Fairtrade Fortnight 2006 Make Fairtrade Your Habit

1. Creatures of habit

We tend to be creatures of habit. We sit down each day to eat the same cereals -- perhaps topped with fruit -- same toast and marmalade and our usual drink of juice, tea or coffee. Every day stuff but the simple habits in our breakfast alone could help to build up a small sugar producing co-operative in Malawi, or allow a struggling banana producer to realise a price that covers his costs, or give tea pickers in Sri Lanka access to education and pensions. And as for the impact on cotton farmers of that favourite shirt, socks or jeans we’ve slipped on . . . .

Behind every food we eat or piece of clothing that we put on lies a story. If we get in the habit of asking for the story before buying this tea or that jumper -- and choosing our purchases based on the answers -- we could make our habitual choices work for others . . . and gradually transform the way trade takes place.

What is the Fairtrade story? Fairtrade creates a new way of trading that benefits small producers groups and has a built-in commitment to their development and welfare. Based on genuine partnership that build up relationships of trust, Fairtrade guarantees producers fair prices, ensures safe working practices and aims to be environmentally sustainable. Payment is given in advance, as required, where previously farmers had no access to credit.

Such principles – far removed from the general standards of world markets – make all the difference. “It is difficult to survive in the neo-liberal model” says Victor Perezgrovas, General Manager of Union Majomut coffee co-operative in Mexico “but Fairtrade has given us the capacity to work within the system. The minimum price has covered costs of production and allowed us a dignified life. It has helped us invest in other areas such as organic so that we get a higher income. It has given us the access to finance. As small farmers who are organised and thinking about the future, the social premium has enabled us to invest in our communities”

Fairtrade is more than just one practical way to tackle poverty in the world, it encourages Kingdom values to come into the market place. All WE have to do is get into some good habits in the way we buy our goods, and pass on the Fairtrade habit to others in our churches and communities. Let the creatures of good habits change the world.

2. Little things matter

Little things matter. As Christians, we strive with the help of God’s grace to build up, little by little, the habits of love in our lives. Finding prayer time each day, making the effort to say a kind word . . . taken individually, such actions may seem relatively small, but the habits they create are part of our inward transformation.

This Fairtrade Fortnight, why not add the regular purchase of Fairtrade goods to your habits? It may seem a small thing whether you choose one type of banana or another, one kind of clothing or another, but like the other elements of a Christian life, it can prove transformative – for others, and for us.

Purchasing Fairtrade goods is a way of living out the command to love our neighbours: Fairtrade ensures that those who produce what we eat, drink and wear – neighbours even though we may not see them – receive a fair return for their labour. It guarantees farmers a fair price that covers the cost of living, and agricultural and factory workers a fair wage and labour rights. It gives producers’ communities a “fairtrade premium” to invest in community needs: things like wells, school supplies, maternity clinics, and mobile medical units. Fairtrade requires adherence to environmental standards and encourages continual improvement in environmental care. It offers producers in developing countries information that can help them negotiate world markets and plan better for the future.

One striking example of the transformation Fairtrade can bring comes from the Dominican Republic. A few years ago the Juliana-Jaramillo cooperative there started selling their bananas on the UK Fairtrade market. Within two years, this small cooperative of about 70 farmers had raised enough money to

roof their houses,

buy an electric generator,

restore the community’s long defunct water system,

start a community canteen,

and distribute sanitation systems to local residents

Nor is this a lone example; as the Fairtrade market has grown, it’s benefiting many villages . . and even countries. Thanks to UK customer demand, Fairtrade production in Dominica has grown sixfold, bringing vital income to this highly commodity-dependent nation.

Hard to believe it’s small habitual purchases like yours having such an effect? Think about this: the average UK consumer eats 13kg of bananas a year. Multiply that times the people in your house. Then times the number of households in your church . . . a church with 30 households could easily go through a metric tonne in a year!

But Fairtrade doesn’t just benefit producers. We gain too – and not just on the tasty treats front! Thinking through our choices when we shop reminds us that all our lives – even the mundane activities – can be used to give glory to God. It helps us to remember our interconnectedness with brothers and sisters around the world. And it provides a witness to the world that Christians love with their deeds, not just their words. Little things really do matter.

These articles have been produced by colleagues at Christian Concern for One World (CCOW). For further articles for your church magazine from CCOW, please contact Maranda St John Nicolle at ccowinfo@fish.co.uk or phone 01865 378059