ABC of Fair Trade

DeCarlo, J. (2007). Fair trade: A beginner’s guide. Oxford, England: Oneworld Publications.

What's wrong with buying regular coffee? Does Fair Trade necessarily mean ethical trade? What impact can the average consumer have on global economics? Author and activist Jacqueline DeCarlo reveals why the movement has come to mean far more than just bananas, coffee, and chocolate. Grounded in the inspiring power of Fair Trade as a positive alternative to poverty, environmental destruction, and human exploitation, this enlightening book explains how we can make a difference. Providing an accessible explanation of the principles behind the movement and tracing its development into the powerful economic and social justice tool it is today. (synopsis)

Fair or free trade -- the facts.(2000). New Internationalist, (322), 18.

Presents facts about fair trade. Association involved in the fair trade movement; List of fair trade food products; Benefits of fair trade identified by producer organization; Role of multinational corporations in fair trade; Dependence of the poorest Southern countries on age-old pattern of exporting basic raw materials to the North.

Fair trade.(2009). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1-1.

Fair trade, a trading arrangement intended to provide more equitable international trade by creating better conditions for disadvantaged or marginalized producers of goods. Fair trade practices include paying fair wages, supporting participatory workplaces and environmentally sustainable production, and developing long-term and supportive buyer-producer relationships, typically between a buyer in a developed nation who is purchasing products from a producer in a developing country. Fair trade results in a smaller margin of profit for (or the complete elimination of) the middleman, while the producer or grower of the product receives a larger portion of the product's ultimate price. The increased income producers and growers earn is intended to enable them to move from economic vulnerability to greater self-sufficiency and from powerlessness in relation to their products to greater involvement and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fair trade = fair deal.(2005). Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 66(1), P2.

As a dietitian, I find myself increasingly informing clients about the benefits of purchasing their morning coffee or satisfying their afternoon chocolate fix with Fair Trade in mind. They should know that establishments such as Starbucks and Timothy's now have Fair Trade coffee options and health food stores are offering more Fair Trade products then ever. Businesses practising Fair Trade can be identified through the Fair Trade logo displayed on their product. This logo is issued by TransFair Canada - a third-party certification body that sets Fair Trade standards and monitors producer organizations in developing countries. If clients are made aware of the significant benefits that Fair Trade brings to individual farmers and communities then the extra price seems less important. Because, in the end, are we not all looking for the same thing - a fair share? * By purchasing directly from farmers, the Fair Trade premium is significantly higher than the world market price and is also a stable price. This allows farmers to afford basic costs of living such as food, health and education. Currently the world market price for coffee is 50 to 80 cents U.S. per pound (growers often receive less than this), whereas the stable Fair Trade price for coffee is $1.21 per pound for non-organic and $1.41 U.S. per pound for organically grown coffee.

Fridell Gavin. (c2007.). Fair trade coffee: The prospects and pitfalls of market-driven social justice. University of Toronto Press. 336p.

Addressing this omission, Gavin Fridell argues that while local level analysis is important, examining the impacts of broader structures on fair trade coffee networks, and vice versa, are of equal if not greater significance in determining its long-term developmental potential. Using fair trade groups in Mexico and Canada as case studies, Fridell examines fair trade coffee at both the global and local level, assessing it as a development project and locating it within political and development theory. In addition, Fridell provides in-depth historical analysis of fair trade coffee in the context of global trade, and compares it to a variety of post-war development projects within the coffee industry.
Timely, meticulously researched, and engaging, this study challenges many commonly held assumptions about the long-term prospects and pitfalls of the fair trade network's market-driven strategy in the era of globalization. (synopsis)

Fridell, G. (2004). The fair trade network in historical perspective. Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue Canadienne d'Etudes Du Developpement, 25(3), 411-428.

This paper examines the fair trade network within the context of the post-war international development regime. In recent years, sales of fair trade goods -- both commodities & handicrafts -- have grown substantially in Europe & North America, & the fair trade network has been relatively successful at gaining the support of public institutions, international financial institutions, & transnational corporations. This paper argues that this success, when viewed historically, can only be properly understood as the flip side of the defeat of the broader fair trade movement that sought international market regulation & strong state intervention & is in fact indicative of the current triumph of neoliberal globalization. 40 References. Adapted from the source document.

Fridell, G. (2006). Fair trade in an unfair world? The prospects and limitations of social justice coffee, south and north. ProQuest Information and Learning, Ann Arbor MI). Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 67 (01), 319-319. (AAT NR11572 ; Degree: PhD Thesis publ. date: 2005; Pages: 423)

This study examines the developmental potential of the fair trade coffee network by situating it within the broader historical and political economic context of international capitalism, the post-1945 statist trade and development regime, and the emergence of neoliberal globalization. The benefits and limitations of fair trade are assessed in comparison to previous attempts to address underdevelopment and 'unequal exchange' in the South. […] It is concluded that the network has the ability to provide important developmental benefits to its members, but the long term impact of these gains and the ability to broaden them are significantly limited by the imperatives of global capitalism. While providing an important social justice critique of a neoliberal 'moral economy,' the network ultimately lacks the broader and more universal reach of the statist development projects pursued in the past. (Fridell, 20006)

Hughes, M. (2008). Fair trade: What's behind the label? International Trade Forum, (1/2), 42.

In an interview, Rob Cameron, CEO of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), talked about the difference between Fairtrade and fair trade. 'Fairtrade', according to Cameron, specifically describes the certification and labeling system governed by Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). The broader term fair trade refers to the movement as a whole and encompasses other fair trade organizations. While the prospect of recession and increasing prices of staple foods has attracted extensive media coverage over the last nine months, Fairtrade sales have continued to grow in their biggest markets. A unique feature of Fairtrade is its focus on development; the certification system is specifically designed to facilitate capacity building and empowerment of smallholder producers and disadvantaged workers in developing countries. The growth of Fairtrade in recent years means that they can now make a step change in the impact of their work, and create and sustain enduring change in the way trade is conducted. (Hughes, 2008)

Available online: http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-10550216/Fair-trade-what-s-behind.html

Hulm, P. (2006). Fair trade as a business model. International Trade Forum, (2), 20.

In an interview, Paola Ghillani, former head of the Max Havelaar fair trade organization in Switzerland, discussed fair trade as a business model. Ghillani knew that she did not buy fair trade goods herself out of a sense of charity, but because they represented value for money to her. They found a market among people who wanted to buy fresh products and fruit they could safely give to their children. That is how they achieved the target of making Max Havelaar Switzerland self-financing within 18 months. Fair trade means paying producers enough to cover the cost of sustainable production plus the value of their work to enable them to develop themselves, their families and their communities.

Available online: http://www.tradeforum.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/1025/Fair_Trade_as_a_Business_Model.html

Hulm, P., Kasterine, A., & Browne, S. (2006). Fair trade. International Trade Forum, (2), 15.

Fair trade in international commerce has two distinct meanings. In trade negotiations, the term is used broadly to argue that subsidies and disguised barriers skew the global trade system against developing countries and commodity producers. Fair trade often pays the producers one-quarter to one-third more than they can get on the open market. But only Fairtrade-labelled products -- that is, those certified by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International -- imply agreement on a minimum price. Fair trade labeling initiatives are under way in 15 European countries, while fair trade producers are organized into some 3,000 grass-roots organizations, with umbrella structures present in over 50 developing countries. Apart from coffee, bananas and some other fruits and vegetables, fair trade producers also include artisanal goods. Fair trade organizations use five tools to contribute to development. These are: 1. price premiums, 2. certification and labeling, 3. microcredit, 4. technical support, and 5. advocacy.

Levi, M., & Linton, A. (2003). Fair trade: A cup at a time? Politics & Society, 31(3), 407.

Fair Trade coffee campaigns have improved the lives of small-scale coffee farmers and their families by raising wages, creating direct trade links to farming cooperatives, and providing access to affordable credit and technological assistance. Consumer demand for Fair Trade certified coffee is at an all-time high, yet cooperatives that produce it are only able to sell about half of their crops at the established fair trade price. This article explores the reasons behind this gap between supply and demand and suggests ways to close it. The authors also offer some perspective on the limits of ethical consumption campaigns such as Fair Trade coffee. (abstract from the authors)

Ransom, D. (2001.). The no-nonsense guide to fair trade. Verso. 144p.

The uproar at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle focused attention on the conflict between the mainly western-owned global corporations and the poorer nations whose natural resources and cheap manpower sustain corporate profits, and who are also the unwilling purchasers of overpriced and inappropriate goods. In this book David Ransom vividly reveals the realities of trade as experienced by coffee-growers in Central America or the workers making jeans in Bangladesh sweatshops. He examines the roles played by the WTO, UNCTAD, ILO, IMF, G7, and other powerful organizations hiding behind bland initials. Even when their motives are benevolent, he argues, their activities are often inadequate and misguided. Concise, comprehensive, and affordable, the No Nonsense Guides will be of interest to busy people, from school age on, who want to know how the world works. (Synopsis)

Ransom, D. (2000). Fair trade - small change, big difference. New Internationalist, (322), 9.

Examines the impact of fair trade on the gap between the rich and poor consumers. Process by which fair trade works; Effect of market forces on the social responsibility of companies; Compromise made by fair traders to survive in and against the capitalist market; Responsibilities of fair trade; Influence on the public issues of democratic accountability.

Available online: http://www.newint.org/issue322/keynote.htm

Renard, M. (2003). Fair trade: Quality, market and conventions. Journal of Rural Studies, 19(1), 87-96.

This article analyzes Fair Trade (FT), its evolution, & the challenges it faces in light of the convention theory & its application to the ambit of agrofood. Focus is on the relations between the producers of the South & the consumers of the North. The article reviews the different meanings & models of what has come to be called FT, since its beginning as an alternative trade, considered as the prototype of a "civic coordination," to its insertion into the large distribution channels through the labeling strategy, ie, when it is reinforced by "market coordination." It discusses the possibility of FT being reabsorbed by the market logic & captured by the dominant actors of the food system who, attracted by its success, have already adopted strategies to win the promising niche market for themselves, while producers preoccupied with the struggle for survival & looking for the possibility of increasing sales volumes, strive to move beyond the limits of marginal distribution circuits & enter the market full steam.