Faith Groups helped to set up Fairtrade over 25 years ago. Churches of all denominations joined together in those days, Catholic, Protestant, Quaker and so on. It was an extraordinary moment that showed how important Fairtrade was and how much it meant to all these faith groups.
They are key supporters of Fairtrade because they can make the link between trade and poverty. Fairtrade is making a real difference to the lives of more than 7 million farmers, workers and their families in 59 developing countries.
So many faith groups make an effort because they know that just by buying Fairtrade, they can make a difference to the awful grinding poverty in the developing world.
When I was involved with Fairtrade in Hampshire, the local churches were very closely involved, and dear friends who belonged to a local church sold Fairtrade goods to their own congregation after the service on a Sunday. All these efforts make a massive difference. Of course, COVID makes a difference now.
Non-church goers work well with churchgoers through Fairtrade. Fairtrade is a uniting influence and this is something to be admired. Fairtraders also work well with mosques and synagogues, again a uniting influence.
The poverty that Fairtrade tries to work with, our 7 million farmers, means a great deal to all of us. Our Fairtrade pioneers like Traidcraft and Café Direct are very important to us and if you cannot buy a Fairtrade product in your local store, you can buy any Fairtrade product on line with these two Fairtrade companies.
Faith groups support Fairtrade because they believe in ethical standards. Together we try to innovate, broaden and deepen these standards.
There is a slight complication here because Fairtrade needs to deal with big companies to ensure that the Fairtrade logo and products are used around the world, but unfortunately the ethics here are more difficult.
At the moment, we are fighting Nestle, who wish to withdraw itself from Fairtrade, because we are apparently too expensive for poor little Nestle, and some supermarkets are trying to set up their own ethical products because it is cheaper for them.
They are not really concerned about the ethics and the support for our farmers. They do not offer the Fairtrade premium payment which does so much good to support the farmers.
These companies are not concerned about the environment, which is supremely vital for our planet, whereas our farmers are activists in supporting the environment and working hard to support wildlife, and not using pesticides in their farming methods.
So ethics in faith groups and Fairtrade share the same views which is why we work so well together. The Church in Wales and the Catholic Church are Fairtrade churches.
In fact on the 23rd November of this year, the Pope welcomed Fairtraders from Fairtrade Africa. He wanted to make it clear that he supports products with the Fairtrade logo. He knows how Fairtrade Africa is working hard to secure a better deal for over 1 million farmers and workers in Africa. As the Pope said,
“Shop your values, purchasing is always a moral- and not simply an economic – act”.
During the COVID 19 pandemic, there are so many people having to use food banks and in the process of losing or have lost their jobs, so it is very hard for me sometimes to push the Fairtrade agenda.
But there are people out there who have money. Many of them do not think about helping and often think in terms of the deserving and undeserving poor. The rich get away with it all.
Dominic Cummings and Rita Ora were not fined for breaking the lockdown rules, but the ordinary person is immediately fined by the police.
Sir Philip Green has robbed his workers’ pension funds and even though his company Arcadia is going down the tubes, he is out on his magnificent yacht in the Med and he still keeps his knighthood. We look around and see injustice everywhere. Somebody on Facebook put it very succinctly like this,
“The problem with the UK is people earning £1000 an hour have convinced people earning £15 an hour that people earning £8 an hour are the problem.”
One rule for the rich and a completely different rule for the poor.
There are people who have money who do try to help the poor locally and donate to food banks and this is very commendable. Those of us who can should help, and many people do.
If you can afford to help local people then you can afford to shop morally and therefore support Fairtrade.
Please remember, just as the Faith Groups do, that Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in developing countries.
It ensures that people receive at least a minimum fair price for their produce and a community premium that they decide how to spend, for example a local maternity hospital so that babies do not need to be born outside.
COVID-19 is threatening to make the enormous challenges the cocoa farmers face every day even worse. We are backing these farmers through Fairtrade, so where possible please buy Fairtrade chocolate, chocolate with the Fairtrade logo or Fairtrade hot chocolate.
Our lives are torn apart at the moment because of the pandemic and we find it difficult to think about anyone else except our own families.
We would like to give a shout out to our supermarkets who support Fairtrade and especially the Co-op who is a massive supporter of Fairtrade.
I know it is hard but if you can do your moral duty when shopping, please support Fairtrade.
