Photo by ZR.

Is Hastings ready to become a Fairtrade Town?

Interested in Hastings and St Leonards becoming a Fairtrade Town? Want to find out more about Fairtrade and what it means and who’s involved locally? Then make a note in your diary to attend an informal gathering at Azur on St Leonards’ seafront at 7.30pm on 13 November, writes HOT’s Zelly Restorick, where there’ll be speakers, stalls, networking and light refreshments – all Fairtrade, of course.

Jack Doherty and other members of the Bexhill-on-Sea Fairtrade Town group want their Fairtrade initiative to spread along the coast in the hope that it will transform the lives of farmers and producers in poorer parts of the world, making their small-scale businesses more sustainable and helping people out of poverty.

I asked Jack Doherty how the label of Fairtrade Town is attained.

“There are five goals,” he explained, “to get the local council on board, to get retailers and catering companies to offer Fairtrade products, for faith groups and schools to get involved, for the local media to promote the concept and for local people to form a committee.”  The idea is for the group to raise awareness  and understanding of the trade issues and to promote the purchase of Fairtrade products. Once the town has the Fairtrade label, it must commit to continuing to campaign and boost awareness.

The Fairtrade mark on a product guarantees that it meets international Fairtrade standards. Fairtrade labelling was created in the Netherlands in the late 1980s and the first products were launched in the UK in 1994. According to the Fairtrade Foundation website, ‘Fairtrade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalised by the conventional trading system.’

According to research by IGD Shopper Vista, more shoppers than ever before are interested in the Fairtrade initiative. Some people already specifically choose Fairtrade products and others would buy more if they knew where and how the money is spent, the difference it makes and how the standards are monitored. Products include handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fruit, chocolate, flowers and gold.

The Fairtrade organization and their principles of dialogue, transparency, respect and equality in international trade mean there have undoubtedly been many positive steps taken towards ensuring workers and producers get a better deal. People’s awareness has been raised about where products come from and about the chain that lies behind their arrival in our supermarkets, cafes, etc. However, I’m also aware there have been criticisms voiced about how the system works in practice. Are the people at the other end of the Fairtrade trade receiving their fair share of the profits? I asked Jack Doherty for his response.

Answering the critics

“It is very important to address strongly any criticisms about the whole Fairtrade system, especially that carrying the Fairtrade logo and certification. There are some misinformed and erroneous ideas sometimes levelled at ‘Fairtrade’. Alan Duncan said, ‘Fairtrade is a firm and robust economic model’.  There is a rigid and supportive certification process (forward financing, no child labour, agreed minimum prices/wages, etc), which obviously takes time – and then the interval to imbed and get products on the market and get the big bonus premium returns on sales. If anyone ‘inspects’ superficially during these stages, they could easily make incorrect generalizations and accusations about ‘Fairtrade’.

“There is also the biggest problem of market recessions and the obvious need to sell the farmers’ products, eg cotton, beans, bananas etc, to buyers who selectively want to buy ‘Fairtrade’ certified products. The awful point here is that not enough of the FT certified product is sold – for example, in a part of Kenya, one group of farmers have worked to develop 100% Fairtrade product but only sell 28% at Fairtrade price on demand market. This exemplifies the urgency to have more ‘buyers’ involved in Fairtrade and how Fairtrade towns can assist by emphasizing to the local population how they can lift producers and workers out of poverty.

“The system is not by any means simple, while the FT principles are. We need to get Governments to tackle the unfairness and injustice in international trade.”

If you’re interested in finding out more or becoming involved, making a donation, being a stall holder or promoting Fairtrade goods, then please contact Jack Doherty via email  at jackdoherty@sky.com.

Arriving soon, Bexhill-on-Sea Fairtrade Town website. In the meantime, check them out on Facebook.

The Fairtrade Foundation here.

Fairtrade International here.

Also in: The HOT Planet