In defence of..

Firstly a nice song for you all to listen to.I've never actually managed to embed a youtube video in my posts before, but I am confident with the help of the lovely Edge, this is going to work!

I thought I'd put the carrot before the stick because I have some more placard waving to do today. And I know how short your attention spans are.
So. In defence of fair trade. I read an interesting post by my lovely friend The Edge yesterday, where he seemed a little confused about the purpose, ethos and benefits of the Fair Trade campaign. I'm not really going to try and respond point by point, but I didn't want anyone to read what he wrote and think, Fair Trade is a bad idea. Its not, its very important and a very good idea. Some might say that this is all about middle class consumer guilt. Some people might be right I guess, I don't care.
Why should we buy fairtrade? Is it about giving farmers a fair price for their produce? Well, yes. If only it were as simple as that though.The coffee market, Is a very volatile one - prices fluctuate all the time and the farmers, if they are not fairtrade farmers, livelyhoods depend on this market. Whether they eat or not, this week depends on what price they can get for their coffee. However, the people who buy the coffee from the farmers, and the companies that do what they do with the coffee, and the distributors, and the big coffee companies, all get to eat that week. No matter what happens to the price. This is of course, fair enough to a certain degree, its what capatalist societies depend on. However, its also fair enough to say that whilst the coffee at being sold at a profit, its a little more equitable that the people at the very bottom, should be paid a living wage. Fairtade producers don't get a great deal for producing their coffee for fairtrade. They might get a national minimum wage though, and I know you agree that everyone ought to be entitled to that

What gives them a right to expect to make a living from farming? And why is it different to people who choose to say, play poker for a living? In the developing world, roughly 50% of employment comes from farming. What would you like these people to do? Go and get a job in M&S? Become a fireman? An oil rigger? A chef? People farm because people need to work , and there is a demand for what they supply. Also, I'm guessing you know that in say, Nicaragua, or the Dominican Republic, there isn't a fantastic education system or a world of career choices for the average farmers son. Theres also not much in the way of trade unions. Theres sometimes not much in the way of a benefits system, or free health, or a government that needs to be seen to care about the individual welfare of it citizens. And why is it different from the life of a professional poker player? The professional poker play could give it all up and get a job at Maccy D tomorrow if she or he wanted to. Its not the same thing at all. People who are talented or priveliged enough to play poker for a living, only do so because they choose to. Personally I'm more saddened that people think that just because these people live in the developing world that they aren't entitled to a minimum income.

Another problem with fair trade is it comes from distant third world countries and importing it is bad for the environment. Sorry, have they started growing bananas and coffee in hertfordshire? Actually, since I'm going to consume bananas and coffee anyway, I'll have coffee made by people who actually care about a sustainable environment. You think McCoffee give a fuck about soil erosion?
The point that these coffee producers must be running terribly inefficient businesses and they need charity to bail them out.. is just plain wrong. This is about people being forced to sell their coffee for pence when the people that are buying their coffee to re-sell and redistribute are making huge profits.
As for charity beginning at home? Well, yeah, people in this country are exploited and raped in the arse by their employers every day, as are people on benefits. I hope you don't mind if i say these are two very seperate issues. But I have an idea. Lets just say you believe an employer (lets say Maccy D) exploits its staff, while you have a choice, don't eat there. If you think single mothers don't get enough in benefits, write a letter to your MP, vote for someone else.

In the meantime, keep buying them fairtrade bananas!

Fairtrade
Oxfam

Finally, in defence of Britney Spears, a woman , who until lately, I didn't think I had much sympathy for at all, has gone into rehab, and lo, some nasty, miserable scummy git has gone to the press with details of her problems that he heard while they sat in therapy together. How nice.
Where is the love?!