(Originaly published at Green Options)

Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, annouced that they have converted their “private label Member’s Mark premium ground coffee” to Fair Trade Certified. The process from bean begins with 3678 small scale, independent farmers who then sell their beans to “democratically-run cooperatives for a set, guaranteed minimum price.” This pool of beans from thousands of independent farmers is what composes the Member’s Mark brand. In conjunction with this announcement, Sam’s Club is offering a grant for teachers and students to spend one week studying the Fair Trade process of their coffee in Brazil. While this is not the first Fair Trade brand offered in either Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club, it is significant as it is a bulk ground coffee targeted towards mainstream shoppers.This new move is a mixed blessing and hits upon one of the main points of contention within the Fair Trade movement. Fair Trade has moved into mainstream and is appearing everywhere from McDonalds to Dunkin’ Donuts to Wal-Mart. Any and all exposure of Fair Trade and it’s ideals to consumers is beneficial. And a larger market translates to more sales for producers and their communities.

However, as Fair Trade is embraced by large corporations with questionable ethics, so too is the potential to for exploitation and weakening of Fair Trade. Similar to companies that “greenwash,” to bolster their environmental credit, there are companies which seek to cash in on the feel-good PR Fair Trade offers, without making a true commitment to the ideals and meaning of the movement. One such gap between company marketing and ethical behavior occurred when Nestle released its Fair Trade coffee in 2005. Nestle has been at the center of ethical controversy for over twenty years, with boycotts for their “aggressive and irresponsible promotion of infant formula,” and for contributing to child abuse and torture within the cocoa industry, including large distribution from the Cote d’Ivoire. There was much critism of Nestle’s Fair Trade coffee and following it’s release, they were reported to the UK Advertising Standards Authority for a misleading and dishonest advertisement.

“Nestlé’s advertisement and website for its Fairtrade product imply it will have a significant impact on farmers in El Salvador and that the company’s activities in the coffee industry are ethical. The truth is only about 200 farmers in El Salvador supply coffee for Partners’ Blend and over 3 million farmers globally who are dependent on Nestlé remain outside the Fairtrade system. Nestlé is held partly responsible for forcing down prices paid to suppliers, driving many into poverty, while its own profits have soared. Recently I interviewed a researcher from Colombia who told me 150,000 coffee farming families have lost their livelihoods due to Nestlé policies.”

There is also confusion relating to the different Fair Trade labels and what they mean, and, unfortunately, companies are happy to prey upon this confusion. The Fair Trade Certified Mark means that particular product was certified. In most food products, this means it is certified at the beginning point such as farming and harvesting, but not always beyond this point. This creates opportunity for corruption at subsequent points along the way, such as with the problems with Fair Trade bananas and the exploitation of banana ripeners. Such inconsistencies occur when a company wishes to use Fair Trade, rather than commit to it.

Then what is the solution? Should Fair Trade be confined to its current size and guarded from the large corporate giants? I don’t believe this is the solution. I believe the growth of Fair Trade, when true and committed, should be an important goal. Fair Trade is not a premium brand label, but a different approach to our entire concept of trade. The Fair Trade movement is based upon a fair and just interaction between the consumer and the producer. If the vessel for this interaction is corrupted or dishonest, then it is upon our shoulders as consumers to correct or discard the vessel for one that is more trustworthy. The fact that Fair Trade is entering large corporate retailers is not necessarily a reflection of their goodwill, and it is important to remember this. The mainstreaming of Fair Trade is, however, a reflection of our growing desire to consume ethically and responsibly and it is upon this foundation that we should build the movement and hold all participants accountable. So it is with skeptical optimism that I welcome this Fair Trade expansion, and a hope that the company will commit to the true Fair Trade and an acceptance of responsibility to ensure they do.

One of the most important goals at Two Hands Worldshop is to bring back the human aspect of trade. Our consumerism has successfully removed all elements of the person behind the products we purchase. It is the dismemberment that allows people to support such human rights violations as slavery, child labor, and deathly working conditions. We have rid ourselves of such atrocities (mostly) close to home, as we were directly confronted by what our actions did to others. Yet somehow the people behind international production are drowned as their products cross the ocean to our eager hands. The right choice should be the easy choice, yet our current market is topsy-turvy, which is why these next few ideas have the possibility to revolutionize how we shop, and through that how we interact with our shared world.

Fair Tracing, which aims to “support Ethical Trade by implementing IT Tracking and Tracing Technologies in supply chains to provide consumers and producers with enhanced information.” Developed as an extension of the Fair Trade movement, they are working towards technology that “enables each individual product to be both given a unique identity and tracked throughout the value chain from producer to consumer.” All information, from the producers working conditions and pay to packaging to transportation, will be available at the point of sale, eliminating a consumers need to delve into extensive research before shopping. This information will create not only an opportunity for consumer to purchase products which reflect their personal values, but create a competitive market in which companies are not trying to simply make the most money but rather are forced to adhere to their consumers values and beliefs.

In sum, just as Fair Trade works on different levels, so too will Fair Tracing. It will (1) give producers a better overview of the value chain and price structures along it and valuable market information; (2) empower consumers by allowing them to trace the product’s origin and value chain on which they can base their ethical choice when shopping; (3) allow Fair Trade companies to demonstrate how to do business differently/they can prove the technical feasibility of tracing and demonstrate that these devices can be used not just for companies to gather information about consumers, but for consumers to scrutinize companies; (4) be used as an exciting new campaign tool to be used to lobby for a different kind of globalisation; and (5) offer an innovative idea to retail companies interested in improving their ethical sourcing and corporate responsibility guidelines.

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It is no secret that fair trade has burst into the mainstream over the past five years. The fair trade movement has its roots in consumer activism dating back to the 1960’s in Eurpoe and North America but it is the dramatic growth of fair trade sales in the past five years that has brought the movement to the attention of a broader audience. The numbers are impressive.
Sales of fair trade certified food in Britain alone reached more than $500 million last year, up 46 percent from the previous year.

Some grocers in Britain are going 100% fair trade whenever possible in response to the increased demand and this move has only helped to drive even more demand. Britain and Europe have historically led the way in conscious consumption but the US has always followed closely behind. John Mackey, CEO of US based grocer Whole Foods, announced last month that the progressive grocery stores will be offering increasingly more fairly traded produce. The announcement came at a sold-out discussion between author and food activist Michael Pollan and John Mackey at UC Berkeley (you can watch it online here).

Companies like Whole Foods are helping drive an impressive and sustained increase of fair trade sales in North America. Overall fair trade sales, including handcrafts as well as foods, coffee and tea, grew at an annual rate of 48% (pdf) from 2000-2005. Europe saw a 38% increase (pdf) from 2004-2005 in overall fair trade sales.

All of this, the steady growth of fair trade sales, 700 people paying to attend a discussion between an author and a grocer, companies committing wholly to fair trade, proves a growing awareness amongst consumers and corporations of the impact our spending has on other people and on the environment. It is an encouraging trend that I hope continues.

Why go green, and deal with the hassle of trying to make the world better and healthier, when you can just paint it! Seriously, they’ve painted the side of a mountain. Wah???