Where do you shop? Do you always buy Fairtrade? Hey there, just wanted to start a bit of a discussion around this. I was reading that Tescopoly thing the other day, and I thought how hard it is to always buy stuff that is 'good' for the world. For example, if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, right next to a Tesco, it can pretty difficult for you to shop somewhere else. Also, whilst we'd all like to buy Fairtrade stuff, it can be expensive, or just not available. Another thing that got me thinking about this is a quiz about brands (and the impact they have on the world) on the Pressureworks website. It all got me thinking that it's nigh on impossible to be perfect in the things that we buy, which can be a bit depressing. Is it enough to make as much effort as we can, whilst recognising we should do more (and not feeling too bad about it when we do shop in Tesco)? What do you think? Do you always buy Fairtrade? Do you get guilty when you buy some fancy trainers? It would be great if you could add your comments to this blog, and maybe we could do a feature on it in the future too... posted at 5:06 PM | Permalink 7 comments   Comments: GenerationWhy and Oxfam accept no responsibility for the content of comments in the Blog. I think what's important is to try to consantly improve on your habits. If you can't get fairtrade coffee in a particular shop, ask them if they could supply it and so on. Don't beat yourself up if you buy something non-fairtrade, but do your best to. By  Edd, October 06, 2005 5:39 PM   That's a good approach Edd. I think you've got to do the best you can. I sometimes buy trainers and stuff for fashion when I know I shouldn't, and I've got a car which I shouldn't drive as much as I do... It's difficult to get everything right. I do buy Fairtrade stuff, and try to support local growers (ie buying veg in season), but I know I should do a lot more. I've got to be harder on myself! By  Pinky, October 06, 2005 5:45 PM   Excellent points both and Edd's comment about letting shop keepers know is a good one. Although I can't take credit for it our corner shop (which never even sold 'proper' ground coffee till afew months ago - we're in the dark ages up here) has now got the traidcraft stuff in because a neighbour told the shop keeper it would sell well. It did and everyone's happy. Just do your best and keep the pressure on. By  Anonymous, October 07, 2005 8:32 AM   I've just been to Costa coffee - I didn't realise you actually had to ask them to have the Fairtrade stuff (there's a little note on their menu boards). So, anyway - everyone, if you're going to Costa, remember to ask for a Fairtrade Latte! Then they use the stuff from café direct. By  zammo, October 07, 2005 1:17 PM   Great post and comment thread... I think feeling positive about what you can do is better than beating yourself up for what you can't do. Asking and engaging with shop managers is the best approach. Incidentally, Myself and another blogger (http://greenlagirl.blogspot.com) have started up the Starbucks Challenge to test how easy it is to get Fairtrade coffee in Starbucks. Their official policy is that you should always be able to get it...the reality is somewhat different. The more people that take part the more accurate a picture we will build. Starbucks have already been in touch to engage with us and learn from the results so feel free to take the challenge and spread the word. For more info visit: http://www.cityhippy.net Namaste City Hippy By  City Hippy, October 12, 2005 9:27 AM   I think pretty much what everyone else has said is the best way to go about it. In an ideal world obviously everything would be fairtade and the word fairtade would become unnecessary. In the meantime though we have to do our best. It is hard to get hold of fairtrade goods in some places but there is always the option of internet shopping which makes it more accesible. Basically I just think that we have to try as hard as circumstances will allow us, and as has been mentioned by someone else, get onto your local shops and let them know there is a market for these slightly (but not always by alot) more expensive fairtrade goods. By  Anonymous, October 12, 2005 4:50 PM   I like to buy fair trade products where and whenever I can. Sometimes I seem to get lost in the whole 'tea and coffee' thing though and forget that there are other products out there! Because Fair Trade products aren't always easily accessible, I recently started a Fair Trade Tuck Shop in my school. The school kindly donated money to getus started with FT chocolate, juice, geobars, cookies, tea and coffee. It was one of these things that was either going to be a real success or nobody was gonna turn up! I was overwhelmed by the response and we had a queue the length of the corridor! This is now a regular, weekly thing within the school. I believe that accessibility is the key to Fair Trade being a success. People don't usually mind paying the few pence extra when they know what difference it is making to peoples' lives. Many of the students at my school probably hadn't bought Fair Trade before, but through making it accessible for them, it shows how easy it is for Fair Trade to be a success. When I buy un-fairly-traded items such as new trainers, I do feel guilty and wonder exactly why the price tag is so high when I am aware of how much the person making the shoes is getting. But I believe that we can only do our best by, as others have said, letting shops and suppliers know what we think and what we want to see. It's time for everyone to sit up and listen. Together, we can have EVERY shop in Britain have Fair Trade products! By  Mark, December 19, 2006 1:31 AM   Post a Comment

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