More than a label debates
Fairtrade- More Than A Label?
There are many debates around Fairtrade. This section explores some of them, giving examples of the varying opinions you may face and some of the counter arguments. Your campaign will be stronger if you understand all sides of the debate. Debating also helps to make sure that Fairtrade continues to move forwards in the best way possible for producers.
In order to start a debate in your school, college or university we have set out two questions below which you might like to examine as a group or with other students.
For each question we have a number of opinions. Assign each opinion to a student or group of students. Ask them to prepare their argument (they don’t have to agree with it!).
When you have your debate be sure to have a chair person who will make sure that each speaker has a fair amount of time to speak. After each speaker has said their piece, the chair should open it up to questions from the audience.
Here are three opinions about Fairtrade which sum up this debate
Fairtrade is a real force for lasting change
Few people can doubt that the present outcome of world trade is unfair. Two billion people work extremely hard to earn a living but still earn less than $2 per day. The FAIRTRADE Mark enables British consumers to choose products that help address this injustice. Free trade between partners of similar economic strength and power has the potential to help relieve poverty but free trade is not the answer to the real situation we are in, where there are massive power differences between countries. Those who have had the privilege of seeing and hearing first hand the difference that Fairtrade makes to poor communities are not going to be persuaded otherwise. We are more than happy to rely on the common sense of consumers to judge evidence such as this in deciding whether or not they then want to support Fairtrade.
You can read more on this perspective on the Fairtrade Foundation website
Fairtrade is helping to trap poor farmers into a cycle of poverty
Fairtrade fixes the price of goods, instead of letting them rise or fall in line with the market price and this traps producers in poverty. Giving a small number of farmers a higher price for their produce means that the majority of farmers who aren’t in a position to get Fairtrade certification become even more marginalised in the global market place and receive even less for their goods. If all countries traded without barriers then the price of goods would naturally stabilise and rise because the least efficient farmers would go out of business and be forced to do something more efficient. This would bring them in more money and help their communities to develop. It would also increase the price of their produce due to a drop in people growing them. Fairtrade is unfair, but free trade makes you rich.
You can read more about this perspective on the Adam Smith Institute website
Fairtrade is a glimpse at how things could be
Fairtrade principles include a lot of what we think a just trade system that works to benefit the world’s poor would look like. Buying Fairtrade is a good thing to do because it makes a direct impact on the lives of farmers. But however much Fairtrade does to raise awareness of the issues, it cannot, in itself be the answer to global injustice, exploitation and poverty. In order to really tackle these issues we have to use the ideals of Fairtrade, such as workers having rights and a say in their business, and apply them much more widely. We need to challenge the rules of the whole international trade system so that they are no longer decided by the already rich countries, who continue to create rules in their own favour. We need to challenge large companies and the international laws which make it their overall aim to make as much profit as possible instead of placing people and the planet at the centre of all that they do. To make a real difference Fairtrade has to be a lot more than a label.
You can read more on this perspective from the Trade Justice Movement website
