In order to raise awareness about Profugo, I recently worked an event at a local university that centered on fair trade. The event featured products from all over the world that devoted their sales and business practices to benefiting the producers abroad. Unicef sponsored this event and had several representatives asking questions of the attendees about their feelings on fair trade and human trafficking. I watched one representative ask a very fashionable student how her consumption had contributed to human trafficking and this student admitted that she did not know how she would have. The representative then asked: do you know what fair trade is? Where do you source your clothes? The student looked puzzled and didn’t reply, which prompted the representative to explain the significance of human trafficking and fair trade in the market of imported products. I felt proud to be at an event that not only educated young change makers about how they can make choices to impact the world, but that I was supporting one of the organizations who is devoted to fair trade and development in impoverished areas.
Recent news has come to light about a flaw in the certified Fair Trade system. While the Fair Trade label helps raise awareness about inhumane working conditions abroad, not all of the certified producers, especially coffeemakers, can market all their products at a Fair Trade price. This impact frequently fails to provide a sustainable solution for assisting in community development abroad. Further, the cost of certification is nearly impossible for many workers to raise. Profugo began projects in Wayanad, India, with the goal of sustainable development, not for creating a business. Members of Profugo are passionate about the Wayanad community and have empowered women with business and tailoring skills, not improving upon preexisting exports, but providing an opportunity for these women to have secure jobs and leave day laboring projects. In this way, Profugo sustains fair trade in transparently focusing on the community as a whole. The products of the women’s tailoring project are one tool for community development — these products provide fair wages for women and fund Profugo’s health, water, farming, and sustainability projects.
Since working for this organization, I have bought several of Profugo’s products to demonstrate my passion for this organization and its mission. In choosing reputable sources for commodities, I feel a level of consumer citizenship that is difficult to encounter in this day and age. In voting with my dollar for sweatshop-free commodities, fair trade conditions, and community development, I feel as though I am not only doing good, but demonstrating a degree of moral identity through the products I use. I now get excited when people ask, “where did you get that bag?” because I have a story to share. I can tell the story of my joining Profugo and the story of Profugo and its projects in Wayanad.
Reading online, I have found that in 2005, only 27% of US consumers recognized the Fair trade label (Bondy, Talwar 366). I feel empowered knowing that through my consumption, I can help others learn about fair trade practices, allowing them to consider their own consumer impact. The Fair Trade label seeks to alter a preexisting product and market in order to serve impoverished producers. I am gratified that Profugo seeks to do the same, further working for women’s empowerment through an alternate market that works sustainably in the local community and has the end goal of equality and community development in Wayanad.
Sources:
http://profugo.org/agrodiversity-and-sustainability/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wydick/10-reasons-fair-trade-coffee-doesnt-work_b_5651663.html
http://profugo.org/12-days-of-fair-trade-holiday-shopping/
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee
Andorfer, Veronika A. and Liebe, Ulf. “Research on Fair Trade Consumption–A Review.” J Bus Ethics (2011). DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-1008-5.
Bondy, Tierney and Talwar, Vishal. “Through Thick and Thin: How Fair Trade Consumers Have Reacted to the Global Economic Recession. Springer Journal of Business Ethics (2011) 1-1:365-383. DOI 10.1007/s10551-010-0726-4.
Jaffee, Daniel. “Weak Coffee: Certification and Co-Optation in the Fair Trade Movement. Social Problems, Vol. 59, No. 1 (February 2012), pp. 94-116.
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