Fair Trade in Bloom

Fair trade labeling is catching the trend like organic food. There is a difference, organic food labeling depends on "how the food is cultivated" and fair trade food labeling "is primarily concerned with the condition of the farmer and his laborers."

Here is one excerpt from The New York Times about Fair Trade definition:

The International Fair Trade Association, an umbrella group of organizations in more than 70 countries, defines fair trade as reflecting “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense.”

Critics of Fair Trade says that "fair trade coffee is as exploitive as the conventional kind, especially in countries that produce the highest-quality beans — like Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala. Fair trade farmers there are barely paid more than their counterparts in Brazil, though their crops become gourmet brands, selling for a hefty markup, said Geoff Watts, vice president for coffee at Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, a coffee importer." However, there are exceptions, like in Brazil where the marginalization of small producers is less pronounced.

The motto of Fair Trade labeling is noble indeed, and it would be more uplifting if both Fair Trade and Organic Food labeling can be merged in more effective synchronization that could bring positive outcome to farmers, consumers and world's chemical based ruined farmlands.

Link:
Fair Trade in Bloom