The season of chocolate has arrived. Besides tasting delicious, chocolate is the perfect default gift for office parties, friendly get-togethers and that difficult-to-buy-for person who has everything.
So if you're buying chocolate anyway, how about choosing a brand that is marketed in a more ethical way?
Most people have heard of fair trade coffee and have some vague idea that that the farmers who grow it get a better price for their beans. But few really understand what fair trade means, or that there are other fair trade goods, such as chocolate and handicrafts, that make ideal Christmas gifts.
Engineers Without Borders is trying to change that, and to that end last Halloween volunteers from the group went door to door to do "reverse" trick or treating. Dressed as the fair trade logo or oversized bags of chocolate or coffee, they handed out fair trade Cocoa Camino chocolates.
Kimberly Bowman, a spokesperson for Engineers without Borders, says that when Canadians hear about the terrible living conditions in sub-Saharan Africa they always ask what they can do. While few people can travel to those countries to help dig wells or other projects, she says buying fair trade goods directly helps people struggling to support themselves in impoverished countries.
"Fair trade is a fantastic bridge to do something here in Canada," says Bowman.
By paying as little as two cents extra for a cup of coffee, Canadian consumers can protect coffee farmers from wild price fluctuations in the global coffee market and help them get three to five times more for their coffee. That means that instead of barely scraping by or worse, farmers can plan next years crop and afford to send their kids to school.
A large part of fair trade's effectiveness is that buyers form long-term relationships with the farmers who sell their beans through marketing co-operatives. That relationship cuts out the local, regional, national and international middle-men and ensures farmers get more bucks for their beans.
"It's a really small change in Canada that can make a very big difference in farmer's lives overseas," says Bowman. "Every time you buy a fair trade chocolate bar you know you are making a difference."
Fair trade cocoa follows a nearly identical pattern, explains Reykia Fick, a spokesperson for TransFair Canada, the organization that licenses fair trade products in Canada.
"Small farmers have a lot of difficulty making an income. In the case of cocoa there's also a big issue with the existence of child labour and particularly forced child labour, child slavery," she says.
Cocoa plantations in West Africa and especially the Ivory Coast use tens of thousands of child slaves in cocoa production, says Fick.
An estimated 15,000 child slaves work on plantations in the Ivory Coast alone, and that cocoa is purchased by major international chocolate makers. Fick says that without proper regulation it is highly likely the chocolate on store shelves contains cocoa picked by child slaves.
Fair trade producers have to follow international labour standards, environmental standards and be organized through co-operatives. A defining characteristic of a co-operative is that it is democratically run. Besides giving farmers a fair price for their cocoa beans, Fick says purchasers all give a premium to the co-operative that is invested in community development projects
TransFair has certified 13 commodities as Fair Trade so far, including some sports balls. Fick expects more products to follow in the future. And sales have been rising. According to TransFair, the estimated retail sales value of fair trade cocoa nearly tripled between 2005 and 2006, from $3,130,547 to $9,326,500 respectively.
There are also some items available in Canada that may be fair trade but are not yet certified. Diane Strong is a member of Faces of Fair Trade, a network that sells uncertified fair trade handicrafts made by low-income artisans around the world. Each member has a direct trading relationship with the artisans.
Strong works with two groups of women in Cambodia, one affected by HIV, the other being of victims of land mines. The women make purses, scarves, boxes, jewelry rolls, recycled paper bracelets and other goods that Strong purchases and then sells in Canada.
'"I found them very responsible, very polite and yet in great need because of the Pol Pot war and the repercussions are still being felt in the country," says Strong.
Strong works with the groups to develop products that will sell in Canada. One of the groups is headed by a woman who lost her right leg to a land mine. With a good head for businesses and by developing her sewing skills, she now employs ten people who she has taken into her home to live and work communally.
To make it easy for consumers to make ethical purchases, members of Faces of Fair Trade travel together in a caravan to create small fair trade marketplaces in and around Toronto. When invited, they also set up at workplaces, home parties, schools and churches.
"I do think we have a unique approach to retail sales," says Strong.
Fair Trade coffee and chocolate are available in health food stores and at many grocery stores coffee shops.
Feeds