Going Beyond Fair Trade?

What does it mean to go beyond Fair Trade? I once asked a jewelry vendor at a gift show if they were Fair Trade and they told me that they were better than Fair Trade. When I asked them what they meant by that, they didn't really give me a clear answer, thus leaving me full of curiosity. In doing research about Fair Trade, the statement of going beyond or being better than Fair Trade comes up every so often. So, last night when doing research for another thing I enjoy - food -- I came across this video about a new chocolate company on the Food Channel.

The company is called Askinosie Chocolate and it was started by a former defense lawyer turned chocolatier. The goal is to work directly with the farmers and sharing 10% of the net profits with them and of course offer a high quality chocolate product. All while going beyond Fair Trade by paying more than the set minimum Fair Trade prices.

I read through all their FAQs (yes, I read through all of it) to find out all the nitty gritty. They are not against the concept of Fair Trade but don't feel like  getting certified is the way for them. You can check out the specific reasons on their site, but what I am concerned about is the idea that a lot of the time when people talk about going beyond Fair Trade and being 'better than Fair Trade' it is always the issue of offering a higher price that seems to be the main argument. While I think that paying higher than market price is an important aspect of Fair Trade, it is not the only compenent driving this alternative movement.

For me, the power of Fair Trade lies in the environmental sustainability component, the long-term trading partnerships between the producers and the vendors, empowerment of marginalized communities through democratic organization of cooperatives and the community and economic development that is realized. I talk at length about the benefits beyond a fair monetary compensation when I spoke about the social premiums involved with Fair Trade that I think needs to be highlighted.

Phyllis Robinson of Equal Exchange also does a good job putting the movement in perspective when commenting on this blog about how Fair Trade isn't just about a fair wage.

Fair Trade is not just about a "minimum wage"; actually it's not about a wage at all... it's a minimum price because, at least for now in coffee, Fair Trade works with producers who own their own plots of land.  But it is also about advance credit, which I'm sure you know is critical.  Most farmers can't get loans from banks.  Those who do, receive them at outrageous and criminal interest rates... often up to 30%; others become indebted to coyotes and lenders and are virtually locked in cycles of "enslavement" from which its hard to break free. Fair Trade also provides the co-op with access into an international network of NGOs, churches, communities that often support social projects and infrastructure improvements that they never would have had access to without this network.  Many of our producer partners have received project support for extremely important social and productive projects from our interfaith partners, such as Lutheran World Relief, the Uniterian Universalist Service Committee, etc.

I mean, looking through the Askinosie site, I actually do enjoy them. They are doing alot of direct work with the farmers and really are concerned about offering a fair price to them and are also concerned about making good chocolate. They have this cool thing called a Chocolate University that is worth mentioning. An even cooler thing is their offering of chocolate with cocoa beans from the Phillipines. My peoples! I might just buy a bar for my mother. But I do find it important to highlight that by going beyond Fair Trade, we should also look at what Fair Trade has to offer besides the price because if that is all you think that Fair Trade is about then you are missing the full picture.