Fair Trade Beginners and More

Buy this Book for Beginners Plus

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 21:17:00 +0000

Sometimes I'm asked if I am going to write a third edition* of Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide. Certainly some of the data, originally researched in 2005 and 2006, could use updating. Definitely some of the actors in the movement have changed, both additions and deletions. New issues have come to the forefront, as have the voices of producer and consumers. Part of me felt that I needed to find the time and space to write an update to do the movement justice.

With the recent release of Dr. Keith R. Brown's Buying Into Fair Trade: Culture, Morality, and Consumption, I now feel guilt free. Our books are distinctly different in that Keith (transparency alert: a friendly colleague) is a trained sociologist who bases his book on ethnographic research. But if you want a comprehensive primer about how fair trade came to be, why it is important, and what are its strengths and weaknesses--plus an analysis of consumer behavior--this book is for you.

Don't get me wrong. I feel like my book still makes a contribution, and ideally the two would be a great pair. But if you have to choose one, buy Keith's book for fresh perspectives and academic insights into the movement and the marketplace.

The timing is right for me personally, as I leave my professional role in the fair trade movement to address hunger issues domestically as Executive Director of Manna Food Center. I won't have access to the best information and analysis in the movement so consider following Fair Trade Chronicles for insights and stories.

Thanks for all of you who have purchased the 8,000 or so copies of my book. Better yet, to those of you who passed them on or ordered copies for the local library. I'll always be a fair trader at heart, and it is a deep satisfaction to know I have had a small role to play in making trade fairer for those producers who struggle to build community and use their skills and talents to create the products that fill my daily life.

* Fair Trade and How It Works is a second, hard cover edition that features a few minor revisions made in 2010.

A further take on "Your Money or Your Life" available

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 18:10:00 +0000

When I first encountered fair trade in 1999, I was probably primed to the notion of valuing work and talent in ways that matched investment of time and energy by the influence of the book "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. I studied it in the context of my Quaker community and the voluntary simplicity movement.

Last year I was proud to be a supporter of a film by Katie Teague that was following in the tradition of those movements. "Money & Life" is an inspirational essay-style documentary that that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This film connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.

Find out how you can stream the documentary, host a viewing party, or buy your own copy. True confessions: I haven't watched my copy yet, but plan to beat the heat sometime soon and enjoy a matinee.

More on Fair, or maybe just Fast, Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:51:00 +0000

As a follow up to my posting about the Fair Trade USA certification pilot for clothing, a couple folks reached me off-line or via Linked In to suggest resources. If you want to dig deeper into ethical fashion issues, you might want to listen to the NPR series, "The Fast World of Fast Fashion." If academia is more your style, check out the one-minute MBA segment, "The Business of Fast Fashion."

The premise of this blog, in a way, is that we need to be informed consumers and then take action according to our values. The analysts of BBMG conduct study after study advancing the notion that when we shop our values we shape market trends. That's an encouraging sign, but take note that progress is slower than we think and the stakes are high for factory workers. A recent article in Salon details the work of labor activists, and the importance of individual shopping choices, but concludes "Sweatshops still make your clothes."

SNAP the silence on domestic hunger

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:35:00 +0000

This week I participated with other residents of Montgomery County, MD in an effort to SNAP the silence on hunger in our community. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) supports our neighbors whose wages are too low to lift them out of poverty, helping them to put food on the table. Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, this Federal program allows individuals that to purchase food to eat, or to buy seeds and plants which produce food for the household. By taking the SNAP the silence challenge and living on a food budget of $5 a day (the actual average adult food stamp allotment is $4.25) participants are experiencing life on public nutrition assistance, a reality for about 65,000 people in our county. I am saddened and shamed by that statistic but impressed by community leaders like Councilwoman Valerie Ervin who are building awareness of the need for social safety nets like SNAP. As it turns out I don't seem to have what it takes to be among the working poor. .

I expected the toughest part of this challenge to be incorporating my commitment to fair and sustainable trade into the mix. Last weekend, for example, I tried to purchase free range chicken from a local farmer to add to a stew for dinner this week. The base for the stew was a fair trade bean mix, costing about $1.90 a serving BEFORE the meat protein. The chicken locally sourced and humanely raised chicken would cost me $8.99 a pound. Factory produced poultry available at a supermarket cost $2.99 a pound. I had to choose the cheaper chicken, although I'd rather support a local farmer, eat chickens that were raised in a setting that doesn't dangerously pollute the environment. But if I were a SNAP recipient I wouldn't have the luxury of those choices.

As it turns out what was most difficult was the lifestyle choices I didn't even think about before this week--the cost of my occasional snack and treats, and the ultimate luxury of cheating on this challenge. Building in the cost of a dessert for dinner really through my budget off. What was worse, is that I had absolutely no flexibility for snacks at work or even fast food when I was running late for dinner. Doesn't sound like a struggle, perhaps, to have to put aside the occasional granola bar or bowl of Ben & Jerry's. But going without those things made me realize how easy my daily life is.

Working out my budget took a lot of time, shopping for bargains was also a strain. I started this week feeling a bit under stress. To top it off, not having any casual snacks or treats throughout the day made the slight hunger I was experiencing even more irritating. When it turned out I had to travel for a family obligation, I gave up the possibility of eating on $5.00 in an airport. That turned out to be my breaking point.

Individuals living on SNAP, of course, can't opt out. They can't use a debit card to sneak a pretzel at a food court. They can't rationalize a family difficulty as a reason exceed a budget. I started this week dismayed by hunger in my community because I believe hunger in the United States should be impossible given our resources and our ingenuity. I end the week with a different kind of sadness and a measure of shame.

Clothing and Certification

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:16:00 +0000

For the past several years, through my day job, I have been involved in a complicated, and sometimes contentious, process to try and set standards for certifying fair trade clothing. The group of businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and advocates that committed to an experimental pilot has released our report.

Key findings include:

Workers in certified factories earned 15 percent above local minimum wage on average, and up to double the minimum wage in one facility.
Distribution of the Fair Trade premium resulted in tangible change in the local community (e.g. building a school in war-torn Liberia, and distributing cash bonuses equivalent to one week’s pay).
Impact (as measured by Fair Trade premiums) tripled each year of the program, due to availability of certified products through national channels like REI and Zappos.com.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to worker representation in cut-and-sew factories, and worker training is needed to ensure that all employees understand their rights, including the right to freedom of association as required by Fair Trade standards.

The report includes a range of recommendations, including creation of two distinct certifications, with corresponding labels for Fair Trade Certified Cotton and Fair Trade Certified Sewing. The goal of this is to increase impact for subsistence cotton farmers AND factory workers, and communicate clearly to consumers. Second, they also identified the need for a more inclusive and flexible approach to the certification of artisan-made apparel and textiles. These and all other recommendations made by the MSG will be adopted in the Fair Trade apparel program moving forward.

Read on.... download the report.

As part of the apparel pilot, a group of us traveled to India in 2011. Here my colleagues Damani Patridge & Julia Wilbur meet with a family that is a part of the fair trade organization, Marketplace India in Mumbai.

Follow Fair Trade Chronicles through Mexico & Central America

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:17:00 +0000

Art and information at the site of the Acteal massacre in Chiapas, Mexico

I encountered fair trade while traveling through Latin America more than a dozen years ago. Two colleagues, Chris Treter of Higher Grounds, and Matt Early of Just Coffee, happen to be retracing some of the steps I took in an effort to talk with farmers about the ethos and impact of fair trade. The endeavor is called Fair Trade Chronicles generating multi-media insights into the life of farming communities.

I have been thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to reminisce and to reflect on current realities fair traders face. Although the trip itself ends January 14, 2013 you can retroactively f ollow their postings and video as you await the documentary that will be produced, Connected by Coffee, as a result of the trip.

Purchase with a Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:11:00 +0000

At a Fair Trade Federation conference several years ago I was introduced to the work of BBMG, a self-described "branding firm" that believes it has an obligation to make the world a better place. The FTF workshop by founding partner, Raphael Bemporad, came just at the right time for me, as I was beginning to explore more carefully the role of marketing and branding in the not-for-profit sector. Since then I have made a point of following BBMG's research on conscious consumption and have been impressed by their innovative approaches to brand development and consumer engagement. One of the BBMG's initiatives is The Collective, a web-based community dedicated to connecting consumers with brands that are in the business of changing business.

This month, I'm a guest blogger at the Collective. Head on over to read and comment on the fair trade challenge.

Fair Trade Colleges and Universities Contest and Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 18:10:00 +0000

David Funkhouser, on the left, is

long-time Fair Trade USA staffer,

is helping organize the Chicago conference.

As a member of the national steering committee of Fair Trade Colleges and Universities, I'm gearing up for the national conference in Chicago, Oct 26-28, 2012. The event is actually a joint endeavor between the campus movement and Fair Trade Towns. For those committed to deepening community commitments to fair trade, this is a great opportunity to meet fellow organizers, sharpen skills, and have some fun. There are travel stipends available for those who need some support getting to the event. Don't be shy to apply.

To help build momentum and in celebration of Fair Trade month, FTCU held a video contest, and the first submission is one I am proud to be a part of. Check the video out and if you think it makes a good case for fair trade, please like it.

Thanks Ten Thousand Villages St. Paul

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:38:00 +0000

A friend in the Twin Cities spotted A Beginner's Guide in the St. Paul Ten Thousand Villages store. Chapter Five shares a history of how the vision and persistence of Edna Ruth Byler, a Mennonite missionary, helped start Villages, which is now the most popular Fair Trade retail chain in North America.

Looking at the other recommended titles, I now have a couple more books on my summer reading list.

Fair Trade Audio for Summer Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:00:00 +0000

If you need some companionship for long car, RV or Mini Van rides this summer, check out Bolinda Publishing to order Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide on MP3 ready CD. It takes a little over four hours to listen to chapters such as "Ordinary People Making Fair Trade Extraordinary" and "Fish Don't Know They Are Wet or How Trading Influences Our Lives." If you prefer a Kindle version head over to Amazon, and old school types like me can still order the paperback through SERRV.

My own reading list this summer includes Slaves to Fashion by Bob Ross.

Evolution of Fair Trade Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:11:00 +0000

It was five years ago this very World Fair Trade Day weekend that Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide was released. The book has since been published in hardback and is also available for Kindle. No matter what the version, a lot has happened in the movement since. I like to think the book's theoretical underpinnings and my particular point of view are still relevant. Not to say my perspectives haven't evolved. In fact, I am quite sure that I am not the same fair trader I was when I wrote the book. In terms of new perspectives, a few months back Chicago Fair Trade Coalition asked me, as a representative of Catholic Relief Services, to reflect on fair trade apparel in particular.

Thanks to the Community Access Network, I share this video for musings on what fair trade is and when it does and doesn't work:

No New Postings for now

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:52:00 +0000

This may sound a bit out of place in a time of resolutions, but instead of promising to work harder at making this blog useful in the new year, I have decided to take a sabbatical from "Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide" blogging.

The reasons are pretty straight-forward. I am very fortunate to have a full-time job promoting economic justice. A recent promotion means I will have even more responsibilities for the domestic programs of Catholic Relief Services. I want to do my job well and will need extra time and space for the activities ahead.

Even more important is my family. The elders in my life are a treasure, but also an evolving responsibility. In a few weeks my cousin Dollie will be moving to an Alzheimer's care facility near me, which means a lifestyle change for all of us who care for and about her.

In the midst of these transitions I realize that I won't be true to my values of simplicity and integrity if I am trying to juggle too many activities and interests.

Actually, even if these big life changes weren't happening, I have been wondering recently if it makes sense to crank out a monthly blog post. I struggle to find the time to read resources to inform what I write! I've just refreshed my list of "Blogs I'm Reading instead of Writing" to give you a sense of what is informing and inspiring me.

Of course, it is the people I meet on the way that most inspire me. I hope through social media, speaking events, and just daily life I will have the privilege of coming into contact with people like the hundreds of folks who have been visiting this blog. If you are interested in Fair Trade, you are of interest to me too! This blog will still accept comments and you an find me on Linked In and Facebook.

Looking forward to a healthy, sustainable future!

A "Somewhat" Fresh Outlook on Fair Trade

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:02:00 +0000

Last summer Jeff Goldman of Fair Trade Resource Network, and I, had a chance to tape an episode of the cable show Fresh Outlook. It aired this weekend, and while I was disappointed we weren't able to steer our host clear of the somewhat worn-out "free" vs. "fair" trade debate, I do think the episode offers some useful dialogue about why Fair Trade is important.

You can view the episode here.

The episode also provides a nice glimpse of the Think Coffee coffee shop in New York City. They have a special place in my heart as the location where the NYC Fair Trade Coalition hosted the official launch of my book a couple years back. Check out the contrast between Think's "Fair Trade" commitments to the perspective of Cafe Grumpy, which is more enamored of "direct trade."

Was Small Beautiful Saturday?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:27:00 +0000

Well, this is disappointing. I had drafted this post on Friday morning, but got distracted by some family responsibilities and never posted. Still, I imagine the point remains. Let me know.
-----
If you are reading this blog you are likely not the type to set the alarm for early shopping on Black Friday. Don't get me wrong, I have several family members who queued up before the sun had a chance to rise. Who knows, one of their bargains under the tree might even have my name on it!

But my assumption is that readers like you are not compelled to shop for shopping sake. You are probably using some of this holiday season to consider how best to use your economic power. Maybe like me you were intrigued by the advertisements for the “Small Business Saturday” encouraging consumers to back off from Black Friday and use the Saturday after Thanksgiving as a day to support “the shops and restaurants that employ our neighbors and reinvest our money close to home. The businesses that are the heartbeat of our communities and local economies.”

Support local economies? Wow that sounds like a call from E.F. Schumacher of Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered, a primer for many Fair Traders. Or maybe a new campaign of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, BALLE? Slowing down from the post-turkey frenzy to choose businesses carefully—ones that would not only offer good deals but also good business models—sounds right up my alley. Imagine my surprise when my Google-based research led me to American Express. A credit card company was promoting small businesses. Not just any credit card company, “the world’s largest card issuer, the premium network for high-spending cardmembers, a processor of millions of transactions daily, and a partner that provides business-building services to a worldwide merchant base.” Full disclosure: I am an American Express cardholder so I’m not here to attack a multinational corporation. But the big guys promoting the little ones—which I hope includes the dozens of members of the Fair Trade Federation—seems like a little bit of a disconnect.

It puts me in mind of a CSR newswire blog noting that Monsanto—a huge business in the agriculture industry--is part of the Obama administration’s Feed the Future initiative that works, in part, to help small-scale farmers. Many could argue that Monsanto’s entire business model is predicated on shifting from "small is beautiful" agriculture to "big is better" approaches.

In this space I can’t do these kinds of debates justice, mind you. I just offer up these contradictions as a bit of a “speed bump” to slow things down a bit. As we jump into the seasonal mania that revolves around what we eat and what we buy, rather far field from the traditions of gratitude giving and the holy rituals of Hanukkah and Christmas, let’s pause a bit to consider who is shaping our impulses, who is offering us alternatives, and what kind of economy—local or otherwise—we want to contribute to.

A birthday gift to readers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:05:00 +0000

Today is my birthday, and I took the day off to have some fun, poke around the Web, get caught up with correspondence, and so forth. I see that Oneworld, my book publisher, is offering a free chapter of my book on its website. I think that is a great idea!

Unfortunately I can't seem to figure out how to upload the PDF to this site. So just click here if you'd like a free copy of "Fair Trade: Why it is not just for coffee farmers anymore." It is chapter one of the book and includes things like the official Fair Trade definition, a list of the Millennium Development Goals, and other hopefully helpful context for the movement.

Enjoy and thanks for your interest in Fair Trade!

Tea and Chocolate Fair Trade News in the Washington DC area

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:32:00 +0000

I was pleased, and a bit surprised, to learn that my "neighbor," Honest Tea of Bethesda, Maryland announced it is committed to expanding its Fair Trade Certified™ offerings to include its entire tea portfolio. Recently I had the chance to hear from Seth Goldman, President and TeaEO, about concerns that to increase its commitment to certified tea Honest Tea would also have to certify all eligible beverage ingredients, such as sugar. As a company founded on the idea of being 100% organic, and given the unique structure of the sugar industry, Honest Tea was not sure it could create beverages that include all certified ingredients and offer consumers an affordable beverage. Looks like a compromise was reached.

I, for one, am pleased that Honest Tea has remained engaged with Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair) so that its company values and perspectives can influence the system. Who knows, it may also influence, Honest Tea's shareholder, Coca-Cola. I also consider Coke a former neighbor, as I grew up near its headquarters in Atlanta, GA, and it is a long-time donor to my alma mater, Agnes Scott College.

Also in my current neighborhood, down Georgia Avenue in Washington, DC, Bus Boys & Poets on 5th & K, NW, announced an addition to its great line-up of community events. Along with Global Exchange, Busboys is hosting a screening of The Dark Side of Chocolate, October 26, 2010, from 6 - 8 pm. I will join a panel featuring Divine Chocolate, Fair Trade Federation, Green America and the International Labor Rights Forum. If you are in the area, I hope you'll join us to share your reactions to the documented realities of the conventional chocolate industry.

Photo of me with some kids not forced to work in cocoa fields, taken by Lutheran World Relief, Ghana 2006.

How Does Every Purchase Matter?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:58:00 +0000

The newly renamed "Fair Trade USA," formerly known as TransFair USA, celebrates Fair Trade month each October. This year's theme is "Every Purchase Matters," and as a believer in thoughtful consumption, I embrace that idea on many different levels. I wonder what fellow conscious consumers like you think the theme means? How and why are you celebrating Fair Trade this month? Let us know with comments.

For me, I just ordered my free Reverse Trick or Treating kit (and I gave a donation to organizer Global Exchange because every purchase does matter) Order yours soon! I'm expecting that the kits will provide an easy, fun outreach activity for the kids and parents in my new neighborhood.

For my day job, I am joining advocates participating in the Ohio Fair Trade Expo to give a keynote, "Celebrate Fair Trade, with Eyes Wide Open" and begin my holiday shopping.

On October 26, at the Busboys & Poets in downtown Washington, DC, I'll on a panel discussing the new documentary "The Dark Side of Chocolate." It was co-produced by Robin Romano, who I met during my farmworker pesticide safety days, and I expect to be sobered but motivated to continue to help change the chocolate industry.

These examples of fun, learning, and activism combine into a month where my answer to "How Does Every Purchase Matter?" turns out to be, as usual, that Fair Trade is an opportunity to ask what is important in life (at this time of year that includes rituals/holiday traditions ), to explore how my role as a consumer impacts others positively and negatively, and to recommit to being a thoughtful, engaged consumer all year long.

Please share your answers!

Moving Forward for Fair Trade

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:26:00 +0000

Straight from the Fair Trade Futures conference I headed to vacation, by the waters of Provincetown, MA. Once I got off the post-conference high--savoring 762 participants from five continents, recalling all the great friends and colleagues I reconnected with, and pleased that my minimal Spanish and native English seem to get me through welcoming speeches and meals with coffee farmers--I began to chart out what my next steps are post-conference. No resolution yet of course. Here are some areas that were front and center at the conference:

* How to make sure producer voices are listened to throughout standard setting processes, story-telling on impact, and overall strategies. This in the midst of sometimes limited governance structures (i.e. FLO board and committee structure), capacity issues within key Fair Trade organizations (ex. the struggles of WFTO and the scope of FTF's mission) and new welcome of IMO (whose entry in the Fair Trade movement I so far greet with general optimism)

* Can a "tiered" system indicating the gold standards of Fair Trade commitment (think Peace Coffee or Handmade Expressions) in comparison to a silver (Green Mountain? World of Good on e-bay?) or bronze (enter your ideas here!) really work? It has been kicked around for more than 5 years now. Each time I dig into what a rating system would look like, I run into barriers, even with good resources such as the Better World Shopping Guide.

* How to build consumer accountability into the Fair Trade movement. Yes, everyone talks about increasing business transparency. But how do we get consumers actually involved in being part of the system? A big part of the conference buzz was that many didn't realize the challenges Fair Trade was facing. I want those newly informed people to help us Fair Trade "leaders" be solutionaries.

* Does the launch of a new name for TransFair USA indicate an opening to culture changes in its approach to collaboration, leadership, and mission? Or it is an ill-advised move that suggests domination of the movement instead of finding its appropriaterole in the Fair Trade ecosystem?

I definitely don't have the answers, but I do have some newly discovered sources of information. Check out the new Fair Trade journal: Fair Trade: Unique & Sustainable and the new organization linking Fair Trade and organics: Fair World Project. And stayed tuned on this blog, as I keep musing. Of course, I welcome your reflections and ideas!

I'm a Solutionista

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 21:43:00 +0000

The keynote address at today's Fair Trade Futures conference was given by Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange. One big take away for me was the invitation not to be a revolutionary--which I frankly have never been well suited for--but to be a solutionary, someone committed to finding answers to the knotty questions of our world.

I like that moniker a lot and I'm claiming it for my own. I'll try to use this space to share some possible solutions offered at the conference...after I take a vacation. The event is in Massachusetts, which means time on the beaches of Cape Cod for me. But you can participate in the events remotely, via social media, through the event webspace.

Be Change, Don't Just Buy Change

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:33:00 +0000

Regular readers know I’ve been struggling a bit with Fair Trade. The rhetoric hasn’t been matching the reality I’ve come across. Recent discouragements include an importer explaining that—even with evidence that minimum prices set a decade ago are not enough for producers—the company can still be proudly “Fair Trade” because it meets the basic requirements of the system. I’ve heard a Fair Trade leader dismiss concerns that a cooperative isn’t managing its books well enough to trace the money back to the farmers. This company wasn’t concerned about lack of financial accountability because, when it comes down to it, most small organizations don’t master that level of detail. Perhaps most unsettling and upsetting is when I hear from people whom I have personally encouraged to run Fair Trade businesses. Year after year they report not drawing salaries, tapping personal savings.

Am I promoting something that isn’t working for producers or businesses? Is Fair Trade really business as usual, just dressed in do-good clothing? Am I sticking with the movement not because it addresses poverty and builds communities, but because it is what I know?

I am digging into these questions by talking to friends and colleagues and refreshing my memory on key thinkers who have inspired me. I dusted off books like Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Peter Berger’s Invitation to Sociology. I renewed my interest in the work of Margaret Wheatley, Pema Chodron, and Gandhi.

What I began to realize--or remember--is that while there are true disappointments in my work, it is foolish to look for the perfect system to promote. A colleague from Ghana once pointed out to me that all institutions are filled with human beings, so all will be flawed. I am setting myself and others up for failure if I imagine Fair Trade, or those who make it possible, perfect. Sometimes commitments to high standards can be emotional tricks that lead to self-defeating arrogance.

What is called for is not a pure point of view. What is called for is “total involvement with total detachment.” Part of the reason Fair Trade was failing in my eyes was that I was focused on the outcomes of Fair Trade instead of its mechanisms. In striving for a system without blemish, even for a elevated place of influence within, I was leaving behind my truth: that the process is more important than the product. I am not called to encourage millions of people to buy a certain type of product. I’m called to help create a movement that welcomes millions of people of good will into it.

Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” He didn't say "Buy the right products from the right companies doing all the right things right now." He and others who I look to for wisdom, including many who have reached out to me on this blog or via Facebook, didn't really call for pure perfection so much as right intention.

I don't have to have all the answers, and I still have many concerns that the Fair Trade system isn't always credible and falls short of delivering meaningful impacts. But I and my colleagues don't have to be spotless. For myself, I have to make sure my point of view is grounded in my core values, is tested by those touched by my work, and is offered in a ways that creates solutions.

Thank you for being part of my personal reality-checks and part of the movement's way forward. I hope to meet you along the way or read your reactions and experiences on the web.

Taking a "Fresh Look" at Fair Trade with Tough Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:09:00 +0000

Next week, Jeff Goldman of Fair Trade Resource Network, and I will be appearing on the RCN cable show Fresh Outlook. The interview will be broadcast on Channel 53 in many Northeast markets and then posted to the web.

We expect and hope for some tough questions about the Fair Trade model. Some of the typical inquires, "Doesn't Fair Trade skew the market by encouraging farmers to overproduce?" "Isn't Fair Trade too expensive for most American consumers?" "Does mainstreaming dilute the power and potential of Fair Trade principles?"

If you were the host, what would your questions be? Please post some comments with your tough inquiries. This will help me and Jeff prep, for sure, but I also welcome the chance to consider what conscious consumers want to know.

Last Chance to Register: Fair Trade Futures

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:24:00 +0000

Registration closes August 1, this Sunday, for the Fair Trade Futures conference. Five years ago a group of scrappy and spunky Fair Trade leaders brought together 750 consumers, producers, and businesses together to help define what Fair Trade is and why it matters. Ever since, people have reported to me what an important moment it was--some started new businesses, others mobilized for Fair Trade Towns, still others formed stronger bonds and justice commitments. An expanded 2010 Leadership Group has decided to gather again, and Sunday is the official deadline to join us!

With my CRS Fair Trade hat on (an actual, union-made hat!) I will be on an intro to Fair Trade panel with Carmen Iezzi of the Fair Trade Federation and David Funkhouser of TransFair USA. But I am, to be transparent, most excited about just being a regular Fair Trader and attending debates such as "Does Fair Trade Deliver on its Promise?." I will be reconnecting with colleagues and friends to celebrate our successes. But I will also start some tough conversations about the future: what's the role of certification in our movement? which certification? how are we really different from conventional trade? how are we different from other "socially responsible" enterprise? How can Fair Trade be a gateway to Financial Integrity?

If you are reading this blog, you probably have some good questions (and hopefully answers) too. Please join us, and don't forget to register before the weekend ends!

Slippery Slopes and Setting Standards

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:47:00 +0000

Today I head to the Jersey shore, where I spent childhood vacations. My extended family would load up in the station wagons and head to Ocean City, sometimes for a week, sometimes a day trip. I jumped waves and walked the boards. Hunted for sea shells and dug for crabs. I attribute my love for water to those times. It seems when I am sad or confused or stressed, if I can just manage a few hours looking out across the water, I am restored. (disclosure: this photo is of Cape Cod, not NJ)

Restoration would help these days because I feel like I might be on a slippery slope of selling out. It all started several years ago now when I left a spunky but small grassroots Fair Trade NGO to join a big, established organization. Part of my rationale was I was able to be a more effective consumer educator from the platform of a wide-reaching institution. I went from engaging thousands of people to hundreds of thousands, which is very gratifying. Getting health care and a 403b didn't hurt either.

More recently I have moved to the suburbs, a shift which included the selling of my scooter and an almost total reliance on a car. Granted, my two-door vehicle has helped me locate and evaluate an array of local farmers markets in this agricultural state of Maryland. But I also seem to slink into the mall more often for a bunch of items I never seemed to need before. (Don't get me started about weed killer.)

These are examples from my personal life, but there's are some slopes in the professional realm too. Foremost in my mind is that I'm trying to shape a Fair Trade clothing experiment and have agreed that minimum wages for workers is acceptable as a starting point for the certification of factories. The caveat is that a living wage must be the ultimate, verifiable goal. But this position has been rejected by colleagues who say that we have to set the bar high from the beginning, or we risk supporting an effort that does more harm than good.

I heard a similar argument in the context of child labor on cocoa farms. "Don't constrain your concern to the 'worst forms' of child labor, eliminate it all together so kids focus on education not income." Who can disagree with that logic? But then I remember conversations I had with farmworker families here in the United States. Parents welcomed their children into the fields when they didn't trust the federal institutions that were offering day care, or because they were trying to teach the next generation a trade.

It is the nature of compromise that a variety of perspectives have to be considered. In that sense, I am not worried about slippery slopes or selling out. In fact, I am energized by the challenge of achieving common ground. What makes the call for the beach so urgent is that I am not always sure there is a effort to come together.

Right now there are at least a half a dozen efforts at establishing or refreshing standards for consumer products. GoodWeave is in its second round of consultation regarding the handmade rug industry. The World Fair Trade Organization has just completed its second phase of building a sustainable fair trade management system. The Fairtrade Labelling Organizations have announced a new approach to three pillars of standards. And then, of course, there are emerging certifications systems such as IMO. I applaud all these efforts in as much as they are trying to create the conditions for fair and dignified lives for producers and consumers. Several of them are profiled in my book.

But what is wearing me out a bit is that I don't see a vision for bringing efforts together in a MEANINGFUL way. Meaningful to me translates into something that consumers can use to make daily decisions in the marketplace (even at the big box stores!). My colleagues might be quick to say, "But Jackie don't forget ISEAL!"

Everybody who knows about ISEAL, raise your hand.

ISEAL--an association of social and environmental setting organizations-- is another important group in the alphabet soup of industries, interests, and ideologies. I met one of their reps when the organization was just starting, and I am glad to see the young association solidifying its umbrella of groups like FLO and the Rainforest Alliance. Still, the average consumer has to navigate this range of approaches to spend her dollars in ways that reflect her values. If someone like me--who is privileged to earn a living by interpreting the fair marketplace--is uncertain about who is doing what and how, I worry the movement lacks coherence and leadership.

What I need is some perspective. With my titanium oxide sunscreen in hand, I will mull these core questions:

* How do you know when your standards are high enough?
* Who is the correct arbiter of standard setting?
* What are the alternative approaches to setting standards?
* How can diverse and divergent viewpoints best serve my vision for this world?
* Where is the best boardwalk arcade for skee ball?

If you have any answers or queries of your own, please feel free to comment.

You Are What You Wear

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 23:22:00 +0000

With thanks to Virginia and Brian of Amnesty International in Charlottesville, VA, I share the text of my speech prepared for their “You Are What You Wear” Ethical Fashion Show. It was held June 4, 2010:

As was mentioned in the introduction, I first encountered Fair Trade through coffee, but I actually have a nostalgic connection to the apparel industry because relatives in my grandparents’ generation were factory workers in the Northeast. I have at least one great aunt who was a member of the union now known as UNITE, for Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. Unions in the United States were becoming an important social force in the early 20^th century. You might remember from your high school history lessons the story of the Triangle Waist Company fire of 1911. That was the site of a tragedy where garment worker were trapped in a burning building by blocked exits. The incident confirmed unsafe working conditions that organizers had been protesting, and the tragedy was a galvanizing moment for the US union movement. The movement went on to organize workers and press for laws that are now core to our understanding of what a workplace should be like: payment of at least a minimum wage, protection against exploitative child labor, and guarantee of decent working conditions. When these types of rights are abused in a factory, we call the situation a “sweatshop” and over the years as our economy has globalized, sweatshops have also spread.

I would like to point out, though, sweatshops haven’t disappeared from the United States by any means. In the agricultural sector in particular we talk about “sweatshops in the fields,” and I commend to you the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida to learn more about the plight of vegetable pickers. In the garment sector, immigrant populations are often victimized as demonstrated by the documentary “Made in LA.” But the reality of our economy today is that most clothing is manufactured in other countries. In my book I quote the International Labor Rights Forum:

In the new global economy, corporations from developed countries are increasingly moving their production to developing countries, where they can take advantage of cheap labor under sweatshop conditions. Workers must toil extremely long hours in labor intensive jobs with low pay and often unsanitary and unsafe conditions. In many countries, there is little or no labor law enforcement, and many workers are prevented from joining organizations to advance their interests. Even more alarming, an estimated 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen are working around the world.

Thanks to a speaking tour by ILRF I recently had the opportunity to meet with Kalpona Akter, a former child factory worker, who as an adult is confronting modern day labor challenges in her country of Bangladesh, where the average person has an annual income of $1,300 or less than $4 day. On that a person is supposed to be able to live a basic, decent life. Three meals a day, roof over your head, water to drink, clothes to wear. These days about 4 billion people live on less than $4 a day. Approximately one billion live on less than $1 a day. I know sometimes the statistics can be abstract so I think of it in terms of the fact that many of those same people lack access to drinkable water. Hard to fathom, isn’t it? For about a buck you can get a bottle of water here in the States. One billion human beings can’t access a clean tap or afford a bottle of water, and given the problems with the bottled water industry probably shouldn’t …but I digress.

This poverty I’m talking about is usually in rural areas, where people have few options to earn a living. Sometimes they turn to factories in urban areas for jobs. But what do those jobs offer? Kalpona shared that garment factories of Bangladesh typically offer only poverty wages and workers are threatened with firing when they try to organize to fight for better conditions. Sometimes you hear the notion that poor people like Kalpona shouldn’t be deprived the opportunity to work in a factory, no matter what the conditions, because at least it is some form of employment. When we consider how vast the problems of poverty are—at least a job’s a job, right? But I don’t think we as consumers should settle for the fact that our clothes are made by people laboring without just compensation and in sometimes unsafe working conditions. I know we can do better than that. And we are wasting time. Just last February a factory fire in Bangladesh took the lives of 21 employees and injured another 50. Workers’ efforts to escape were useless as factory doors had been locked. Depressingly reminiscent of the situation in 1911.

But we are making progress. In the mid 1990s, thanks to media coverage revealing sweatshop conditions in factories used by popular brands, consumers, especially students, began to organize against sweatshops. United Students Against Sweatshops formed and soon created a companion organization called the Workers Rights Consortium. In the Clinton era an organization bringing together companies who were voluntarily willing to adopt specific codes of conduct was organized, called the Fair Labor Association. However, FLA has gotten some criticism because it is an industry led effort, reflecting the priorities of the corporations, not the workers. W.R.C. devised a stronger response to worrisome labor conditions by monitoring facilities in reaction to specific worker complaints. The University of Virginia is an affiliate of WRC and through that affiliation receives assessments of conditions in factories that produce collegiate apparel, with specific reference to whether factories are in compliance with university’s codes of conduct.

Alongside those institutional efforts, consumer education groups such as Green America—once known as Coop America-- rank company practices. It also screens companies for membership in its network. This verification of business practices is similar to the work of the Fair Trade Federation, which screens organizations to verify that all of the company’s practices reflect the principles of Fair Trade:

1) Creating Opportunities for Economically and Socially Marginalized Producers

2) Developing Transparent and Accountable Relationships

3) Building Capacity

4) Promoting Fair Trade

5) Paying Promptly and Fairly

6) Supporting Safe and Empowering Working Conditions

7) Ensuring the Rights of Children

8) Cultivating Environmental Stewardship

9) Respecting Cultural Identity

Now, I’m referencing a lot of U.S. based resources—and as I tell the story in my book the Fair Trade movement started in the United States--,but it is important to note that in this globalized world there are many efforts at economic justice. In the UK the Ethical Trading Initiative brings together companies, unions and nongovernmental organizations to uphold credible codes of conduct, such as those based on the International Labor Organization standards. Amnesty International itself “ is campaigning for global standards on business and human rights and stronger legal frameworks at both national and international level to hold companies to account for their human rights impact. Amnesty International asks “companies to produce explicit human rights policies and ensure that they are integrated, monitored and audited across their operations and beyond borders. “

This auditing of practices is what Fair Trade is increasingly recognized for by consumers, particularly when it comes to products such as coffee. While Fair Trade actually started in the handcraft sector, helping disadvantaged women gain markets for their sewing, the popularity of coffee in our culture has helped gain recognition of Fair Trade and its principles. According to TransFair USA demand for Fair Trade certified coffee grew 25% between 2008 and 2009. Demand grew because more and more consumers want their products to be traded fairly.

The official global definition of Fair Trade is that it is a “long-term partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks to restore greater equity in international trade." The values of “dialogue, transparency and respect” jump out at you, but what is also key is the partnership between producer and consumer. "Buying Fair Trade is like giving a glass of clean water to a thirsty person," a cocoa farmer in Ghana, told me once. At that time her cooperative -- Kuapa Kokoo -- had sold enough cocoa on Fair Trade terms to dig 96 water wells, open three schools, and provide her village's first "places of convenience," what you and I call "bathrooms." Her community’s success was the result of hard work, good crops, NGO and government support, but also because consumers were willing to buy the chocolate bars that came from Kuapa Kokoo’s fields. Fair Trade producers are looking for buyers, and you can be their partner. That’s in fact what I invite you to do, even though the price of a small bar is about 50 cents more than a brand name bar.

I just want to pause and acknowledge what I just said during a recession: I want you to spend more money. This is ironic for me because I consider “ethical” or “responsible” or “conscious” consumption to be about reducing materialism not accelerating it, especially since the world is still recovering from our financial system being on the verge of ruin. Especially since our culture in particular promotes irresponsible debt and other unsustainable practices that have negatively impacted my fellow Americans. So before we go any further on sweatshops or Fair Trade fashion I want to explain where I am coming from, because I bet some of you have the same conflicts or contradictions in your life.

In my book I suggest that to be Fair Trader we have to ask ourselves some tough questions, such as:

Am I promoting materialism?
Is it responsible to encourage affluent societies that consume at an unsustainable pace to keep consuming, just in a more politically correct way?
Is it possible to translate Fair Trade shopping into values-based consumption?

Here’s how I came to answer those queries for myself. About a decade ago I was traveling around Central America and Mexico. I had gone through some tough times and was getting some space from the US trying to figure out what I believed in, what mattered. I was “taking a year off.” But in a complication I hadn’t expect, in these very poor countries I kept coming into contact with people who wanted to be part of popular American culture. Everywhere I looked: American magazines, fast food, Tommy Hilfiger, and television.

I have been in some remote places in the world, but wherever there is electricity, there is a television. Consider the implication of this. All over the world, way up high on mountain tops and down in flat rice fields, people are seeing not only our so called “reality shows”, but they are also watching our commercials. They are learning our materialism, our over-consumption. And, remember 4 billion people live on less than $4 a day, so no wonder many of them want our lifestyle. But the culture they view on television is helping create their desire too. Generally speaking, the advertising industry is trying to shape behaviors so that people don’t think carefully or intentionally.

Here’s one story that says a lot to me. At just about the time that televisions were showing up in American households, that is the early 1950s, B. Earl Puckett, chairman of the department store chain that now runs Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s said that in order to keep sales high, "it is our job to make women unhappy with what they have." (Allied Makes a Buy, Time Magazine, Posted Monday, Apr. 23, 1951) He was aiming to do that through television commercials that would create dissatisfaction with the lives women were living. And Puckett only had 3 or 4 TV channels. Which might still be what the majority of the world sees. Here in the US, now that television is almost passé, what with the advent of You Tube and smart phones, state of the art technology is being used to sell stuff.

When I was in Latin America this push to swing from extreme poverty to extreme consumption worried me and it still worries me now. I am worried, not only that the planet can’t sustain our kind of consumption spreading, but because millions of people are buying into a system that disconnects them from their individuality, separates them from their mother earth and seeks to direct their energy and their skills into purchasing power. Certainly we need to meet basic needs. But a generation after Mr. Puckett, marketers across the globe are finding the fastest, edgiest technology to tell us that once we survive we aren’t good enough, sexy enough, popular enough, and we need to buy things to fix what’s wrong. This is disconcerting to me because I believe we should have dissatisfaction, but not over the same indicators as the profiteers like Puckett.

For me, what I have come to believe is that clearly we have needs, and even wants, to be met. Trade is a fact of life, and can be a positive one at that. As interdependent creatures we can’t meet all our needs and we are forced to rely on others, to build partnerships. We have to trade. What is important is what the terms of the trade are, what the motivations for the trade are. So as a a counterpoint to Mr. Pucket, our dissatisfactions can focus on why so many workers like Kalpona face indecent conditions and grim prospects for real opportunity. We don’t have to over-consume, but in this country—even during a recession—we have a special opportunity and obligation to change the way we consume. My hope is that by supporting ethical businesses and by adopting Fair Trade principles we can change the way the world works. Maybe we can find that, when it comes down to it, what we buy does fix what’s wrong.

So, yes, I am all about creating conscious demand for products. The growing popularity of Fair Trade products—be it tea, or sugar, or even products that can’t be certified, like clothing and jewelry—is a good thing because it translates into improved living conditions for farmers and artisans. It also gives conscious consumers more and more ways to shop our values. But the growth and diversity of the movement has led to some challenges that we need to be aware of as truly conscious consumers. For example, Sweatshop-free items are sometimes called Fair Trade because of the wage and working condition concerns. However, use of the term is not entirely accurate, and there has actually been some disconnect at best, and friction at worst, between the sweat-free and Fair Trade movements.

On the one hand, unions initially were concerned that Fair Trade advocates were promoting or aiding the shift of manufacturing to overseas or offshore locations because the Fair Trade movement is primarily concerned with international trade. More recently there have been concerns about the ability of workers to organize in the context of Fair Trade. The Fair Trade model relies, for the most part, on small-scale producers working through a cooperative model. Pro-labor advocates question what such a model has to offer landless farmworkers seeking unionized employment on a banana plantation, for example. In recent years the Fair Trade certification system has expanded its reach to include manufactured products such as soccer balls and to include plantation contexts for products such as bananas. However the value chain—what it takes for a piece of clothing to be produced from a cotton field all the way to your closet--is far more complicated than that for a farm product, such as coffee. Fair Trade criteria may not be sufficient or appropriate in terms of guaranteeing worker rights and demanding corporate responsibility.

These points of divergence do not necessarily mean there is a conflict between fair traders and labor organizers but it does sometimes blur points of convergence. Together fair traders and sweat-free activists work against oversimplifying both the complex Fair Trade model and the myriad of situations that are faced by workers around the world fighting for economic justice. That’s one of the reasons why I am glad to be here tonight. It gives us a chance to consider the complexities. Let’s take a look at the myriad of situations through the example of my outfit. This will be a mini preview of tonight’s show but I’m sure not nearly as stylish.

· My earrings were handmade in Kenya. My scarf is from India. I know they are Fair Trade because I purchased them through Ten Thousand Villages, a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

· My blouse was purchased at my local thrift store. I know I am reducing consumption by reusing an item instead of expecting it to be created brand new for me in unknown conditions.

· My slacks were a Christmas gift manufactured by Eddie Bauer, which frankly hasn’t fared so well with Green America’s “Responsible Shopper” guide.

· I don’t know about my shoes and socks, to be honest, but I am wearing American Apparel underwear…you’ll have to trust me on that one.

Now the mention of American Apparel brings up another challenge. I notice they are on tonight’s list of recommended on-line sources--along with local vintage clothing stores--for responsible clothing. Fair Indigo is another company listed that I am familiar with. I’m a customer of both. I need underwear, and I also need business casual clothes like those offered by Fair Indigo. But how do I really know that they are responsibly manufactured? Neither companies are members of the Fair Trade Federation. Neither has product lines which display a certification label.

When it comes to our behaving as shoppers, I think sometimes we have to channel our inner 13 year old, put a hand on the hip and ask, “Says Who?” I’ve heard some pretty troubling things about the way the CEO of American Apparel treats his professional workers, although no one seems to dispute how he treats assembly line workers. I have had the good fortune to work a bit with the founders of Fair Indigo, and they seem like nice people. But, really, how do we know what their business practices are? We can’t personally meet every CEO can we? Do we just accept advertising and websites that profess great work? I think all of us who have ever filled up our gas tank at a BP station because of all if its green marketing and earth friendly logo might pause on that account. Yes there are groups that verify overall business practices. ILRF has a “shop with conscience” guide and there are the Green Pages of Green America. But rarely do the brands recommended--such as another personal favorite of mine, Maggie’s Organics--appear in retail stores and let’s face it, when it comes to clothing it sometimes really is important to try an item on. You and the people of Charlottesville are fortunate, because you have so many local businesses that feature previously owned attire. Tonight’s message is to support workers in the global economy by supporting business owners in the local economy. In another paradox, by decreasing the demand for “new products” you are increasing demand for ethical practices. And when you are in need of something new or a gift, you do have Fair and sweat-free options. The postcard lists being distributed by Amnesty offer some options.

My only request today is that you don’t just stop at the shopping. Get to know the companies and dig a bit into their practices if you have any doubts or concerns. It is the age of social media, so use technology (but also old-fashioned letters to ask questions and demand accountability). Put your hand on your hip, with a polite, “Says Who?” Don’t stop with your own closet though. The Sweatfree Communities movement could really use communities like Charlottesville. Initiated in Bangor, Maine, SFC.’s are efforts by citizens to insure that their tax dollars are not used to procure clothing manufactured in sweatshops for use by public servants, such as police officers and firefighters. Nine states, 40 cities, 15 counties, and 118 school districts, and one nationwide religious denomination—I believe it is the Presbyterians--have adopted “sweatfree” policies. So start in your home by supporting local businesses, then bring to bear the global resources that you have through Amnesty International and others to make sure your local and state governments fulfill their obligations to protect human rights.

Tonight, here in the USA, we have the right to assemble, the freedom to express our interests and our good fashion sense. But we also have a responsibility, to those people like Kalpona from Bangladesh. We need to stop living lives that are possible because of the exploitation of others. If we are what we wear, than let’s be sweat free and sustainable. Thank you.

Ethical Clothing in Charlottesville, VA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:08:00 +0000

When you think of Charlottesville, VA your mind may turn to Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, and other historic tourist attractions. I'm headed to that community though, to talk about a very contemporary concern for Fair Traders: the question of clothing. I've been invited by the local Amnesty International Chapter to participate in the "You are What You Wear" fashion show, Friday, June 4, 2010, 7 pm at the Live Arts Building downtown.

I'll be sharing my understanding of the garment industry through the work of my allies at Green America, Sweatfree Communities, the International Labor Rights Forum, Nueva Vida, and others. I've recently been serving, in my capacity with CRS Fair Trade, on a working group helping to shape the upcoming TransFair USA apparel pilot, and will try to bring some of the perspectives of brands, licensees, and NGOs into the mix.

The evening will end with a fashion show featuring local retailers and a discussion with local designer Rosalba Valentino. Sounds like a great way to spend a Friday night and will certainly help me learn from others on the front lines of confronting sweatshops.