Shopping for a Change
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1579561
Shopping for a change
By MARYANNE FIRTH, TRIBUNE STAFF
Awareness is key in making fair trade a growing reality, its supporters say.
Yesterday student representatives from six Niagara Catholic high schools
gathered at Notre Dame College School for Fair Trade Day.
The school held a fair trade symposium to teach students what fair trade
is and why it's so important.
Fair trade products were sold in the school's cafeteria and Ten Thousand
Villages sold handcrafted fair-trade items in the front foyer.
Teacher Paul Ferracuti spoke to students about his experiences in the
Dominican Republic, recalling the effects of both fair and unfair trade
on farmers of products such as coffee, cocoa and sugar.
Ferracuti explained to the classroom full of students "why free trade is
not fair trade," breaking down the process of why farmers end up with so
little of the profits on their crops.
He said a person who cuts down sugar cane for a living has "one of the
worst jobs in the Western Hemisphere," physically labouring for 14 hours
a day to be paid only $3.
Raising the price of products by even 10 cents to 15 cents would allow
companies to pay workers more for their efforts, he said.
"What fair trade is about is paying what's fair (for products) instead
of what the market price is," Ferracuti said.
Although people may pay a little bit more for fair trade items right
now, if the demand increases that may not always be the case, he said.
"Traditionally you pay more, but it's more money in the hands of the
people who made the product," he said.
Ferracuti also explained the process coffee bean farmers have to go
through before selling their product at a low price. This includes
sorting, drying, de-shelling and exporting the product to the First World.
He said fair trade works with co-ops to help farmers come together and,
for instance, buy a factory that will do the processing for them.
By raising the price of coffee above market value and cutting out the
middle men, Ferracuti said additional profits can then be given straight
to farmers.
With extra funding from fair trade co-ops, farmers improve their lives
by creating community hospitals and pharmacies, and supporting youths
through education, he said.
For people just learning about fair trade, Ferracuti said it's hard to
discern what products are out there without doing a little research.
He suggested students look into organizations that promote fair trade,
such as Oxfam Canada (http://www.oxfam.ca )and Transfair Canada
(http://www.trans-fair.ca ),to learn more about the topic.
He said it's "not totally plausible" to purchase nothing but fair trade
items right now, because many items are simply not available.
"The trick is to gradually buy more and more" as it becomes available,
he said.
Ferracuti said many people don't realize that 60% of the world's cocoa
is cultivated by slaves in West Africa. He encouraged students to think
the next time they pick up a chocolate bar, because "there's a good
chance the cocoa in that chocolate is from a slave."
"You have a choice. ... You can make people's lives better by buying
fair-trade products.
"In the end, it's up to us." Jane Nigh, manager of Port Colborne's Ten
Thousand Villages, also spoke to students about how the non-profit
program of the Mennonite Central Committee came to be more than 60 years
ago.
She discussed the importance of "providing an outlet" for artisans in
Third World countries to make a living for themselves.
"It helps people to live with dignity," she said.
Notre Dame teacher Carol Berkhout said the store is a "reminder there's
an individual person behind the product."
Berkhout, who organized the symposium, said bringing other schools
together on the topic helps to emphasis the connection between fair
trade and Catholic social teachings.
"It's part of our culture within the school. ... It's our faith, it's
how we live."
Purchasing fair trade items creates solidarity and allows workers the
dignity of being paid fairly, she said.
She was pleased the students seemed engaged with the presentation and
said many mentioned starting fair trade clubs similar to Notre Dame's
when returning to their respective schools.
"I hope they take their role seriously as consumers and go out of their
way to look for fair trade products," Berkhout said.
She hopes increase in interest will also help to increase availability
of fair trade products in the area.
Article ID# 1579561
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Dan Clore
My collected fiction, _The Unspeakable and Others_:
(Wait for the new edition: http://hplmythos.com/ )
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Strange pleasures are known to him who flaunts the
immarcescible purple of poetry before the color-blind.
-- Clark Ashton Smith, "Epigrams and Apothegms"