‘Let each one examine his conscience. Is he or she prepared to support out of his own pocket works and undertakings in favour of the most destitute? .... Is he or she ready to pay a higher price for imported goods so that the producer may be more justly rewarded?’Pope Paul VI
Fairtrade Fortnight 2018 runs from 26 February to 11 March and is a chance to learn about the working conditions of people who produce the commodities we often take for granted.
The theme for 2018 is ‘Come on in’, inviting people to join the Fairtrade movement and learn more about how Fairtrade impacts the lives of producer communities across the world. Through Fairtrade, millions of poor farmers and workers are already coming together to demand change. With Fairtrade’s support, they aim to stop exploitation and transform their communities.
Last October I campaigned in support of the ‘Don't Ditch Fairtrade’ campaign outside my local Sainsbury’s. This supermarket chain, the UK’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products, weakened fair trade power by replacing the Fairtrade Mark from some of their own-brand tea with a ‘Fairly Traded’ label. They decided to abandon Fairtrade and pilot their own scheme.
Tea farmers will no longer be able to decide for themselves how to spend what they earn through the Fairtrade Premium. This may mislead customers into thinking ‘Fairly Traded’ is the same as independent Fairtrade certification.
It's not.
The concern is that this new ‘Fairly Traded’ tea, and any products that follow it, could mean an unfair deal for poor farmers.
The outcome of the Brexit deal will also impact on Fairtrade. Trade rules are being rewritten and new trade deals negotiated. As well as changes in our lives, it could be make or break time for millions of farmers and workers from the world’s poorest countries who rely on trading with us.
It could be the moment the UK starts trading in a way that delivers a fair deal for everyone by creating a high standard in trade policy that tackles global poverty - or the new trade rules might drastically harm the poorest people who work hard to grow the food we take for granted.
It should disturb us to learn that most of the cacao in chocolate is picked by child slaves in the Ivory Coast or that coffee farmers are starving when millions of pounds are being spent each year on lattes and cappuccinos We have to rethink what how we buy things.
The idea that Fairtrade items cost more isn’t necessarily correct. I have often thought about putting a price comparison beside for example, coffee in our Fairtrade stall. A packet of artisan roasted fairly traded, handpicked, shade grown organic coffee is no more expensive than a similar packet of similar quality regular coffee. It is the perception not the price that appears to be the issue. If you are throwing a £1.50 bar of chocolate in your trolley at the supermarket you notice it less than if you are buying it at a church Fairtrade stall.
Fairtrade is based on cooperation and mutual benefit, and is in many ways consistent with the Catholic vision for economic activities that promote the Common Good. By purchasing Fairtrade products, we are putting the values of Catholic Social Teaching into action. Our Fairtrade purchases respect human dignity, promote economic justice and cultivate global solidarity.
Pope Francis said the global crisis ‘will not be completely over until situations and living conditions are examined in terms of the human person and human dignity’. Fair trade allows us to acknowledge the dignity of people and purchase items in mutual respect for what they have made.
‘I was hungry and you gave me food…thirsty and you gave me drink…’
To me this is God’s call to us, to take care of those in His world who have less than we do. That is why Fairtrade should matter.