Hey, everyone. I know a lot of you have questions about the fair trade movement - what is it, what’s the difference between fair trade and fairtrade, how much are people paid for their labour and goods under the fair trade system and whether or not we can really trust these certification bodies. So I decided to break it all down for you! And, while there is still so much to know about fair trade, this post should give you a pretty good overview of the movement. Also, while I do include a few affiliate links in this post where relevant (so if you purchase through these links I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you) this post is not sponsored by any companies or organizations. This is purely to help you make informed choices. Enjoy!

What is fair trade?

What fair trade is and how it works: a system and process that aims to ensure that people are paid fairly for their work and treated fairly by employers, buyers and business partners. In order to be fair trade certified, sellers and companies must demonstrate that they have paid a fair price for the labour and/or goods they purchased from producers and that there are no human rights violations in the procurement of those goods. Often this looks like paying above a “fair trade minimum” for goods (ex: a fair trade coffee roaster in Canada must prove that they paid a fair price for the beans they bought from farmers overseas). Every certification body has their own set of guidelines (more on that below!).

What fair trade is not: a perfect solution. There so many benefits to fair trade systems, but also a lot of drawbacks and a lot of alternative solutions.

Why it matters: This movement supports millions of farmers, garment workers, crafts makers and more worldwide in living dignified lives and helps consumers make informed choices and vote with their dollar. Those that adhere to fair trade standards must commit to respecting human rights and are sometimes incentivized to adopt more eco-friendly production practices. Plus, workers who are partnered with or work for fair trade certified companies and buyers frequently have access to other support programs like on-site childcare or small business loans.

Common terms

Fairtrade. Refers to "The Fairtrade system," which is comprised of producer networks, Fairtrade International which owns the FAIRTRADE Certified mark, and FLO-CERT, which is the independent body that certifies for Fairtrade International.

Fair trade certified. A general statement to say that a company or product is certified by any of the existing fair trade certification organizations.

Fair trade. Refers to the alternative trade movement as a whole, including organizations operating under the World Fair Trade Organization, according to The No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade by Sally Blundell.

Fairly made. Refers to goods that are made ethically and/or fairly, but are not officially certified by a fair trade body.

Unfortunately, these definitions are often used interchangeably due to confusion caused by the similarities in the names and marks, but they do mean different things.

Common fair trade logos and certifications to know

First, it’s important to know that some fair trade organizations certify enterprises (which more or less means companies) and some certify products. And, while both have value and importance in the fair trade movement, it's important to know the difference so you can shop according to your values.

For example, the World Fair Trade Organization and mark indicate that the enterprise as a whole has been certified.

Whereas the FAIRTRADE Certified label (owned by Fairtrade International) indicates that the product itself is fair trade, but the enterprise (aka company) may not be. This is how some companies are able to occasionally make use of the FAIRTRADE mark, even if other products or parts of their supply chain use unethical practices.

Here are two common organizations that certify enterprises and companies:

Here are two common organizations that certify products:

Does fair trade actually work?

Mostly yes, but sometimes no. Like any system, fair trade has its upsides and downsides. Here’s a brief overview of the pros and cons of fair trade for the makers and farmers who are meant to benefit most from the system.

Pros

• Vote with your dollar. Seeing a fair trade label makes it easy for conscious shoppers to “vote with their dollar” and support fair, ethical companies.

• Protection for producers against falling prices. If the going price for goods drops below the “fair trade minimum” (as it often does for certain goods) buyers are obligated to still pay a certain price for goods.

• Protection against human rights abuses. To be certified by certain organizations, a company must prove that they are respecting basic human rights in their factories and supply chains (like no child labour, safe conditions and equality among workers). And, while this should be a given everywhere, it is unfortunately pretty uncommon.

• Environmental protection. Many organizations require companies to show that they protect the environment as much as they can in their production. This may look like using low waste cutting patterns or natural dyes for garments.

Cons

• Membership fees cut into profits for poor producers. The fees and surcharges that producers must pay in order to be part of a fair trade collective or be fair trade certified cut into their profits. In some cases, this fee can negate the benefits of being part of a fair trade collective.

• Over representing the good that companies are doing. Some logos (especially the FAIRTRADE Certified label from Fairtrade International - see the logo above) can be used by companies that are extremely unethical overall to show that certain products have one or two fair trade ingredients. Prominent examples of this are Starbucks, who has used the FAIRTRADE Certified label on certain coffee lines but was recently caught for using child labor in other product lines and Nestle, who is known for gross human rights violations but has put the FAIRTRADE Certified logo on several products (I’ve mostly seen it on chocolate products). And, while it’s great that the one or two ingredients in the product are fair trade, this is a big issues because it can give a much more favourable impression of the company or product than is deserved. And, on a personal note, this is one of my biggest complaints. I think it allows and encourages us affluent shoppers to be less vigilant about asking about the origins of our stuff. Many times I have seen that logo, grabbed the item and then later realized the product was actually from Nestle. Not good.

Issues with fair trade marketing

I feel it’s also critical to mention the white savior marketing that often comes with fair trade products. So often the websites of fair trade companies, pamphlets about the benefits of fair trade or general imagery used in fair trade marketing shows white people (generally white women) helping black and brown people. I’m sure I could spend several blog posts disecting the many issues with this, but here are two of the biggest problems I see with this:

• Racist imagery. The obvious issue of positioning white people as the rich, benevolent saviours and black and brown people as the destitute, sad people in need of help from the wonderful whites. That’s just racist.

• Sexist imagery. Positioning women as the helpers all the time. Why aren’t more men being called in to conversations about social justice and thoughtful consumption? We can’t expect women to shoulder these burdens on their own. And, while I understand many of the products being sold are the types of things women tend to make purchasing decisions about in families, I think this conversation and movement needs to find ways to draw in more men.

And I know that for some companies, these images simply depict the reality of the situation. There is one fair trade brand I worked with recently, Passion Lillie, that was started by a white woman and the clothes are made in India. So it makes sense that a lot of the photos on their website are of her working alongside the Indian women who make the clothes. To me, the presence of these photos is fine and makes sense as long as any additional marketing material promotes a healthy and diverse range of humans interacting with and modeling the clothes and describes the makers as fully realized humans, not just tragic stories for us to feel good about helping.

So I guess my gripe is more with companies that produce marketing materials that are telling stories and promoting things that are separate from the founder’s story and still perpetuate the white saviour imaging and storytelling for no reason.

Alternatives to fair trade

Direct trade

I like the way Roasty Coffee explained this one: “Direct trade is less of an organization and more of a method or ideology. It is a type of sourcing where roasters (distributors) buy direct-ly from farmers (producers).”

And, as Wikipedia put it, “direct trade practitioners view their model as one of mutually-beneficial and transparent trade relationships. Some advocates explicitly define direct trade as an alternative to fairtrade certification, and they seek to address perceived limitations of fair trade by:

• Paying higher premiums to farmers than those mandated by fair trade;

• Tying these premiums to specific quality standards that create a sustainable economic rationale for higher prices;

• Allowing participation by individual farmers and processors, regardless of size or membership in a cooperative;

• Eliminating the fees involved in being a certified fair trade company (e.g. fees, dues, and surcharges);

• Generating additional supply chain trust and transparency through personal relationships, price negotiation, and information sharing.”

Now, all of that sounds great, right? But I have to mention the limitations of direct trade here, too: there is no single set of rules for calling your company “direct trade”. This presents quite a few issues, but here are the main things to consider:

• It's hard for consumers to know exactly what they are supporting. For example, before I try a new coffee shop I often email them to find out where they source their coffee. Most of the time they get back to me promptly and are more than happy to answer my questions, but I never actually know if they are telling the truth about where they source their coffee. With no certification body I am forced to simply take their word for it… which makes me very uncomfortable.

• It’s up to the buyer (ex: coffee roaster) to determine a fair wage or price for the goods they buy. And as a consumer this can be very confusing to navigate. In the example of the coffee shops I email, if they are willing to share the price they pay for coffee beans, I usually still have to reference fair trade materials to figure out if it’s actually a fair price.

Support your local farmers and makers

This helps cut down on emissions as the food has to travel less than sourcing food from other countries or far away and promotes more even wealth distribution which means more money goes to the average people and less goes in the pockets of huge corporations. Plus, many farm workers in Canada make good money, are protected by Canadian labour laws and get to engage in fulfilling work.

However, local farms can also be problematic. I personally worked on a farm while traveling several years ago Australia that separated workers by race and language abilities. As you can probably guess, certain groups received much better treatment than others. There was a crew of entirely Asian workers (mostly from China and Korea, if I recall) who spoke almost no English at all and were totally at the mercy of the farm owner who used to steal money from the workers by shaving cash off our checks. They normally got away with it because even the workers who spoke some English didn’t tend to speak enough to understand their paychecks or look up Australian labour laws to figure out if they were being paid properly. In fact, our crew - which consisted of a couple North Americans (hubby and I) and a dozen-ish Europeans (most of whom were from Italy, Germany and France and had limited English abilities) - only discovered the issue because, as a Canadian, I knew enough English to read the paystubs and let our crew know what was happening to their money. And, while driving around looking for work, hubby and I saw probably a dozen farms that were segregated like this. Some would even ask us if we spoke English and, when we said yes, told us they didn’t accept English speakers on the farm. I’m sure you can imagine why.

And right here in British Columbia, Canada, I worked on blueberry farms as a kid with my siblings and many other children. And, while it wasn’t exploitative for me in my opinion (I chose to go with my mom in order to make some extra cash on top of my paper route), it was technically child labour that I was paid very little for. I’m sure some kids who were there were not given the choice by their parents about whether or not to go.

Also here in British Columbia some extended family members observed migrant farm workers living in horrible conditions on the farm dorms. Their community did come together to provide blankets and other necessities for the workers and called out the farm owner, but I’m sure there are hundreds of farms across the province doing the exact same thing.

Partner with skilled artisans

This is the model that companies like MATTER Prints adopt. In essence, instead of being certified fair trade, the company partners with makers and artisans who have established operations already and has these (usually small) businesses produce their goods. And, while it makes me uncomfortable any time I have to just accept a company’s word for it when they say they’re doing business ethically, it helps put my mind at ease when companies like MATTER Prints provide so much information on their website about their philosophy, their makers and who they partner with.