From
March 2012 edition of Fair
Trade Movement Newsletter
February
29, 2012
On February 14, FTRN
produced Webinar 121: "Should Hired Labor Plantations Be Included in Fair
Trade?". The 2 panelists were Ed Canty, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters,
Fair Trade Organic Coffee Buyer; and Rodney North, Equal Exchange, The Answer
Man - Information for the Public & Media. You can download the 50-min
recording of webinar 121, or register for upcoming webinars, at FTRN webinars
A
few of the speakers' main points from the webinar include comments below.
Ed:
We
support FTUSA efforts to innovate; including more producers in the model AND
strengthening current FT groups.
We
believe there is much to learn from FTUSA's Pilot programs.
There
is a need. Migrant workers without land are quite needy, but is it appropriate
that Fair Trade address them?
Bringing
more groups into Fair Trade system could add traceability and accountability to
an already competitive market.
We
have much to learn from pilot data.
GMCR
is looking for opportunities to work with FT Estate Pilots (Will not sell their
coffee as FT).
Key
question is really "What would hired labor plantations (Estates) need to
do to be included in Fair Trade?" I don't know if estates should be
included or not, but pilots will help us determine how to best help such workers.
Rodney:
Equal
Exchange works in many commodities, like tea, bananas & sugar, where Fair
Trade has included plantations, and that experience has proven that Fair Trade
should not include plantations.
Fair
Trade, as intellectual property, really belongs to small farmer coops who
helped create the Fair Trade system in the 80s. Nobody else should change it.
Fair Trade should be
transformative & capacity building. We have seen that with coops, but even
well-run plantations aren't either one.
Uniquely Fair Trade
does (or should) address imbalances of power - let's not lose that.
Fair Trade is to
change what is wrong with trade and farming - not just dull the edge. Not just
to raise wages, build better housing, etc.
Read more highlights