A Fair Trade Year in Review

by Zarah Patriana

Published December 31, 2008 @ 08:27AM PT

I was sitting at brunch with my Mom and my sister the other day and we were re-capping our noteworthy moments in 2008. Loved, lost, new experiences, new people, old friends, traveled, learned, advanced, discovered, lived. It's amazing how much can happen in just one year when it feels like it always just flies by. Each year marks growth and new developments for people and the same also goes for different movements such as Fair Trade. As this year draws to an end, let's look at the top ten events and happenings that shaped Fair Trade in 2008. (In no particular order)

Smells Like Corporate Social Responsibility

1. Starbucks Makes Announcement to Double Fair Trade Certified Coffee Purchases. A few months ago, coffee industry behemoth, Starbucks made an announcement that they would double their Fair Trade coffee purchases. Absolutely huge news not only in the Fair Trade world, but also the business world in general. A year that saw many Starbucks coffee shops shut their doors, it was also a year that saw them strengthen their campaign of Corporate Social Responsibility. Seeing as they have made promises before to serve Fair Trade coffee and often times have failed, the idea of them 'doubling' their purchases made me wonder if they would really just be doubling on empty promises. After I heard the news, I reached out to different leaders in the Fair Trade community and asked for their reactions. The news was met with some skepticism and hesitation but also a lot of hope that perhaps Starbucks would finally move toward more Fair Trade. I guess we will see in 2009.

2. Starbucks UK Makes 100% Fair Trade Switch. Shortly after Starbucks in the US made their announcement to double their Fair Trade Coffee purchases, Starbucks UK set out with a Fair Trade announcement of their own. By the end of 2009, all espresso coffee sold in their UK cafes will be Fairtrade Certified. Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean that all their coffee will be Fairtrade Certified, it will just be their whole bean and espresso-based beverages. Still a big step for the mermaid and hopefully they will continue to take strides in their Fair Trade commitment. Once again, we will see in 2009.

3. PUMA Produces their First Fair Trade Soccer Ball. In an industry riddled with foul play, leading sporting good company, PUMA made their first try at producing a Fair Trade Certified soccer ball. In an effort to endorse a campaign focusing on the prevention of juvenile delinquency in South Africa, Puma provided 5,000 soccer balls carrying the Fairtrade certification mark. Fair Trade victory? According to Fair Trade Sports founder, Scott James, yes, but they shouldn't stop there. A main tenet of Fair Trade is a long-term commitment to the producers and to the Fair Trade principles. The ball is still in the court of PUMA to continue their commitment and hopefully encourage others in big players in the industry to make it a Fair Trade playing field.

4. Wal-Mart Launches Line of Fair Trade Certified Coffee. I first heard about this when I took my friends to a viewing of the movie, Black Gold -- a movie about Ethiopian coffee farmers struggling for a fair price (highly recommended). The viewing was being hosted by TransFair USA and the leader of the coffee cooperative, Tadesse Meskala actually spoke after the film. Afterwards, there was a mini reception and they were serving Fair Trade coffee from...Wal-Mart? What? Wal-Mart? The same company with less than desirable treatment of their workers launching a line of Fair Trade coffee? srsly? Surprising, but very true. This is one announcement of Corporate Social Responsibility that still has me scratching my head and has led to a flurry of discussion about the Fair Trade movement's future and the introduction of the concept of Fair Trade Lite. True commitment or PR ploy? The coffee was conveniently launched around Earth Day, so hmm.

Fair Trade Communities Coming Together

5. More Fair Trade Towns on the Map. While big companies were testing the Fair Trade waters in 2008, towns and cities around the world were making the full Fair Trade commitment and becoming official Fair Trade Towns. To become a Fair Trade town, there must be an agreement to have a Fair Trade steering committee, Fair Trade products are available around town including shops, cafes, schools, offices, places of worship and hospitals and the town should create public support for Fair Trade. Some new towns to spring up this year were Taos, New Mexico, Montclair, New Jersey, my current city of residence, San Francisco and London who officially became the Fair Trade Capital of the world. Next Fair Trade Town on the list in 2009? Your Town, USA.

6. Record Set for World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break. May 10th was World Fair Trade Day and the Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns partnered up to get Fair Trade advocates to set a record. On that day, a total of 12,128 people in more than 150 communities around the US collectively raised their mugs to Fair Trade at the same time. Record setting and Fair Traders all over are hoping the break the record in 2009. Check out the video and Flickr photos.

Getting a Taste of Celebrity

7. Celebrities Want Fair Trade Too. 2008 saw more celebrities speaking up for Fair Trade. Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke spoke out against child labor and put his support behind the Fair Trade Resource Network. The francophile and fashion-loving part of me was pleasantly surprised to hear that France's First Lady Carla Bruni was setting a Fair Trade fashion trend. During a trip to South Africa, she was given a colorful bag made by a women's cooperative, Sophumelela meaning "we will succeed" in the local Xhosa language. The cooperative was set up with the help of Township Patterns who operate under Fair Trade conditions. Très chic. Um, I want one in 2009.

Fair Trade Policies

8. The Chocolate Industry Misses Deadline on Harkin-Engel Protocol. The Harkin-Engel Protocol was a voluntary protocol agreed upon by the chocolate industry signed in September 2001 aimed at ending child labor in the production of cocoa. After hearing about the abusive conditions in the cocoa industry, Congressmen Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Eliot Engel took up the issue that led to the Protocol. At first, the deadline set for the chocolate companies to develop and implement credible, mutually acceptable, voluntary, industry wide standards of public certification guaranteeing an end to abusive and forced child labor was July 1, 2005. The date came and went and no progress was made on the Protocol, so the deadline was extended to July 1st 2008 and the chocolate industry even tried to redefine "certification" to "data collection". So instead of certifying that there was no child labor in their sourcing, they would instead just have to conduct a survey determining the prevalence of child labor in the industry. Nowhere near eliminating child labor. Global Exchange's Fair Trade Director, Adrienne Fitch-Frankel put it best: "Data collection is not the goal; the goal is protecting children from the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa fields". July 1st 2008 came and went and still the chocolate industry failed to meet the deadline to guarantee an end to abusive child labor practices in the industry. Waiting for new developments in 2009.

9. Collapse of WTO Doha Negotiations Paves Way New Way Forward for Developing Countries. A debate that I have yet to fully discuss on this blog is Free Trade vs. Fair Trade and why Free Trade definitely is not Fair Trade. The free trade model has perpetuated a race to the bottom that has time and again put profits over people and the planet and it is the Fair Trade model that aims serve as an alternative or even a solution to the problems that Free Trade has caused. The WTO Doha negotiations have been going back and forth for seven years and once again in 2008 it collapsed. The Doha Negotiations were pegged by the WTO as a way to help developing nations get out of poverty, however:

[The Doha Negotiations] would have further perpetuated an unfair and inequitable international trade system in the name of creating multilateral trade rules.

[O]pening of markets, removal of tariffs, and withdrawal of state intervention in agriculture, has turned developing countries from net food exporters to net food importers and burdened them with huge import bills. This process which leaves the poor dependent on uncertain and volatile global markets for their food supply, has wiped out millions of livelihoods and placed nearly half the humanity at the brink of hunger and starvation.

The collapse of the Doha Negotiations is said by many to be a victory for developing nations. Underrepresented nations finally put their foot down and let leading nations that they would no longer stand for others dictating their livelihoods. India's trade minister, Kamal Nath said:

"The most important thing was the livelihood security, the vulnerability of poor farmers, which could not be traded off against the commercial interests of the developed countries."

Could it be the end of the corporate globalization era? A major victory that came out of the collapse, as Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute states best is that:

It has opened the door for developing countries to regain ownership of their food and agricultural policies which should meet the needs of their people and not the dictates of the [International Financial Institutions].

The Fair Trade Numbers

10. 2008 in Numbers. I went searching for Fair Trade statistics for 2008 and realized that won't be compiled until next year, so stay tuned for 2009 for 2008's statistics. TransFair USA has a comprehensive Fair Trade Almanac for 2007 that you might be interested in checking out.

As for Fair Trade Sales in 2008, it looked like the UK saw a steady growth in consumer demand for Fairtrade products with sales nearing $1 billion. Worldwide, it was said that growing consumer consciousness to buy ethically contributed to a boost in Fair Trade sales and it was said that worldwide Fairtrade sales were up 47% in 2007.

As the economic downturn gained momentum, reports of steady Fairtrade coffee sales were holding up despite the crisis. However, as the economic crisis continues and the holiday spending nearing an end, consumer spending is getting a bit more shaky and could pose a potential threat to a movement based on consumer activism. Budgets are tightening, but does that mean that values will have to go out the window? The Fair Trade movement braces itself for the new year and hopes that the numbers will just continue to rise and the Fair Trade will continue to expand.

The Fair Trade movement has come a long way since Edna Ruth Byler's handicraft sales in her basement in the 1940s. With sixty years under its belt, the Fair Trade movement is still a young one. Each passing year sees the movement grow, especially in the positive impact it has had on many lives around the world. There are successes and challenges, but with each success and challenge the movement continues to strengthen and prove that an alternative way of doing business is needed that focuses on a triple bottom line that puts value in people and planet before profit.

Looking forward to 2009 and continuing the discussion on how to create a more just and sustainable trade system. Happy New Year everyone!

[photos: CRS, ILRF, nytimes, fair trade towns & me]