3. Why Fair Trade?
Provides farmers and workers in developing countries with the help
they need to make successful and sustainable businesses to better
their community
A major aspect of Fair Trade is that funds are specifically designated
for social, economic, and environmental developmental projects such
as building businesses, empowering women, supporting
education, fighting poverty, and providing health care.
Sets and enforces strict standards and requirements that ensure
products are produced under ethical conditions. Some of these
conditions include sustainable work ethics, no child labor, and no
sweatshop practices
4. Fair Trade: A Trend
The fair trade apparel and accessory trend is affecting many
different cultures, lives, families and countries around the
world
Not only is this merchandise morally and physically
supporting a good cause, it also falls under the ever growing
sustainability trend. Fair trade companies, supporters, and
workers all promote and live by doing their part to provide
sustainable products and merchandise to consumers.
Fair trade is becoming and is a trend because it also allows
consumers to purchase products knowing they are directly
impacting the lives and communities of the workers creating
the products.
5. Fair Trade: A Trend
Cause Branding
“A potentially profit-making initiative by a for-profit company or brand to
raise awareness, money, and/or consumer engagement in a social or
environmental issue. Cause branding additionally attempts to create a permanent
association between the company or brand and that issue in the eyes of the
consumer” (citation).
The cause branding trend has become a very strong trend within retail industry
and fair trade is similar to this practice but instead of just raising money for
charity fair trade organizations “*…+ teach disadvantaged communities how to
use the free market to their advantage”(citation).
6. Fair Trade in the Retail Industry
• Fair Trade pumps money into these developing countries helping to boost their
economy’s
• Truly fair traded products offer a sincere sense of originality and exclusiveness
many consumers strive for.
• Celebrities, trend setters and designers are jumping on not only the
sustainability band wagon, but the fair trade aspect of production as
well, making these products popular and in increasing demand.
• The Queen of England has also noticed and recognized the good in fair trade
products.
7. Fair Trade in the Retail Industry
Consumers are beginning to specifically shop for these fair traded
items, instead of a style or color coming first, consumers are starting to base
their purchasing decisions on the products production history.
Statistically consumers also enjoy the humanity portion of the fair trade
process, people in today’s society want to do good and ultimately see positive
change through the world.
Even though economically, our society has been in a down turn, that has not
stopped designers, retailers, and ultimately consumers from making ethical
purchasing decisions.
For example, increasing prices of raw materials has also brought
attention and awareness to the fair trade concept.
8. Discussion Question:
Now that we are rising out of the recent recession
and money is starting to flow back into our
economy, are you willing to spend more on
merchandise that is fair traded? Does the background
of the products you wear matter to you?
9. MALI
• Mali is one of the 10
poorest countries in the
world
• Mali is the largest
cotton producer on the
African continent
• 40% of Mali’s rural
population is dependent
on cotton production
• Before the
Dougourakoroni Cotton
Producers co-operative
existed Malian farmers
were being forced to sell
their cotton crop below
production costs
because the decreasing
worth of cotton per kg
10. MALI
• Mali women
produce hand
crafted jewelry for
Catholic Relief
Services
• Help raise
awareness about
obstetric fistula to
local women.
11. Banglades
h
• Women in
Bangladesh
often forced to
live in slums
and work in
factories up to
600 miles away
from their
families
• Fair trade fights
poverty
12. • Founded in 1991 in Japan
by Safia Minney
• Registered and highly
involved member of the
World Fair Trade
Organization (WFTO)
• Design garments by hand as
much as possible in order to
create work in developing
countries
• To support producer
partners' efforts towards
economic independence
and control over their
environment and to
challenge the power
structures that undermine
their rights to a livelihood.
13. KENYA
• Cotton sector struggling –
production at 8.2% of
national capacity
• Farmers producing low
yields of poor quality
cotton
• Cotton costs rising
• Situation particularly
poor in Kitui and Mwingi
districts where poverty
level is as much as 76%
• Cotton production is one
of the few means these
farmers have to earn an
income to meet basic
needs
14. KENYA
Fair Trade Cotton project
• Links farmers in these
districts to a fair trade
supply chain through a
local ginnery
• Guaranteed sales mean
farmers receive an
increased and consistent
price
• More than 200%
increased income
• Lives of 2,500 farmers
and their families
improved
15. Fair Trade in the US
• The United States of America is a
developed country, thus to the • Retailers all across America not
American society the ideas of giving only began to sell fair traded
back to people in need, ethical products, but opened businesses
global business, and sustainability with fair trade as their business
have not only become increasingly foundation.
popular, but trendy as well.
• Fair traded merchandise and • Even main stream companies
products are one very influential such as Ebay, are beginning to
way for consumers to obtain that offer fair trade products to fulfill
trend. consumer demands.
• Celebrities and public figures have
taken it upon themselves to spread
the knowledge on fair trade, and
why it was established in the first
place, to mainstream consumers.
16. Theories
• Trickle Down Theory • To indicate desired
Fair trade clothing social conduct
and accessories became
ex: WWJD bracelets
trendy because the people at
the top of the social ranking
became interested
17. Discussion Questions
• Is it possible to run a Fair Trade company on
a large scale?
• How can fair trade become more popular?
• Will fair trade eventually reduce poverty?
• Do you think fair trade fashion will ever take
over fast fashion?
18. Reference Page
FairTrade. Merriam-webster dictionary. Retrieved April 26, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20trade.
Definition: cause branding [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://dowelldogood.net/?p=483.
What is fair trade?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.transfairusa.org/what-is-fair-trade
Traub, C. (2010, February 15). Paris trade shows feature wide mix. Women's Wear Daily, Retrieved from http://www.wwd.com/markets-
news/mix-of-old-and-new-stirs-paris-trade-shows-3490829
Queen elizabeth ii delivers honors to fashion industry. (2010, December 30). Women's Wear Daily, Retrieved from
http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/queen-elizabeth-ii-delivers-honors-to-fashion-industry-3410538
Denton, E. (2010, October 18). Do shoppers care about sustainability?. Women's Wear Daily, Retrieved from
http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/do-shoppers-care-about-sustainability-3340419
Stengel, R. (2009, September 10). Doing well by doing good. Time Magazine, Retrieved from
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1921591,00.html
Stephenson, L.B. (2010, October 11). Rising price of gold forces jewelers to adjust. Women's Wear Daily, Retrieved from
http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/gold-prices-rise-and-jewelers-adjust-3333905#/article/markets-news/gold-prices-rise-and-jewelers-
adjust-3333905?page=2
Fair Trade USA. (n.d.). Apparel & Linens. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Fair Trade USA: http://fairtradeimpact.org/
Fairtrade Foundation. (2006). Dougourakoroni Cotton Producers Co-operative, Mali. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from Fairtrade Foundation:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/producers/cotton/dougourakoroni_cotton_producers.aspx
People Tree. (n.d.). About People Tree. Retrieved April 26, 2011 , from People Tree: http://www.peopletree.co.uk/about-us/
Traidcraft. (2011). Fairtrade Cotton, Kenya. Retrieved April 26, 2011, from Tradecraft:
http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/international_development/overseas_programmes/east_africa/fairtrade_cotton_kenya
Editor's Notes
Picture celebrating fair trade in Ethiopia
Talk about Cause Branding and how they are semi-related:
Cause Branding to so trendy amongst consumers and shares a common goal/background with the fair trade trend
A large section at Prêt focused on ethical and fair-trade brands, with participation from U.S. ethical fashion agency NOW Showcase.A clutch of hard-working Brits in the fashion, media, and music worlds have won top honors from Queen Elizabeth II. On Friday, Her Majesty’s 2010 New Year Honors List — an annual roster of high-achievers in their respective fields — was published, with figures including veteran fashion designer and outspoken campaigner for Fair Trade cotton Katherine Hamnett.
Women’s Wear Daily recently went to the streets of the Lower East Side in New York City to ask consumers what they were looking for in “green” shoes and at for what price. Jolene Boyce stated “I’m vegan, so I would like to buy more vegan shoes, but I don’t really know what’s out there. I look at fair-trade, biodegradable, sweatshop-free companies.” Kristy Dodds also said “I look for something light and comfortable and with fair-trade, sweatshop-free [aspects]”Clearly consumers now prefer their products and merchandise have a healthy and ethical production background. In an interview done by Richard Stengel with Time Magaizine, he interviewed The President and First Lady for the magazine’s annual service issues. Together they discussed the fact that “[e]ven as people acknowledged that times were tough, 38% of Americans 18 and older, some 86 million people, reported taking a number of socially conscious actions this year, including buying green products and goods from companies they thought had responsible values. This is a sea change in the mind-set of Americans and represents the rise of what we're calling the ethical consumer. Just as our DNA as Americans contains a commitment to volunteerism and civic participation, there is a new social contract evolving between many Americans and businesses about what goes into making the products we buy” Ethical consumer=targeted fair trade consumer“Environmentally conscious fine jewelers Kimberly McDonald and Pippa Small, who both price designs from about $1,500 to $50,000 at retail, add buying incentive by using recycled and fair trade gold. The fair trade designation means that during mining the metals are not separated with arsenic or cyanide, and that the mercury involved in the process is disposed of properly, tacking on a 10 percent premium. Small said her first fair trade-certified collection sold out”
Add in here about the Co-operative and what it does
obstetric fistula can be caused by prolonged labor, poor prenatal care and a scarcity of midwives. The resulting infertility, incontinence and odor often cause husbands to leave their wives, and many women face discrimination in their own communities.
Fair trade fights poverty by:providing fair wagessocial well being improved due to: opportunities to learn new skillstravel and meet new peoplenew experiencesproviding additional social networks
Emma Watson
Trickle Down Theory For example, in Fort Worth Sharon Cansler opened Beloveds, after visiting a green festival in San Francisco, to provide fair traded products to her friends, family, and community
