Jewish Brits Organize for Fair Trade
Kudos to the British Jewish community for mobilizing big time in support of Fair Trade!
Check out their impressive new Jewish Guide to Fair Trade – it has to be the most comprehensive resource of its kind. It’s even more remarkable when you consider that it is the product of a wide-ranging coalition that includes every major British-Jewish denomination.
This campaign is but one project of Tzedek, a British org that self-describes itself as
…a voluntarily led Non-Governmental Organisation that draws upon the skills and resources of the Jewish Community to better the lives of those less fortunate. Tzedek aims to nurture and empower open-minded Jewish community leaders to promote the fight against extreme poverty.
Their new guide is much more than just Jewish lip-service to Fair Trade. It’s filled with lots of substantive info, including Jewish sources and curricula.
Any chance that the large Jewish community on the other side of the pond might follow their lead?
A country that depends so much on agriculture has bigger problems than an “unfair” price for their farmers coffeebeans.
There are two distinctions to make with regards to “fair trade”. One is that it refers to equitable labor and environmental standards. The other is “faux trade” – buying overpriced necklaces made by poor brown people as a way proving your good will towards them.
If acceptable labor and environmental standards are in place, then ALL trade becomes Fair Trade. What Fair Trade means, at its core, is that buyer and seller accept a mutually agreeable price – the essence of capitalism.
“Faux trade” is not fair trade, because you are rewarding inherently inefficient enterprises – essentially subsidizing people to not produce at their full potential. By doing so, you are hindering Fair Trade, and the natural development of those indigenous economies.