By Nicole Mesman

It’s Saturday night and I am sitting in the back of our family’s ute as we make our way home from a friend’s house. I lean against the window staring out, when suddenly our old front stereo roars into life. It’s Dad; he has turned on the radio for what he thinks is the 7 o-clock news. He’s a little early however, they are just on a pre-news interview.

Hi’, she says my name is Molly Crower and you’re listening to a pre-news muse, from the home of radio truth. Tonight we will be interviewing Hayden Spencer, Trade Aid’s spokesperson in New Zealand regarding the upcoming Fair Trade Fortnight. Good evening Hayden.

Hello Molly.’

So Hayden I hear that Fair Trade Fortnight is coming up from the 3rd to the 18th of May?’

It certainly is.’

Perhaps you could give us a bit of background? For starters what is fair trade

My ears prick up. This interview sounds interesting! I tell Dad to turn it up.

Well’ continues Hayden, fair trade is when companies buy goods such as cotton, tea, cocoa and coffee beans, and also craft items such as clothing, baskets, jewellery etc, from producers in places such as Africa, Asia and South America for a fair and consistent price. It also works to protect workers rights by preventing the use of harmful sprays around crops, increasing safe working conditions, and decreasing the numbers of child workers.’

And is it true that through fair trade’ the buyer is also contributing U.S 5cents per pound of coffee to the grower’s community for them to invest at will?

That’s right Molly’.

So now what can you tell us about Fair Trade Fortnight Hayden?

Well, it’s about raising people’s awareness, this year the fortnight focuses on environmental justice which is about us realising that the developing world, who contribute the LEAST to climate change will be the ones who feel it the MOST.’

Really?!’

Yes, I’m afraid so. The majority of the world live in developing countries yet it is the small percentage of the world’s population that live in developed countries (like us!) that have contributed most to this global problem. What people need to be think about Molly is how unfair is it that developing countries who are already losing out by unfair trade rules, will be expected to foot more than their fair share of the climate change bill. Realising this encourages us to think about how we can reduce our carbon footprint and reminds us how important it is to support fair trade. Throughout the Fortnight there will be loads of activities, competitions and events will be run all over the country. There’s more information at www.tradeaid.co.nz or www.fairtrade.org.nz.

That was great Hayden.

No problem Molly.

The interview finished and was replaced by the news, but I heard none of it. There were so many questions buzzing around in my head. How did fair trade start? Was Hayden just presenting one side of the story? Was fair trade really as good as they made it out to be?

My determination to find out drove me to the internet very early the next morning, where I found a range of information to answer my questions. I discovered that it all started in the late 1940’s after World War II, with some U.S churches selling handicrafts made by refugees in Europe. The idea of fair trade first came to Aotearoa New Zealand when Richard and Vi Cottrell, who had been helping out with the Tibetan refuge resettlement in India in 1969, came back to New Zealand to raise funds for the refugees. They started by selling a $1000 worth of Tibetan carpets in Christchurch and later moved on to develop Trade Aid stores across the country. At Trade Aid all products are made organically, produced on a small scale and shipped to conserve fuel.

I also found out that although most people would agree that fair trade is a good thing, it does have it critics. My research uncovered some individuals who thought supermarkets and companies where abusing the fair trade concept to make greater financial gains on products. One independent survey revealed that products where between 9-16 percent more expensive than others. One site didn’t think fair trade went far enough. It questioned the structures on which fair trade was built, saying that if they did not change significantly, the rich would continue to get richer and the poor remain poor.

After reading all this, my opinion is that fair trade is overall positive thing. Yes, supermarkets and some companies can profit from the products, but you can avoid this by buying from ethical stores such as Trade Aid. It may not be perfect, but anything that improves the working conditions and livelihoods of farmers and their families has got to be a good thing. Right!?

TAKE ACTION - How can YOU support fair trade?

• Think before you shop! Buy coffee, spices, gifts and more from Trade Aid, purchase fair trade products from your local supermarket and choose New Zealand made fair trade clothing from places like kowtow or Green Fields Trading Company.
• Participate in Fair Trade Fortnight in May every year. Find at how at www.fairtrade.org.nz
• Join the fair trade supermarket campaign at www.checkoutfairtrade.org.nz
• Join the fair trade coffee break group at www.oxfam.org.nz
• Make your community fair trade friendly, find out what this involves at www.fairtrade.com.au

LEARN MORE
Learn more about environmental justice at www.tradeaid.co.nz
Check out the great cartoons at www.maketradefair.com which explain how unfair the current trade system is.

A version of this article was published in the May 2008 issues of actv8.