Fairtrade Fortnight has ended. Where I live, I had to search to find recognition of it in my local stores and supermarkets - a bit different from 2011 when Scotland had Fairtrade Nation status.
I became involved with Fairtrade many years ago. I was a member of a parish “Third World Group” who raised tens of thousands of pounds for SCIAF but nothing seemed to change. There were still famines, people were dying and people were being exploited. A few of us decided to form a Justice and Peace Group and through that I became involved in Fairtrade and many other campaigns.
We started with a monthly coffee morning with a Fairtrade stall. Initially we got our goods on a sale or return basis from another fairtrader, and eventually we took the decision to go it alone.
It was not an easy path. First we had to get our parish priest to support us. He claimed he did not like Fairtrade coffee. This was probably due to the taste of the original Campaign Coffee. His housekeeper bought Fairtrade coffee from us and put it into his well known brand jar. He never noticed the difference and after a few months she revealed what she had done.
We also had to raise funds to ensure we had enough in our account to pay the monthly bills for goods. We got great support from our parish community and we have never looked back. Our fears about not being able to pay the bills were unjustified and we eventually became a Fairtrade Church.
We also became members of the Hamilton Fairtrade Town Group that worked toward Hamilton getting Fairtrade status in 2005. Through this involvement, we met producers during Fairtrade Fortnight. Banana producers from the Windward Islands visited Hamilton in 2006. They visited various schools including my own school. One pupil asked how they spent their Fairtrade premium in their community and was surprised by the answer. They said it was used to erect a fence round their school. There was no fence and often younger pupils wandered away during break time, risking danger. Sadly this plantation was destroyed during a hurricane the next year but the Fairtrade Foundation helped them to get it re established.
“Every perspective on economic life that is human, moral, and Christian must be shaped by three questions: What does the economy do for people? What does it do to people? And how do people participate in it?” Economic Justice for All.
As Catholics, we are called to ask these three questions about all of our economic activities. Fairtrade offers us the opportunity to answer them in ways that reflect core principles of Catholic Social Teaching on economic justice. If we purchase of Fair Trade items we:
• Exalt the HUMAN DIGNITY of small-scale producers overseas
• Exercise a preferential OPTION FOR THE POOR
• Act in SOLIDARITY with our brothers and sisters in need
• Ensure that farmers and artisans earn a JUST WAGE
• Contribute to a more just DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
• Apply the principle of SUBSIDIARITY
• Practice responsible STEWARDSHIP of our natural resources
All of these are pillars of Catholic Social Teaching.
This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight was themed around fighting the exploitation of small-scale farmers but these farmers and other larger producers also employ other workers and the rights of these “wage workers “often go unnoticed.
In Fairtrade certification the rights of these workers should be taken into account but the reality is it is difficult to police and in one survey it was found that Fairtrade did not have a either a positive or negative effect, so there is still a lot of work to be done on the Fairtrade front.
Perhaps this Lent instead of giving up chocolate, coffee or wine we should all buy Fairtrade - and then do the same all year round.