I was stunned and dismayed to find myself enter a supermarket (Morrisons) and find they had no Fairly traded tea on their shelves. It hadn't sold out, there simply wasn't any!
Now there were a couple of brands of fairtrade coffee (ironic as I don't drink coffee!!) but nowhere was there any tea to be found. As I walked around I noticed that, unlike the local Co-op, there was a paucity of the products that I have become used to.
Now, no doubt this would be put down to the fact that people can't afford the extra cost of fair trade, something I have been told many times, but this is a hollow and untrue explanation. In one of the churches in which we found ourselves, the membership baulked at the prospect of buying fair trade stuff on the grounds that, "Only the rich people can afford to buy that stuff," and better still, "We should be helping the people here before we help people in other countries!"
So, note to self - if I can afford to stick some extra (high priced) goodies in my bag and yet can't afford to do what is right, what does this say of my Christian viewpoint? If I don't live what I preach what does this make me?
Second note - If a store can't do fair trade then it can obviously afford to do without my custom.
Pax
4 comments:
Strange that Morrisons had no Fair Trade tea for sale; their website states that they "sell Fairtrade coffee and tea in all of our 321 cafes."
My own concern with Fair Trade is that it actually does what was expressed in the sentiment from folk at the church you mentioned, namely "helping the people here before we help people in other countries!"
The proportion of the Fair Trade mark-up that goes to British importers and retailers is staggering; the long-term viability of the system seems dubious to me and perhaps most concerning of all, the system seems to provide a way for the middle/upper classes to deal with 'guilt'. Surely we Christians have an infinitely better place to point people than Fair Trade to genuinely help them!
That's my tuppence worth!
Totally agree James.
I have to say that I was surprised as I know they do fair trade in the cafés (which this store didn't have either :( ).
Regardless of where the money goes (and I know a fair deal serves our own people) I would have thought that justice and equity would have been uppermost in the mindset of believers - obviously got that a little wrong didn't I.
Hey ho!
Thanks for the post,
V
Thanks for your post!
Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting for a moment that many, many Fair Trade consumers (both believers and unbelievers) aren't motivated by justice and equity.
What I was trying to point out is that in my experience (and in the tiny bit of research on the culture of Fair Trade that I've done) I've been struck how the 'movement' approximates a 'religion'. To cut-and-paste from a piece I wrote a while back:
"Fairtrade is establishing itself as an authoritative ‘redeemer’ and calling people to turn to it. Indeed, the social structures that Fairtrade strives to create helps to establish communities of ‘believers’ who serve to invite others in. The benefits of committing to Fairtrade are twofold; relieving the poverty of marginalised farmers whilst earning a feel-good factor; a righteousness of one’s own."
Again, I agree with you.
Just as some of the passionate 'save the wotsit' campaigners have turned their concern into something spiritual which confers a higher moral ground and is, in many aspects, a religion, the same is true of some who campaign for fairly traded stuff.
I would hope that for Christians this is not the case, but I am often disappointed on this one.
Thanks again,
V
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