Fairtrade: fashion fad or long-term commitment?

Hannah Gray argues that we should not let Fairtrade become just another fashion trend.

''I felt that buying a Fairtrade Easter egg had turned into a chase for an XBox 360 or something.'' ''Only recently the Fairtrade Foundation launched their photo exhibition of various celebrities ‘having fun’ with Fairtrade products.'' ''I think shoppers shouldn’t simply buy Fairtrade because it’s fashionable and endorsed by celebrities.''

I felt slightly unnerved when Trevor McDonald opened his Tonight programme with the expression, “the Fairtrade fashion”.

The phrase not only seemed patronising, but it also seemed to add a note of gloom to the whole Fairtrade name - has this thing that so many of us believe in become just another fad? Could the sensation that Fairtrade has become also be its own downfall? Let’s not forget that the very thing that makes a fashion fashionable is its limited lifespan.

Perhaps Trevor McDonald’s words were not meant so seriously, but the facts and figures were there too. According to Tonight, since the launch of the Make Poverty History campaign last year, there has been a 40% increase in the sale of Fairtrade goods and £200m has been spent on produce. There are now 1,500 Fairtrade items on sale and, in the past three years, there has been a 900% increase in the number of products available.

A rocket launch for trade justice perhaps. So why should we feel at all unsettled by these figures? Well, for a start, available is not the word that springs to my mind when I think of my efforts to have a Fairtrade Easter this year. In no less than an hour’s visit to three shops, each told me that the Fairtrade eggs had sold out on the first day. I felt that buying a Fairtrade Easter egg had turned into a chase for an XBox 360 or something. Is Fairtrade really on the fast track to becoming a new designer label?

Secondly, in this inescapable age of celebrity that we live in, I have no doubt that the endorsement of the Fairtrade name by certain major figures has been one of, if not the contributing factor to its success. Only recently the Fairtrade Foundation launched their photo exhibition of various celebrities ‘having fun’ with Fairtrade products.

Shoppers were interviewed for Tonight and asked if they knew how much of the money they were spending on Fairtrade products was actually going to the farmers. No doubt that editing played its part, but what was shown was indication enough that the whole name of Fairtrade is standing on a very fragile footing - if we don’t know enough about what we are actually buying and why, then what motivation do we have to keep on buying Fairtrade?

I think shoppers shouldn’t simply buy Fairtrade because it’s fashionable and endorsed by celebrities, but rather think for themselves and make a habit of buying Fairtrade and a commitment to what it really means for trade justice.