Fair Trade Lessons from Across the Pond

With Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 underway, the excitement and chatter is at a high. The event is so huge that the British Labour Party weighed in on it. Douglas Alexander MP (that's Member of Parliament) and the Labour Party's Secretary of State for International Development has pledged the Labour Government's continuing commitment to helping small-scale farmers and artisans across the world.

Fair trade is fundamental to a fair world, a vital route out of poverty for millions of people across the globe. Fairtrade Fortnight is a reminder that it works and that this opportunity should be open to everyone.

The Labour Government is backing the world's poorest farmers with real help. We are increasing the Department for International Development's support for fair trade and by 2010 we will have raised the UK's support to help poorer countries trade to over £400 million a year.

Fair terms of trade, honest prices, decent working conditions, and local sustainability benefit both the developing world and the UK. Helping people in the developing world to help themselves is the right thing to do. At home and abroad, it is Labour that will continue working for a fair future for all.

Um. Not really sure if Secretary of State Clinton will be saying that anytime soon. USAID making a statement during Fair Trade Month? I can only hope. All the energy behind this Fortnight has me wondering about the difference in enthusiasm for Fair Trade in Europe and in the United States. Why is the Fair Trade movement so much more developed in the United Kingdom than in the United States? No, really. I'd really like to know. What made Europe adopt the Fair Trade movement earlier on than in the U.S. and bring about so much more support? There are over 400 Fairtrade Towns in the U.K. and the U.S. has just under ten. British rockers Chris Martin of Coldplay and Thom Yorke of Radiohead have publically supported Fair Trade and well, R.E.M. and The Cure support Fair Trade too, but I'm not sure the American public really knows that. Even their Starbucks seems to have a deeper commitment to Fair Trade than in the U.S. What's the secret? U.S. Fair Traders are trying to crack the code.

I recently read somewhere that the difference can be attributed to Europe's history of colonies. Many of the small-farmers benefiting from Fair Trade live in countries that were once colonies of a European country, thus by default have a strong, existing trading partnership with Europe. These close ties and the idea of supporting a former colony could be a factor. Many holes can be poked into this theory as I might not be articulating it fully. Trying hard to find original article.

Another good reason can be the cooperative movement's strong beginnings in Europe as opposed to the United States' spirit of individualism.

These theories are worth exploring and expanded upon, so I would like to know what you all think the reasons behind the differences of Fair Trade in Europe and the United States are. Perhaps the answer will someday lead to the United States making a deep commitment to fairer trading policies.

[image: getty images]