Step 1. Spreading the word
- Holding a successful Fairtrade stall
- Sweet Injustice: The chocolate game
- Winning them over: Frequently Asked Questions
- From football to fashion shows: More ideas for Fairtrade events
Step 2. Get Fairtrade products stocked in your school or university
Step 3. Becoming a Fairtrade school or university
Hopefully if you’ve got this far into the website you do think Fairtrade is an important way of ensuring that producers in the global south get a fair deal. But not everyone’s going to agree with you. Here are some questions you might be asked, and some possible responses.
Q. Why don’t the producers complain or refuse to sell for such a low price?
Workers may be denied basic rights and prevented from joining trade unions. They therefore struggle to complain about low wages.
If they cannot get a higher price for their goods then producers will sell for whatever they can get to avoid starvation. They often canīt afford to shift production to more profitable goods. Trade rules may prevent countries from supporting their producers. Fairtrade supports workers and producers in taking control of their situation.
Q. I have several jobs after school/whilst at university. Why should I spend my hard-earned money to pay other people more?
We all work hard for our money; but as workers in this country we are relatively well protected, and can ensure our basic rights are respected. Fairtrade is about solidarity with workers in the global south who don’t have the same rights. Supporting Fairtrade is about making sure that they get a fair deal for their work, and making clear that people in this country and other countries where Fairtrade products are sold are committed to the concept of, and demand, workersī rights.
The trade union movement in the UK succeeded in creating good working conditions for employees here precisely because of workersī solidarity. Fairtrade can contribute to this globally. Itīs about taking an active role in making sure that workers in the global south are guaranteed their basic rights
In addition, demonstrating to our government and society that people care about fair working conditions and are willing to stand up for them helps guarantee and protect out rights in this country.
Q. Fairtrade is too expensive: I can’t afford it.
Different people have different amounts of money available to spend and different priorities about how they spend it. However, when Fairtrade products are more expensive they tend to be literally only a few pence more expensive - not a large amount as a percentage of the total cost of the product. In addition, there is a large variety of Fairtrade products available, at a range of prices. Many cost the same as their equivalent non-Fairtrade goods.
Goods like chocolate, tea and coffee are now at a lower price because people were prepared to support them when they began and the price has come down as demand grows: this will happen with other products if more people support them.
If people really feel that they canīt afford to buy Fairtrade products this has to be accepted. Poverty and vastly different levels of wealth are very real issues in many places in Britain and highlight some of the problems which we see to a greater extent in developing countries. Fairtrade is about remedying some of these type of inequalities.
And most importantly, supporting Fairtrade is about much more than just buying Fairtrade products. Itīs about tackling injustice, and campaigning on this issue is FREE so everyone can be encouraged to do that.
Got a tough question you canīt answer? Or a good answer to a tough question? Email us
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