07 December 2005
Why don't we buy more Fairtrade food?
With Fairtrade produce more widely available than ever, Ruth Webb finds out what we can do to get more people to buy it.
You ask anyone in my school what Fairtrade is and they give you a blank look, maybe some might mutter something about “Africa” or the “third world”. How can we expect the next generation to make a difference when most of them don’t even know what Fairtrade is?
First up, a bit of background. The rich Industrial countries, those in the EEC and the USA, want to protect their producers, so they heavily subsidise food production whenever possible, which keeps our food prices low. They also “dump” surplus food on the world market forcing prices lower. Third world farmers are forced into accepting unrealistic low prices for their goods.
To resolve this, the Fairtrade standard is definitely a move in the right direction. Farmers get a fair and stable price for their crops and in return they pay their workers well, provide a health and safety policy and have no forced labour. This standard has reached a minority of farms in the third world, but shouldn’t it be the majority?
Fairtrade food is becoming massive; chain supermarkets are beginning to stock Fairtrade products. It costs 10p more to buy a Fairtrade chocolate bar, so why don’t more people buy them? They taste better and they help farmers in the third world.
I don’t think it’s the money that stops people buying Fairtrade. Perhaps the attitudes of thousands of people are not changing. Teenagers do not think it’s “cool” to eat Fairtrade products.
So what can we do about it? I think there should be education in all schools to teach children the effects of unfair and fair trade. Also, People & Planet groups could be set up in most schools to highlight the issue further. This would help change attitudes and opinions towards Fairtrade.
Fairtrade products are a lifeline to thousands of farmers in the third world. We should buy Fairtrade to ensure help to these farmers. However, Fairtrade schemes should be extended to thousands more farmers, creating stability for them, their families and their country’s economy.
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My name is Ruth Webb and I live in a small village close to the Welsh border. In my spare time I enjoy listening to a wide variety of music, reading books and going to the cinema and theatre. I feel strongly about equal rights and the grounds of going to war. I volunteer to work with disabled children and want to do something similar with disadvantaged children in the developing world in the future.
