything in there was Fair Trade!

The moral of this story is: if you sell gifts, regardless of what they are, and they have an added perk of being socially responsible, then it is a good idea to train your sales staff about it. If the girl at Whole Foods didn’t know what I was talking about, and if she hadn’t acted excited about it, I would have not used their services, even if I knew what I wanted. However, the opposite extreme is also dangerous. I would not advice any sales person to go up to every customer and just unload enormous amounts of information about fair trade and organic and local and recycled etc.

In conclusion, I recommend that if you own a retail store, train your staff to first figure out what your customer wants or needs, and then let them know that they’re making a great choice because of all the sustainable aspects surrounding the product!

While Manish was in Norman, Oklahoma, a couple of weeks ago, he heard an interesting story. It confirmed that an increased demand for Fair Trade really can positively change a business.

Café Plaid is a local café in Norman that never used to sell Fair Trade coffee; however, the owner of Café Plaid noticed an increase of students coming into the café asking for Fair Trade coffee. He became curious and decided to research and try Fair Trade coffee. He soon found out that the coffee was a better quality than the coffee he was selling and around the same price, so he decided to switch all of his coffee to Fair Trade. Now, more and more people are coming in and asking for Fair Trade coffee.

Café Plaid’s business has increased since its switch to Fair Trade. Not only are all customers benefiting from this change because the quality of coffee is better, but Café Plaid’s business is also improving along with the lives of farmers.

This story shows that change can be initiated just by consumers asking businesses about Fair Trade; it shows that everyone can have an impact, and it can have an effect both locally and internationally.

Last weekend I went to one of the nicest malls in Austin. I’m not bit into consumerism, but a friend was feeling down and she wanted some company, so my girlfriend and I decided to accompany her to the mall. As I was walking around, a huge banner caught my attention:

“Wow, that looks like something I would design to help fair trade!” I thought to myself. I got very excited (since I’m always on the lookout for ideas to help the fair trade movement), and ran into the store. To my surprise, the bottom of that banner read:

“Community trade?? Where AM I???” I told myself. To my surprise, I was in The Body Shop. I had no idea that shop was there before, or maybe I had seen the products displayed out there but I was never compelled to go inside. This time, a great banner with a positive picture and a positive message called my attention. This means that positive marketing materials work!

Still, I needed to test to see if there was substance behind these claims. I decided to ask one of the people working there why The Body Shop made these claims. He was very kind and proceeded to explain that all but maybe a couple of products in that store contain at least 1 fair trade ingredient. I asked: “What is Fair Trade?”, and he correctly answered many of the principles surrounding Fair Trade, emphasizing the word “sustainability” and “community”. He then noticed I was wearing a TransFair USA pin (yes, I’m a Fair Trade nerd), and got very excited. After that, him and his co-worker, as well as my girlfriend, our other friend and me, had a long conversation about what Fair Trade is, and what it means to be a socially responsible business.

I was amazed at how much knowledge these two people had about Fair Trade and sustainability. They also knew everything about The Body Shop’s history, and how British companies are ahead in terms of ethical practices. They proceeded to give me some booklets that explain how they do Fair Trade (or Community Trade as they called it), why it is important to support this, and how the customers benefit from this. They also showed me that next to every product there is a shelf-talker that explains what ingredient in that product was made following fair trade practices, where it was made, and how the community that grew that ingredient benefited.

Here are the lessons I learned from this experience, and I hope our retail partners can follow them:

• Have big banners or posters that call attention, but make them POSITIVE. A smiling artisan/farmer/kid will leave a better impression than a crying/starving person (that image only creates guilt).

• Your first messages should be simple. Saying that your product benefits children will be easier to transmit, and when you have your customers’ attention then proceed to explain how exactly this happens. Many fair traders try to explain what fair trade is all at once, overwhelming the customer.

• Shelf talkers, brochures, pamphlets and booklets WORK! Have materials that help you convey your messages in more detail. At Handmade Expressions, we have some ready-made materials , and could help you develop other materials if needed.

• Last but definitely not least, train your sales staff very well. All the marketing materials in the world will not help you if your sales staff have no idea what fair trade is, or if they cannot back up the claims that the company is socially responsible. We have many educational and informational pages in our site. Feel free to browse them to help your staff learn what Fair Trade is.

Good luck promoting Fair Trade!

Pros:

• Because there will be no middleman separating the producers from the end consumer, artisans will get direct feedback and communication from the market.

• Consumers will be able to buy products for a lower price because prices would not have to include costs of the overhead of middlemen.

• The artisans, in return, will receive more money because artisans will be contributing more value to the supply chain.

• Artisans will gain the skills used in the business world and gain experience. They will learn organizational, marketing, finance, sales and accounting skills.

Cons:

• Perceptions of quality can differ between markets. Will the quality demanded by the end consumer match those of the artisans?

• A cultural familiarity gap exists, possibly making it difficult to design products that will sell in different markets.

• There may be a challenge in communication because of language barriers.

• Shipping directly internationally will lead to longer lead time and higher shipping costs for the retailer.

• Figuring out the aggregation of orders could be difficult. Will production be per-order or will there be the risk of product inventory?

• Money transactions may pose problems. Credit cards cannot be used, so the ease of transferring money will be hindered.

Although there are pros to this system, there are also many challenges. We are very excited to see the outcome of Artesanas Campesinas and hope for the best! What are your thoughts on this system of trade?

NOTE: If you are interested in viewing or ordering beautiful jewelry from this cooperative, you can visit the Artesanas Campesinas website.

It’s been a long time since I have directly written a blog here. That is because I have been a bit busy with the marketing of Handmade Expressions, and Courtney has been doing such an awesome job with the blog! Nevertheless, I think I should reconnect with our readers and people interested in Fair Trade, so I’ll pop in to write blog entries periodically.

Last Friday, I made a presentation at Collin County Community College. The title was simple: “The Importance of Fair Trade”. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. As Courtney mentioned earlier, as a team we had a discussion on why Fair Trade is important. It became extremely apparent to me, especially after my presentation, that all of us involved in the Fair Trade movement should communicate and share all of the reasons why Fair Trade should matter to everyone, even students in the richest city of the USA.

Many of the students I spoke to were getting a grade for attending the presentation and asking me questions. They had a questionnaire they had to fill in with different things they learned that day. I was impressed to learn that most people had never heard of Fair Trade or social responsibility, not even the term “organic”! This is just a big awakening to the fact that not enough communication efforts have been made to promote sustainability around the country.

The people I talked to were receptive of my message, though I saw that many struggled to understand why sustainability is of any importance to them. It’s not their fault at all. We live in a system that tells us that everything is OK, especially if you are not affected by the problems our artisans face (or even people here at home). Still, when they found out that people around the world can benefit from purchasing gifts and food, they became more interested.

I am sure many Fair Traders and supporters of other movements (such as organic food, “buy local” movements, etc) struggle to communicate effectively why Fair Trade should matter to everyone. Therefore, I came up with a list of reasons (that you can use) why Fair Trade matters to everyone:

• We cannot externalize costs forever: when you destroy the environment and human lives, traditional economics does not count this as a cost. However, we do pay the costs — later. We pay them when we face the challenges of climate change. We pay them when there are unstable regions around the globe that threaten our security. We pay them when we poison our bodies because we have demanded the cheapest products. We should all worry about long-term sustainability.

• Conservation of flora, fauna and cultures, which are in danger of disappearing forever.

• Walk the talk: The United States prides itself on being a “free country”. However, many of our practices, particularly our demand for cheap goods, limits the freedom of many people around the world. These people are exploited because of their lack of knowledge and resources. We should promote our ideals of freedom and access to jobs/markets around the world, not just for ourselves. I know many companies say “We are giving jobs to poor people, we are helping”, but really, would you give rotten food to the hungry? If we are going to say we are helping the global economy, lets really help it, not provide jobs for $2 a day.

• Piggy backing the previous point, you can use the argument that if God-forbid you were to become really poor, you would want to have a system that allows you to get back on your feet.

• Meritocracy is overrated: many people think they are in complete control of themselves and their destinies, and so anyone who is poor is probably like that because they don’t work hard enough or didn’t do something right. However, I think this is overrated. It has to do more with luck: where were you born and to who? Many people around the world work harder in a year than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs their whole lives, and still cannot get ahead. So you can ask people who question you to please not use meritocracy arguments to put down the marginalized people of the world, or use it as an excuse not to support Fair Trade.

• Finally, we are HUMAN. We are all brothers and sisters of the same species. We have a heart, and genuinely care to help each other out.

If you have any more reasons, reply to this blog post, or reply to us on Twitter (@fairtraders) or Facebook (Handmade Expressions Fair Trade)!

It all started a little over a month ago when I read an opinion article about Fair Trade from The Brown Daily Herald , the Brown University newspaper. The author made some statements about Fair Trade that seemed somewhat questionable, so I decided that I would write a response to this article in our blog to provide more information on the statements he’s making. However, when I sent out the article to the rest of the Handmade Expressions team, it started to generate discussion on a much larger scale, and it ultimately led to the question of “why is Fair Trade needed?” Also, I apologize ahead of time for the super long blog post that you’re about to read, but hey, we haven’t updated in a couple of weeks!

First we will start out with the larger picture of why Fair Trade is needed. This will help put the analysis of the Brown University article into context. Why is Fair Trade needed? I believe that we, as people who work in Fair Trade, have two main roles:

1. Educate consumers about the impact of their purchasing choices
2. Uplift marginalized producers to give them power to make economic decisions

First, Fair Trade is needed to help consumers see the producer-side of making a product. Companies are selling products based on the economics of supply and demand. If people are demanding cheaper and cheaper products, then companies will supply cheaper and cheaper products. But doesn’t it make you wonder where the extra costs are being cut to make up for these low prices? Many times, costs are being cut at the bottom of the supply chain, which sometimes includes the cost of people’s way-of-life or their environmental resources. Consumer education is important because if everyone is educated on how a product is made and become aware of the work that goes into making each product, people may be more willing to spend a little more for a product. Through consumer education, people will be encouraged to fully research the products they buy and be concerned about more factors of a product than just price.

Fair Trade is also needed because it gives people at the bottom level access to resources that they would not have access to otherwise. Fair Trade gives these people the opportunity to sell their goods in international markets and earn a sustainable income by doing this. It also encourages the formation of cooperatives, which helps farmers (and artisans) to organize themselves into a group so they can have a stronger voice. Producers need to have the option to say “no” to people who are trying to buy their products for a lower price than what they are worth. However, since many of these producers live in areas where there are few options to make an income, they often have to settle for any work they can get. Cooperatives give producers opportunities to share resources, learn skills from each other, and work together to help and support each other. This ultimately gives producers more power than what they would have individually, and this gained power allows producers to work together to set their own prices. It gives everyone an equal role in the supply chain.

Now, on to discuss the Brown University article . If you haven’t read it already, I suggest reading it to get a better idea of what it’s about. In summary, it seems that the author is upset that Brown only offers Fair Trade certified coffee, and now he has to pay more for a cup of coffee without having a choice on where his extra money is going. He makes several arguable statements about the Fair Trade system, and I’m writing to analyze these and offer more information and incite to Fair Trade!

(Note: After reading the article a couple of times, I came to the conclusion that the author is probably talking about Fair Trade certification organizations when he refers to “Fairtrade.” He is most likely referring to Transfair, which is the Fair Trade certifier for the US, so keep this in mind when reading the following statements.)

• Author’s statement: “For starters, only about 10 percent of the premium we pay to sip Fairtrade coffee actually gets passed along to the producers.”

• My argument: I had the opportunity to talk to Monika Firl, the Communication, Producer Relations and Special Projects Manager for Coop Coffees, so I could get a better understanding of how the coffee world works. According to Monika, the premium for Fair Trade certified coffee is paid at the buying level. So, when a company buys Fair Trade coffee directly from the farmer they pay a certain premium above market price to the farmers. Monika mentioned this premium usually ranges depending on quality of coffee, developing conditions of the farming community, if it’s organic and other factors; however, it can usually range anywhere from $.20-$.40 more per pound, which is significantly higher than conventional coffee-buying. This premium often has very little impact on what the consumer actually ends up paying for the coffee; many brands of Fair Trade certified coffees cost the same as those that are not Fair Trade certified. If the author is paying more for Fair Trade coffee, this extra cost is determined by the coffee roaster or retailer and is usually decided based on overhead costs of the company.

• Author’s statement: “The 2006 annual report of the Fairtrade corporation sets publicity expenditures at around 1/4 of total expenditures.”

• My argument: After going through financial reports of FLO, Transfair and the Fairtrade Foundation, I could not find this statistic anywhere; however, I understand the author’s point. He is saying that instead of all of the money going back directly to the farmers, ¼ of it is spent on marketing and public education efforts. First of all, the money spent on marketing efforts by Transfair is not taken out of the money going to the farmers. The money for marketing is raised by licensing fees that companies have to pay to put their logo on products. Also, is spending ¼ of the budget on marketing a bad thing? Aren’t education and marketing efforts necessary to grow the Fair Trade movement? According to the BBMG September newsletter, only 18% of consumers recognize Transfair’s Fair Trade Certified symbol. Therefore, these marketing efforts are needed to increase awareness among consumers, which will ultimately employ more farmers involved in Fair Trade.

• Author’s statement: “Another popular misconception surrounding Fairtrade is that the certification has something to do with being “organic.” This is erroneous. Fairtrade certification has no substantive crossover with organic guidelines."

• My argument: Although the author is correct that Fair Trade is not organic, Fair Trade standards guarantee safe and healthy working-conditions for producers and the environment. Farmers do not use a lot of harmful pesticides and artisans don’t use harsh, toxic chemicals in their products. So, Fair Trade is not necessarily organic, but it is environmentally friendly.

• Author’s statement: “When Brown University decided to buy coffee exclusively from Fairtrade, we made the decision to boycott small and large family farms who refuse to re-organize into collectives.”

• My argument: Many people find cooperatives to be controversial because of the issue that Fair Trade only employs people if they are organized into a cooperative. However, as discussed earlier, cooperatives offer more good to a community than bad. Because farmers (and artisans) can organize themselves into a group, they are given a stronger voice and more opportunities to share resources and learn from each other. This gained power of voice and added resources allows producers to work together to set their own prices. It gives everyone an equal role in the supply chain.

This article brought up some interesting points about Fair Trade that I think a lot of people wonder about. Hopefully my research and explanations have helped you gain more knowledge about Fair Trade. If you have any additional comments after reading this article, I would really love to hear what you have to say!