Fair Trade Helps

A banana update

Hi dear readers!

So today’s post is one on the “i’m sending you to a link to read an article” post.  Meaning, there’s not much substantial here, but that’s to save you time so you can read all the substantial stuff HERE.

Of late, coffee has been the big to-do in the fair trade commodities world.  But pressingly, bananas are coming to the forefront.  And they should! They are the second biggest commodity produce crop.

The gist of the article is to show you what is going on in agriculture specifically with bananas in St. Vincent (ie Free trade vs Fair trade, the importance of the banana trade on St. Vincent, the liberalization of (banana) trade, and how fair trade is affecting (banana) trade).  But I encourage you to read the article/reasearch not only for St. Vincent but with the thought that the idea carries over into other crops, products  and areas of the world.    Fair Trade is important to farmers and producers because it brings some freedom to the world’s poor. It empowers them.  For example, Anna Torgerson says, “Of the farmers I spoke with, several stressed that the fair trade social premium goes toward helping their children and future generations.”

Although fair trade is most commonly associated with minimum prices, the system also  prioritizes the subsistence of small-scale producer communities.  That is what working for the poor should look like.  We buy, trade, and sell things with the intent of getting a fair deal without giving someone else a bad deal. So read on, and keep an open mind.

And, in case you were wondering what inspired today’s post – it was me cutting down banana’s from the banana tree!  Who knew that bunch would be over 20lbs!  It’s hard work taking care of all those bananas!  But now…. i get to eat them.

And just to leave you with a little something for Mother’s day, check out this great recipe for Banana and Coconut French Toast, from Treehugger.com! Just perfect for mom this Mother’s day!

Top them it with some warm fruit or maple syrup (or both) and remember, you can get Fair Trade bananas, coconut oil, and even some of the spices!

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 cup coconut milk (or almond milk if you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 loaf bread
• Coconut oil (optional)

1. Place all ingredients, well except for the bread, into a food processor or blender. Blend well.

2. Pour the batter into shallow bowl and let chill in the refrigerator.

3. Cut the bread into thick slices.

4. Heat a pan or griddle over a medium-high heat and brush it with the coconut oil. If you don’t have coconut oil you can use any basic cooking oil. Please don’t use olive oil as it will give the toast a funky taste.

5. Individually dip each bread slice into the batter so that the bread is fully coated.

6. Place the bread slices onto the griddle and cook until golden brown on each side. Top as desired and enjoy!

May 2, 2012 at 12:48 pm lucumadesigns 3 comments

Where Fair Trade and Free Trade Collide

You you may notice that the title of this post is a little odd.  The ideas don’t seem to go hand in hand.  BUT, they do in some ways.  The post is prompted by a lively  comment sent to our site which i have purposely not published due to the language.  But, it goes something like this:   “Forget fair trade.  Free Trade is the way to go.”

Now I could be wrong, but I understand them to mean something in the line of, ” Free trade is what makes the world go round. It’s what keeps economies running. It’s what keeps people employed. Its what gets us so many products – so cheaply.”

There’s a lot of truth in that.  Free trade is a standard, and it currently fuels much of the products we buy.  Free trade, as explained by wikipedia, “is a policy by which a government does not discriminate against imports or interfere with exports by applying tariffs (to imports) or subsidies (to exports). ”  This in essence allows countries to compete in markets because their labor or resources are cheaper than in other countries.  It is supposed to be a mutually beneficial policy, where both countries benefit from selling and then from buying at better prices.

It makes sense, this mutually beneficial relationship.  But what if the cost was so that mutually-beneficial labor looked like this:

What would you do?

My guess is that you’d want to help these people.  That you might even reach into your pocket and give them money  or buy them food. You might try to find them another job or adopt them. But you most likely wouldn’t knowingly buy that cheap thing without thinking  of him or her.  AND I’d also guess that if the price of that thing raised $1 and you knew it was helping that person,  you would still reach for that product even though it may now cost $.80 more than the other ‘cheapo” thing.

Am I right?

The thing is that free trade and fair trade work together in a sense.  It is because to a large extent people CHOOSE FREELY how to spend their money that the business economic choices are often made.  As long as know one cares about factory abuse because it makes products cheaper, there’s a good shot that abuse will keep happening.  Free trade at it’s worst says “we make this as economically as possible, regardless of the human/social/sustainability costs.”  Fair trade at its worst says “we make this product at a sustainable price, and we never put money over people.”

On the wholesaler end, I can say that sometimes we can’t make the product we want because of the price it will have to retail for.  That’s when we improvise.  We may change a design, change a part, or create a new product.  Because the people come first.

So when you think of free trade vs fair trade, recognize that not all free trade is bad, and it’s not all good.  Fair trade combines this idea of allowing markets to compete with assurance of ‘mutual gain’.   It is your CHOICE that shifts how things are made.  If we don’t put up with bad labor practices and all the business goes to companies who treat people well, you can bet that some things will start to change.

And, since I can’t leave you with such sad pictures, here’s a precious one from China Philanthropy.

Cheers!

Liz

And a few other resources:

The Polaris Project , Human Rights First, The Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Resource Network, and there’s tons of others!

April 16, 2012 at 5:02 pm lucumadesigns Leave a comment