Finding a politician with a clean conscious may be harder than finding a Brazilian who is bad at soccer.
However, at least six mayors in the U.S. can say they are doing an honest action just by sipping their coffee every morning.
They know the coffee they’re drinking comes from a non-exploitative factory and they are helping an underdeveloped country come out of poverty one cup at a time.
Northampon, Mass., became the sixth “Fair Trade Town” in the U.S. last Thursday. From now on, Northampon City Council will encourage residents to buy and sell products that come from labor and environmentally friendly practices, and are guaranteed a fair price for the costumer and the producer.
The “Fair Trade Town” trend started eight years ago in the U.K. Since then, 300 cities worldwide have earned their official Fair Trade title. Media, Pa., was the first U.S. city to get certification in 2006, followed by Brattleboro, Vt.; Amherst, Mass., and Milwaukee, Wis., in 2007; and Taos, N.M., this year.
According to the Fair Trade USA Web site, to become Fair Trade, a town must first form a local Fair Trade committee to increase awareness of and demand for FT products, through education and outreach.
Then, the committee must make sure a variety of products are available in local stores and venues, whether they are certified by Trans Fair USA or sold by members of the Fair Trade Federation.
The committee must also develop a promotional campaign to attract local media and encourage organizations, such as hospitals, schools and places of worship to use FT products. Finally, the city council or governing body must pass a resolution supporting FT and must commit to serve FT coffee and tea at its meetings.
The Fairtrade Labelling network works with 548 producer organizations and more than 650 traders, reaching 5 million people including farmers, workers and their families, according to the network’s Web site.
A 2005 report shows that FT product sales delivered an extra $100 million back to producers worldwide. The earnings are usually invested in building community projects in education, health and the environment. They also help growers start their own businesses.
A popular argument against FT products is the added expense.
This is not necessarily true. Because products have to pass a rigorous quality test to be Fair Trade Certified, coffees and chocolates, for example, are generally priced competitively with other gourmet, specialty coffees and chocolates.
Although FT products can be more expensive than mass-produced, low-quality ones, the prices of the same Fair Trade Certified products may vary from store to store.
In the end, buying FT products is not a question of social consciousness but simple logic. I’m sure everybody expects to be fairly paid for doing a good job. Some people even believe their work is priceless.
When companies allow manufacturers to set their own prices on their products, it’s pretty much like editors giving a raise to columnists after months of loyalty to their newspapers.