April » 2009 » Fair Trade Boston

Fair Trade Boston presents Maeve and EE coffee this Saturday!!!

This SATURDAY, May 2, Boston Faith & Justice Network will be presenting Gratitude and Celebration, a third in the series of the Gratitude Economy. All three events are meant to stimulate our imaginations about the structure of the economy along with our own economic decisions are through the lens of gratitude rather than fear. The Fair Trade Boston team started these series in September and now they’re celebrating all the progress that has come about toward making Greater Boston a Fair Trade Community!!!

Playing at this event will be special guest Maeve, a new inspiring band that has recently played at local venues like the Somerville Theater. Club Passim (Cambridge, MA) describes them in the following manner, “Acoustic pop with Gospel overtones, Maeve is a fresh new trio with an adult contemporary vibe. Harmony focused and lush, Maeve is rapidly winning converts on the Boston circuit.”

Come enjoy the show, drink FREE Equal Exchange fair trade coffee and treats, and see all the changes the Fair Trade Teams have helped to make happen so far!

Details of the event:

When: May 2, 2009, 7:30pm
Where: University Lutheran Church
66 Winthrop Street
Cambridge, MA

Fair Trade Certified: What does it all mean?

With the growing presence of Fair Trade products in our marketplace, we’re sure you’ve seen the above symbols and have probably had more than one question on what it all means. If you don’t work in the Fair Trade industry, it does get a bit confusing. What does Fair Trade certified even mean? How does it relate to sweatshops? What logo should I be looking for so I can make sure I’m making the correct Fair Trade purchases? As a leader and pioneer in the Fair Trade fashion movement, we hope this post will help clarify the process of Fair Trade certification.

The concept of Fair Trade has existed since the early 1950′s when non-profit organizations first began importing products from small-scale third world producers. Over the years, as the movement grew and more and more entities were participating in this alternative form of trading, there became a need to create a structure and definition for Fair Trade to not only certify the participating producers but also to help promote the concept of Fair Trade and expand distribution to mainstream retailers.

So, what is Fair Trade? The most widely recognized definition of Fair Trade was created by an informal association of Fair Trade federations (we introduce you to a few of these groups further along in the post). Their definition reads:

“Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair Trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. Fair Trade’s strategic intent is:

*deliberately to work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency
*to empower producers and workers as stakeholders in their own organizations
*to actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade.”

Many Fair Trade retailers, such as ourselves, take this definition even further by taking steps to ensure that our Fair Trade workers are being paid a living wage, are not held or forced to work overtime, are subject to a safe and healthy working environment, do not employ child labor, and are actively involved in wider community initiatives such as building a village health clinic or our 2007 water access program.

In order to ensure that companies, organizations, and products are in fact following the standards of Fair Trade and that the suppliers and the environment are being treated fairly, these Fair Trade federations have created a number of certification processes and easily-recognizable logos for consumers to use as a purchasing guide. The federations, both national and international, not only encourage companies to employ Fair Trade practices, but they monitor and certify these practices as meeting the international standards. This process helps keep the market pure; protects workers down the supply chain; and makes it easier for consumers to be sure they are receiving legitimate Fair Trade products and are supporting authentic organizations.

With so many associations, though, it can get confusing who certifies what, and how to know if something is actually certified Fair Trade. Below is a brief explanation of some of the symbols and organizations you may come across while inspecting a product label:

Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (or FLO) is an international federation of organizations, traders, and experts that not only historically set the standard of Fair Trade practices, but also continue to certify and offer support to the widest array of Fair Trade producers. The certification process is done by FLO-CERT GmbH, an independent auditing company based out of Germany that conducts product certifications in seventy countries worldwide.

FLO’s certifications are distinct from other federations because it guarantees that a premium be paid to the producer groups that extends well beyond the conventional ‘fair price’. They also encourage buyers to invest in social and environmental improvements for the producer groups that not only embellishes the economic transaction of doing business, but helps create lasting long-term relationships. FLO also certifies the most products and steadily increases their product list every year in order to ensure the future of Fair Trade. FLO’s certified products include honey, cotton, wine, sports balls, fruit, and flowers, as well as more widely-recognized Fair Trade products such as coffee, tea and cocoa. We believe that FLO’s certifications are top notch and amongst the best out of all the federations available to Fair Trade retailers. Our fairly traded Ethletic sneakers are produced by a facility that is monitored by FLO. To identify FLO products, make sure to look for their logo and check out their chock-full-of-good-info website www.fairtrade.net.

TransFair is one of the 20 member organizations of FLO and is the primary operating Fair Trade entity here in the US. They also have chapters in Canada and a few other countries that all call FLO their parent organization. You most likely have seen TransFair’s symbol associated with Fair Trade as it is very commonly used to certify products gracing American supermarket shelves:

While TransFair’s efforts are extremely notable, they are much more limited in resources than FLO, and are thus only able to certify a handful of agricultural products such as coffee, tea, rice, sugar and vanilla.

Another organization which you may have heard tossed around is the Fair Trade Federation (or FTF). FTF is a member-based association of US and Canadian importers, wholesalers, and retailers that work with or carry Fair Trade items. Not only does it provide a network for these companies to link with Fair Trade producers, but it also promotes Fair Trade standards and practices throughout North America. Also, FTF is a great place for consumers to find general information about Fair Trade and local companies and businesses that sell and work with fair trade products. It’s important to note, though, that while FTF has a very rigid member screening policy, it is not a certifying entity. So when you see this logo, you know that the organization is only a member of FTF and is not necessarily promoting certified products:

Finally, you may have heard the term IFAT or International Fair Trade Association while learning about Fair Trade. With regional offices for Africa, Asia and Latin America, IFAT is like an international version of FTF: a member-based organization whose work is focused on developing the market for Fair Trade products and advocacy. Even though it is technically not a certification system, IFAT guarantees that the organizations it approves meet worldwide Fair Trade standards such as working conditions, wages, and the environment. IFAT’s identifying symbol is probably less seen in this country than any of the above organizations, but is still good to familiarize yourself with:

This explanation and list of Fair Trade federations is certainly not exhaustive and we encourage you to research Fair Trade much more extensively on your own. Even if you don’t, we hope you found this introduction useful and that you will continue to look for and support FAIR TRADE!

Equal Exchange coming to Fair Trade Boston 2009!!!

Equal Exchange is now officially a sponsor of Fair Trade Boston 2009, so they’ll be hosting a mini-café where they will serve brewed coffee and have a nice place for people to sit, relax and enjoy themselves. They’ll also be giving out free samples of coffee and chocolate! Judging by the Equal Exchange cafe that was recently opened right next to North Station in Boston, I’m sure EE will bring their vibrancy and energy and add to the rest of the excitement at Fair Trade Boston 2009.

A little background on Equal Exchange… It all started with three men, Rink Dickinson, Jonathan Rosenthal (who will actually be speaking at Fair Trade Boston 2009!!!) and Michael Rozyne, coming together about 20 years agao and challenging the system of trade. They asked questions like, “How can we trade food so that both consumers and farmers are treated fairly? What needs to be changed so that families of farmers get an education and aren’t just barely surviving?”

Thus, in 1986, the three founders started out with coffee, trading fairly with farmers in Nicaragua. Today, EE has cooperatives in Latin America, Africa, India, Asia and has added tea, chocolate and cocoa to its line of products. Their mission today states, “To build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate, through our success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.”

Reading about EE’s story, I was so impressed by the dedication and risks involved in starting a completely new way of looking at trade. All three men quit their jobs and invested a ton of money into this new, never done before business. Look at them now and how far they’ve come! I think it’s so exciting that we get to experience a taste of something that may linger in the mouth for only a few seconds but carries on with it years and years of history, challenges, and success!

As I was learning more about EE’s website (http://www.equalexchange.coop/), I found that they even have a “Recipe” section! I would really advise you to check it out and even try making a recipe. My two favorites were the Chocolate Croissant Pancakes and the Hazelnut Coffee Brownies (obviously?!! It’s all about the chocolate ), using Equal Exchange Organic Baking Cocoa and Equal Exchange Chocolate.

Lastly, to add to all the excitement at Equal Exchange and in the fair trade industy, I was very pleased to see the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, at the ribbon-cutting event of Equal Exchange about two weeks ago. I posted a few pics from that day below.

To say the least, it’s been incredibly exciting to learn more about the Fair Trade industy through the eyes of Equal Exchange. Sooooo excited to have them at Fair Trade Boston 2009!!!!

Is Fair Trade Really Fair?

As we approach World Fair Trade Day 2009 (May 9th), there is a lot to celebrate this year. Despite economic downturn, countries like the UK were able to produce Fair Trade sales up to 1 billion dollars! More celebrities, such as Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, started speaking up about Fair Trade, and drawing more attention to this movement through their popularity. According to the Fair Trade Labelling Organization International (FLO), consumers around the world spent more than $3 billion on Fair Trade certified items in 2007, a whopping increase of 47% from the previous year! An increasing amount of diverse products are also entering the Fair Trade market, thus expanding consumers’ options from the traditionally known Fair Trade items such as crafts, coffee, and chocolate to include fruits, wine, flowers and even soccer balls and shoes. This means, that now over 1.5 million producers and workers in approximately 58 developing countries can benefit from increased business due to Fair Trade sales.

It’s been commonly understood that Fair Trade is a preferable, more moral way of conducting business than the conventional ‘top down’ approach of major, multi-national corporations in which sweatshops tend to thrive and the workers on the lowest levels are squeezed. The underlying principles of Fair Trade are to deliver more than just a financial package to the workers, in order to not only guarantee that they are paid a fair rate/wage but also to create a system in which a long-term, sustainable relationship is developed between the buyer and third world producers that will ultimately empower these workers and their community to thrive and succeed in the global marketplace.

In recent months, however, some organizations have doubted the true benefit of Fair Trade and have started to question the validity and impact of the movement. On February 25, Britain’s economic think tank The Adam Smith Institute, a self-proclaimed leading innovator of free-market economic and social policies, published a report by Marc Sidwell entitled “Unfair Trade”. Mr. Sidwell argues that Fair Trade is actually anything but fair and while Fair Trade and its supporters may have positive intentions, it actually does more harm than good.

Sidwell writes that Fair Trade distorts local markets by fixing a high price of goods for only a small percentage of producers (thus hurting the majority of the other farmers producing the same goods at lower costs who are allegedly excluded from Fair Trade business practices). He also argues that Fair Trade is “irrelevant” to large scale poverty relief and does not aid economic development properly, rather it prevents the poor from gaining the proper tools to successfully improve their financial outlook. He goes on to claim that Fair Trade actually prevents farmers from advancing their technologies and efficiencies and the opportunity for diversification, and are thus actually stuck in an unsustainable practice.

Sidwell furthermore asserts that Fair Trade is merely a marketing scheme that rewards inefficient farmers who produce poor quality goods, thus also being unfair to the consumer who allegedly has a wealth of ethical purchasing options available to them without even knowing it due to the overwhelming monopoly of Fair Trade certified goods.

As would be expected, the release of this report caused a backlash of responses from the Fair Trade community and ethical bloggers alike, including a lengthy, evidence-driven press release from The Fairtrade Foundation attempting to discredit Sidwell’s arguments. They angrily write, “Two billion people work extremely hard to earn a living but still earn less than $2 per day and the FAIRTRADE Mark enables consumers to choose products that help address this injustice. As no-one is forced to join a fair trade producer organisation, or to buy Fairtrade products, you would think that free market economists like the Adam Smith Institute would be pleased at the way the public has taken our voluntary label to its heart…”

So how is Fair Trade really affecting the workers of the world and is its global impact truly innovative and revolutionary, or merely smoke and mirrors as Mr. Sidwell points out?

After spending 17 solid pages tearing the Fair Trade mission into pieces, Sidwell’s only suggestion for a viable alternative is to follow the global path of Free Trade. He uses China and India as two examples of how Free Trade has lifted traditionally poverty-stricken countries into more solid financial positions where they very recently have been successfully lobbying for global economic leadership positions. While Sidwell’s examples may offer some element of truth, it certainly does not account for the long list of human rights abuses and exploits both countries have added to their economic repertoires.

With a debate like this, we have to stop and ask ourselves…is the explosive growth of China and India truly having a proper ‘trickle down’ effect? That is, are the workers of the world, the people at the lowest level, the people that bear the grunt of globalization on their backs really feeling any kind of financial relief or reward from the macro economic improvements of their nations? And what about the workers living in countries that are not advantageously growing with globalization, such as Peru, Argentina, Ethiopia, Haiti…the list goes on? Do they have no opportunity for growth…or can the Fair Trade market act as an outlet for these workers to exit the fringes and become active players in the global marketplace? Perhaps what the world needs is a harmonious balance between Free and Fair Trade in which poor nations on a macro level and lower class workers on a micro level can all flourish together. After all, with a happy, healthy workforce comes increased loyalty, ownership and productivity which ultimately trickles up to the overall economic growth of the nation as a whole.

Regardless of anyone’s argument, I can tell you that after personally experiencing close contact with real people in the developing world, doing business under Fair Trade principles is a rewarding and effective method of trade. It provides wonderful opportunity to meet, get to know, and partner directly with the people that are actually making our products. I see firsthand how our business effects and improves their lives, the lives of their families and their community. And I hear the passion, excitement and pride in their voices when they receive a new order. Maybe I missed something…but to us, this is what Fair Trade is all about.

Mayor Menino at Equal Exchange Cafe!!!

This Thursday, April 9, from 12 to 1, Equal Exchange cafe will hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the cafe this year!!! About a month ago, I stopped by Equal Exchange cafe and bought myself a small coffee and a blueberry muffin while using FREE internet!!! However, if you’re not in the mood for coffee, they also serve Fair Trade teas and chocolate and have a wide variety of pastries and sandwiches. The best part about their service is you know exactly where all their food comes from and there’s a story behind every cup of coffee you sip! For example, their Nicaraguan blend represents the first coffee that EE started serving, when they partnered up with farmers in 1986. They have the coolest atmosphere because everything is so colorful and bright and their servers are super friendly. Equal Exchange cafe is conveniently located directly across North Station in Boston on 226 Causeway St., Boston, so it’s easy to get to even if you’re coming on a commuter rail (which is my life story!).

This Thursday special guest, Mayor Thomas M. Menino, will be at EE cafe to celebrate the ribbon cutting with other Bostonians. Musical performances will be put on by Rob Everts and Virginia Berman. Come and experience a fun community, while sipping on delicious fair traded coffee, being entertained by musicians and mingling with fellow Bostonians AND your own MAYOR! For more information on the event, you can visit Equal Exchange’s website http://www.e qualexchange.coop/ and click under “What’s New.”

Why I started interning for Fair Trade Boston 2009

How do people end up doing the things they do? I’m a Senior at Gordon College, studying Psychology and Business Administration. Since January, I’ve been working at the Boston Faith and Justice Network as the Advertising and PR intern for Fair Trade Day Boston 2009. However, how I got to this point is a different story…

If you’ve experienced going to a liberal arts college, you’ve been presented with the option of pursuing basically ANYTHING! Although it seems pretty liberating having an array of majors and minors to choose from, it’s a daunting experience to have to finally settle on one specific interest. Thus, it’s been interesting tracing back the past four years and seeing where I’ve ended up and why.

The summer before my Junior year I interned at a Psych ward and in the Human Resource department of OBI (a German Franchising company), trying to get a feel for both my areas of interest and where I fit in best. Later on that year, I spent a semester in South Africa and taught workshops to women, who had been in destitute or abused situations. None of the places I interned or volunteered at were that similar and thus, approaching my Senior year, I was still thinking to myself, “What in the WORLD am I going to do or pursue next?” Luckily, I didn’t just stop there and kept moving forward, taking new classes and constantly trying to pay extra attention to things that caught my attention with excitement and passion. Early in the semester, I discovered my latent fascination for marketing and advertising, so I decided that my next internship would be in that field. During the same time, I had gotten really interested in the Fair Trade movement and the topic seemed to come up amongst friends and speakers. Was it just another transient appeal, like diets and exercising tend to be, or was it really my next step to a different lifestyle?

I decided to put two and two together and started relentlessly searching for internships at Fair Trade companies and kept being directed to the BFJN. Driving somewhere in Florida during my Christmas break, I finally got in touch with the director at the BFJN. After getting off the phone with Rachel Anderson, I thought to myself, “I just secured my internship working for the largest Fair Trade Day in Boston! Who knew!???”

What I love about my internship (besides being able to work with amazing people!) is that the advertising and PR that I do isn’t just about promoting whatever product or event. It’s about something I believe in and am passionate about! It’s about letting people know about a completely different lifestyle they can lead, while at the same time helping people obtain a better education and a salary to support their families.
So, how do people end up doing the things they do? It blows my mind…