Fair Trade Conference Recap

October 7, 2010 at 11:35 am lucumadesigns Leave a comment

Last month closed off on the largest fair trade conference in history… and it was a smashing success! All reports I heard were good, and I know our team came back recharged and proud to be involved in the fair trade movement. There were some lively debates and good discussions about victories and problems facing stores, suppliers, and the movement at large.

For example, one issue facing Fair Trade at large is labeling and certification. To quote the awesome Fair Trade Resource Network’s recap of the debate (from FTRN subscription email dated 10/5/2010 – join their list!):

“During a well-attended debate, titled “Value v. Volume: Different Theories of Change in Fair Trade”, two leaders of Fair Trade organizations expressed opportunities and concerns with certifications and volume. Sophie Tranchell, …suggested that major corporations can strengthen the quality of the Fairtrade mark [n.b. Fair Trade Certified label in N. America], but fair-washing is rampant. Michael Conroy…..said that certification extends confidence to audiences not trusting of Fair Trade brands. He added that he would like to distinguish between 100%ers, and companies just dabbling in Fair Trade.”

By the way, Michael… i like your idea.

In any case it was an excellent conference. I wanted to use the pictures from Flckr but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t save them to my computer (and I even had permission to use them!). So… here’s a link. Instead, here’s a picture of this cool sculpture in Chicago, which for the moment, is as close to Boston as I can get. Thanks to all who participated.