My wife and I have for some time now supported the Fairtrade movement. It is a very simple thing to do by choosing to buy fair traded goods when they are available. Many supermarkets now stock a good variety of fair traded goods like tea & coffee, sugar, jams, chocolate, and even clothes. The importance of all this came home to me when we watched a recent documentary series on BBC3 called "Take-Aways - Blood, Sweat & Tears" A team of young British teens went to Indonesia and Thailand to experience working in the food industry and how poor the conditions are for the workers. It was a sobering watch!
One mother, for example had to work in the city to support her family back home in the country. She had not seen her one year old son for over a year since he was three months old. She was only able to make a trip back due to the documentary and her three year old son did not recognise her at first. What a sacrifice so many people have to make in order to provide cheap food for Western consumption. Workers are paid a few dollars a day only - and have to work in the most difficult conditions. They even consider themselves to be the lucky ones since at least they have work.
Fairtrade work with local communities to ensure stability of employment, a fair price for the goods traded and also contribute to a fund to help the local communities general needs.
And all this can only happen when we choose goods with the Fairtrade logo over other brands. They are often no more expensive and are of equivalent quality. Now doesn't that make sense?
Thursday, 11 June 2009
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