Making Halloween Less Scary for Small Farmers: Families Celebrating with Fair Trade Chocolate
In conversation with Adrienne Fitch-Frankel of Global Exchange
This Halloween, Synchronized Chaos Magazine encountered an intriguing advertisement for Reverse Trick-Or-Treating, where children gave out free candy along with flyers concerning the values of Global Exchange’s fair-trade chocolate. Here we discuss the ins and outs of the campaign, along with broader economic and ecological and cultural issues, with Global Exchange’s Adrienne Fitch-Frankel.
For our readers – Global Exchange offers free fair-trade Reverse Trick-Or-Treating kits available for kids and families who wish to participate…more information and the signup form available here: http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/ Deadline for church/temple/mosque/school etc group signups is the end of September, deadline for individual trick or treaters is October 13th. So you know, they can and do run out of chocolate!
Synchronized Chaos: Many of us in the Western world hear the phrase ‘fair-trade’ frequently, even at Starbucks and Peet’s. What does that label usually represent, and how does Global Exchange incorporate fair trade practices?
Adrienne Fitch-Frankel (paraphrased): Fair trade involves a commitment to building a business relationship with farmers where those who work the land may earn a decent standard of living. This can happen through practices such as guaranteeing a minimum price every year so one poor harvest does not bankrupt farm workers. Or by facilitating farm cooperatives so farmers may pool their capital and invest in education, healthcare, or sustainable environmental practices such as relatively inexpensive, nontoxic ways to fight fungi and improve crop yields.
Synchronized Chaos: Great humanitarian ideas, and decent business model, too – surely bankrupting one’s suppliers would not be to a company’s economic advantage. But, could ordinary people (in the Western world) still afford coffee or cocoa produced this way?