Up Close With the Work of Human Hands

I don’t “tweet,” but I am being followed.  A persistent question comes up at every event where I have the opportunity to talk Fair Trade with Catholics and other socially responsible consumers.  I wonder how you think I should answer.

Last week it happened. I was talking to a group of Yo Pros in Boston and a hand in the back goes up.  I see the quizzical look, and I start to anticipate.  The earnest woman says something to the effect of, “These Fair Trade principles sound great, but when I am at Trader Joe’s how do I know something is Fair Trade?”    I probably let a little sigh escape, not because the question was inappropriate but because after ten years as a Fair Trader I still don’t have a satisfactory answer.

Sure, I was able to first caution that if she limits her Fair Trade shopping to a grocery store, this conscious consumer will miss out on the work of Fair Trade artisans—just the types of products that helped create the Fair Trade movement through Ten Thousand Villages and SERRV a generation ago.  But that’s not what she wants to know really.  She wants to do the right thing as a shopper, and she’s asking CRS Fair Trade to guide her.

So I whip out my trusty Powerpoint slide on “CRS Fair Trade Standards for Partnerships” and flash two logos on the screen: The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) logo used by North American organizations who qualify as  “fully committed to fair trade.”  

Right next to it, is Fair Trade Certified™ label used by companies in the US on products that meet international fair trade standards.  

I go on to explain that all partners in the CRS Fair Trade network must either be a member of the FTF or have each and every one of their products licensed by TransFair USA.

This leads to a discussion of how CRS Fair Trade believes strongly in “third party verification.”  How in order to promote values such as transparency and accountability, we require all of our partners to prove their commitments to Fair Trade through 100% certification or by meeting all the standards of FTF.  I allow as how this independent verification process is akin to Catholic Relief Services having to meet the 20 charity standards of the Better Business Bureau. Or at the individual level, how all taxpayers have to prove they have paid their fair share of taxes by April 15.

Typically there is a little back and forth about the difference between a Fair Trade company and a Fair Trade product.  About why you don’t see FTF’s labels on products, for example, and how it is that Starbucks can sell the most Fair Trade Certified coffee in the country, but isn’t eligible to be a CRS Fair Trade partner.

So far so good.

But I feel haunted by this question, stalked a bit, if you will, because I know that the FTF and TransFair USA systems aren’t enough.   Over the past year, with current and potential partners, CRS Fair Trade has wrestled with challenges such as:

• Producer organizations practicing direct trade with faith communities based on deep and committed personal relationships.  Who are we to say, for example, that Juan Ana coffee from Guatemala doesn’t embody Fair Trade principles?     But will we do direct traders who are competing in a global and diverse marketplace any favors if we don’t encourage them to prove their practices?  And can direct trade really provide long-term, large-scale solutions to poverty beyond specific person-to-person partnerships?
• Artisan organizations looking for sellers in the United States but lacking the capacity, the experience,  or even geographic location to meet the requirements  of FTF membership and, by extension, participation in the vast US marketplace.   Should we guide artisan groups to global associations such as the World Fair Trade Organization even when we recognize that WFTO itself is strained by capacity concerns?
• US companies embracing new certification approaches such as Fair for Life created by the European-based Institute for Marketecology.  I’ve talked to the folks at IMO and they seem committed to earth and people friendly practices, but should CRS Fair Trade move beyond the traditional vanguards of Fair Trade? How do we conduct due diligence to verify that IMO meets the standards it says it does? On another note, why do we favor fair trade certification in the US over environmental standards such as Rainforest Alliance, when CRS partners with RA and others to help  farmers reach large commercial markets globally?
• Companies claiming to be Fair Trade when they are not.  I was confronted with this today personally.  I was ordering Fair Trade flowers for a special occasion and asked the customer service rep which flowers were Fair Trade and which weren’t.  He apologized but said they don’t sell any Fair Trade anymore because the system is “good for the workers but not so good for businesses. It is very complicated and cuts our profits.”  I asked him why he still has the TransFair logo on his home page, and he said he didn’t…oh, wait, yes he did.  And, sure, he will take down that FAQ section touting the benefits of Fair Trade.  This is where I started to sigh again.  Some companies misuse the label on products, no doubt about it.   By embracing the TransFair label for coffee and chocolate are we, by implication,  giving a “halo” effect to the label in general?   What can we do to help bolster the integrity of TransFair USA, or other leaders like WFTO for that matter, as they play the role of standard setters and certifiers?

Of course, there are many dimensions to these challenges, and the CRS Fair Trade has the privilege of grappling with them in a movement full of trustworthy and tested partners and allies.  I’m not complaining so much as asking for input.  Pick a challenge and comment on it.  Help us know how to help our “followers”, our supporters, and the producers we serve.