Fair Trade

                                                                      
 

What is Fair Trade?                                  


Praying & Preaching on Fair Trade

 
 

What exactly is Fair Trade? Does it work? Who decides what qualifies? And how can we work out whether products are fairly traded? Is there a theology of Fair Trade? Some answers to these questions and more> >


"Grant that the simple choices we make --
what tea to drink, what fruit to eat --
may honour your Name and
reveal your Kingdom present among us"
A selection of prayers and links to more>>

 
 


 
  Fair Trade Campaigns                            
What Can I /My Church Do?              
 

From the "till roll" campaigns in the 1990s to the Fairtrade Towns and Fairtrade Churches campaigns of today, Fair Trade campaigning has worked to raise awareness of Fair Trade and bring justice to producers around the world. Join in! more>>


Commit to pray for justice in trade? Work to bring Fair Trade into your church, your school, your workplace? Join a local coalition to further Fair Trade in you area? Find out first hand how Fair Trade benefits producers? more>>

 
 


 
  Resources on Fair Trade                       
Finding out more                                  
 

Download resources on Fair Trade more >>


Where to find further information about Fair Trade more >>

 
         

 

All pictures courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade is an alternative to unfair systems of world trade -- a way of seeking justice for producers through right trading relationships.

One of the principles of Fair Trade is that producers are paid a fair price -- which covers sustainable production and the costs of living -- for their goods. But while that's the best known aspect of Fair Trade for consumers, it's only a small part of the whole.

A working definition agreed in 2001 by four of the largest Fair Trade networks reads:

"Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade.

It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers - especially in the South.

Fair Trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade."1

What does this mean in practice? In their book, "Fair Trade," Dr. Alex Nicholls and Charlotte Opal list generally accepted factors in a Fair Trade relationship as including:

  • Agreed minimum prices, usually set ahead of market minimums
  • Focus on development and technical assistance via the payment to suppliers of an agreed social premium . . .

  • Direct purchasing from producers

  • Transparent and long-term trading partnerships

  • Co-operative, not competitive, dealings

  • Provision of credit when requested

  • Provision of market information to producers

  • Farmers and workers are organised democratically

  • Sustainable production is practised

  • No labour abuses occurred during the production process .2

In a genuine Fair Trade relationship all of these factors work together for good.

  • The provision of credit in advance means that producers don't start their work already in debt and facing crippling repayments.
  • Over a period of time -- the result of the long-term partnerships -- freedom from debt, the provision of a fair price and the additional premium for development remove the primary impetus for child labour (extreme poverty within families), give producers the capital to undertake sustainable development practices and improve their products, help them to diversify their incomes, and give the means to improve the living conditions for the local area
  • In addition, the improved nature of the products, the direct relationships Fair Trade encourages, the capacity-building it gives to producer organisations and the market information it offers enable producers to function better in the conventional global markets. This is very important, as few producer groups actually sell all of their goods on the Fair Trade market. With their increased awareness of how markets work, however, they can generally negotiate better contracts in the conventional markets as well -- further increasing their incomes.

So that's Fair Trade in general terms. To find out more about two specific groups of standards for Fair Trade relationships, go to the page called "How to identify fairly traded goods"

Oh, and by the way -- you may have wondered why this page refers to "Fair Trade" rather than "Fairtrade." That's because the general concept is covered by the two word term. The use of the term ‘Fairtrade' (one word) is reserved by the Fairtrade Foundation as a description of "products and transactions involving products that meet international Fairtrade standards, and of related activities such as the Fairtrade Towns campaign". . . . more about that in the page noted above.

1 Definition agreed by FLO, IFAT, NEWS and EFTA.
2 Alex Nicholls and Charlotte Opal, "Fair Trade: Market-Driven Ethical Consumption" (Sage Books, 2005) 

All photographs courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk.

The Theology of Fair Trade

“What we do when we shop is engage in trade. . . It is impossible to buy anything without impacting the lives of other people. Since Jesus asks us as Christians to love our neighbour as ourselves, and our neighbour is any other human being with whom we come into contact, the demand to love must prevail when we shop.” Dewi Hughes, The Bible and Trade

How is Fair Trade a way of living out our Christian faith? A number of authors have worked on the theology – looking at how prophetic teachings on trade and on equity might apply in today’s context; applying, as Dewi Hughes does, the command to love our neighbour to our everyday choices; and investigating the way in which Fair Trade fits into the question of how we steward God’s creation and live in relationship with our fellow humans.

The United Reformed Church’s Commitment for Life programme has published “Fairtrade as Mission,” a small and easily accessible leaflet on the Christian ethics of Fairtrade by the Canon Chris Sugden. You can further explore these issues in Canon Sugden’s Grove pamphlet “Fairtrade as Christian Mission” available from Grove Booklets on Ethics, Ridley Hall, Cambridge, 01223-46474 or in his chapter of the same name in “Markets, Fair Trade and the Kingdom of God,” (ISBN 1-870345-19-3). Some other useful discussions of the theology of Fair Trade are

  • Dewi Hughes’ “The Bible and Trade.” This 9-page document, written for Tearfund, is available on loan from CCOW; it has also been shortened to bite-sized Bible studies for youth. To read the youth version, click here.
  • The “Lift the Label” campaign's book, “Lift the Label: The Hidden Cost of Our Lifestyle,” (ISBN 1-85078-572-4) authored by David Westlake and Esther Stansfield.
  • The meditation on fair trade by theologian Clare Amos in CCOW’s “Faith in the Balance” (available for download in the More Information and Resources section of Issues around Trade).

Does Fair Trade work?

Yes! From a small beginning, Fair Trade has grown to bring multiple benefits to producers around the world. As of February 2007, UK FAIRTRADE-Marked product sales were running at over £300 million a year. And looking at the world picture, one estimate is that global Fairtrade product sales will hit £1 billion by 2007. 1

The financial return to producers on these sales is far higher than it would be under conventional terms. According to a recent paper by Dr. Alex Nicholls, “in 2002, FLO [the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation] estimated the income benefit to Fairtrade coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, rice, fruit, honey, and juice producers at £21m, of which £17m was attributable to sales of Fairtrade certified coffee.” This estimate is based on a comparison of Fairtrade “floor” prices (the Fairtrade minimum) with prevailing market prices. Nicholls adds “Cafédirect alone returned £2.8m in additional income to its coffee suppliers in 2003.”

In craft sales, too, producers receive higher prices. Julia Castro, president of CIAP, a Fair Trade organization of Peruvian artisans dedicated to production and export of handicrafts made by their members, estimated that Fair Trade prices were up to 1/3 higher than the norm. When asked what that meant in real terms, she responded that it gave producers like her hope for the future, as it allowed them to educate their children. 3

But the price difference is only part of the benefit of Fair Trade. Under Fairtrade standards, cooperatives and worker organisations also receive a social premium – money (up to 10% of the price of the goods sold) which they can invest in the community. The social premium has allowed producers around the world to improve their communities. The Igara Growers Tea Factory in Uganda, for example, were able to buy a tank supplying clean water, improve communication via mobile phones and a computer, purchase school materials for members’ children, and create a maternity clinic for their area, so that women no longer need to be carried up to 60km to give birth. 4 Villagers in Kasinthula, Malawi were able to create wells, so that women and children no longer lose their lives getting water from the crocodile-infested Shire river. 5 The banana farmers of the Valle de Chira cooperative in Peru created roads that enable them to bring produce to market the banana,6 and the farmers of the Juliana-Jaramillo cooperative in the Dominican Republic were able to repair the local water system, bring in sanitation systems and create a community canteen.7

Producers also receive further benefits from Fair Trade. Long-term contracts, access to market information, and access to credit allow them the psychological and financial benefit of being able to make long-term plans. They improve the producers’ ability to negotiate both Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade contracts. Oxfam’s Constantino Casasbuenas recently said that when he was working on the Oxfam coffee campaign, “most of our strongest allies, ready to talk by themselves and to get their voice [heard] (on coffee and many other social problems) were precisely the coops producing and selling coffee via the Fairtrade channels. . . . the international Fairtrade movement can be a real inspiration to so many talks and negotiations on international trade.” 8

Fair Trade can also help farmers to break out of the commodity trap. Many farmers would like to diversify out of single cash crops, but lack the funding and business expertise to do so. But to take one example, UCIRI, a coffee cooperative in the Oaxaca region of Mexico, has used some of the gains from its trade in Fair Trade coffee to diversify. Their website explains: “We are all aware that only coffee, even high quality organic coffee, is not going to be the solution for us. . . . For this reason, we are looking for alternative products.” With these aims, UCIRI has moved into the production of value-added goods for the local market, setting up small factories to manufacture organic jams and clothing.9

Footnotes and Finding Out More:

1 and 2 UK FAIRTRADE-Marked product sales taken from Fairtrade Fortnight 2007 press release. Other figures and quotes taken from Dr. Alex Nicholls’ paper “Thriving in a Hostile Environment: Fairtrade's Role as a Positive Mechanism for Disadvantaged Producers,” which can be read in its entirety on the Fairtrade Foundation website. Dr. Nicholls and Charlotte Opal’s Fair Trade contains the most comprehensive analysis available to date of the nature and impact of Fair Trade. The book is available from SAGE Publications at £21.99 or on loan from CCOW. Two other fine books are Miles Litvinoff and John Madeley's "50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade" £7.99 in stores or on loan from CCOW and David Ransom’s "No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade" (ISBN 1859843344) £6.99 in stores or on loan from CCOW.

3 Julia Castro was interviewed by CCOW; CIAP’s website is www.ciap.org – there is an English-language version.

4 The story of the Igara Growers Tea Factory is told in the Fairtrade Foundation’s 2004 Church Action Guide, copies of which you can get from CCOW.

5 Kasinthula’s story was in the Summer 2004 edition of “Fair Comment,” the Fairtrade Foundation’s free quarterly newsletter. Download current and back issues of “Fair Comment” at the Fairtrade Foundation website page www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources_newsletter.htm. You can also subscribe at this site – or by calling the Fairtrade Foundation.

6 The story of the Valle de Chira cooperative is taken from Tearfund’s case study “Fairtrade bananas” available as part of Tearfund’s “Global Action” resources on Fairtrade. With thanks to Tearfund for permission to use this.

7 Juliana-Jaramillo’s story can be found at www.fairtrade.org.uk/about_benefits.htm.

8 Conversation with Constantino Casasbuenas

9 UCIRI’s website is www.uciri.org – there is an English-language version.

Fair Trade and Wider Trade Issues

Fair Trade offers an alternative trading system that benefits millions of people -- but we also need to press for reform of the global trading system as a whole.

Right now, global trade rules and practices are often rigged against developing country farmers and manufacturers. In agriculture, for instance, the wealthiest countries offer around $300 billion a year in direct and indirect support to their farmers, while developing countries are often prevented by IMF and World Bank conditionality from offering any subsidies at all. At the same time, conditionality often forces developing countries to lower their tariffs. Developed-country farmers are therefore lowering world prices across the board and “dumping” produce at prices below the cost of production in developing countries, undercutting small-scale farmers. Cotton from the US is among the most notorious examples of the effects of subsidies on world prices. Meanwhile in certain parts of West Africa, for instance, the poultry industry has been largely wiped out by cheap EU chickens.

Developing country producers also faces barriers to adding value to their products. Most of the value in a chocolate bar, for example, is added in the manufacturing process. But current tariff structures in the EU and Japan, for example, allow cocoa beans to come in at a very low rate – but charge tariffs of over 20% on finished chocolate products. So developing-country producers are stuck at the bottom of the value chain.

The Fairtrade Foundation and Traidcraft are both part of the Trade Justice Movement, which is campaigning on these and other trade issues. Within this context, Traidcraft’s policy department is working to use the Fair Trade model to challenge unfair rules and practices. The unit draws on Traidcraft’s experience as a socially responsible Fair Trade company to address issues in corporate social responsibility, trade policy and various areas of development. All of the policy unit’s publications, including “Fair Trade Tool Kit” fact sheets such as “Fair Trade in the Wider World,” are available on their website.

Other agencies that work as part of the Trade Justice Movement – and produce resources on trade justice -- include Action Aid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Commitment for Life, Methodist Relief and Development Fund, Oxfam, Tearfund, War on Want, and the World Development Movement. The Baptist Union, Church of England and United Reformed Church are also members. Christian Aid and the Church of England produced jointly “Trade Justice: A Christian Response to Global Poverty,” available for £4.99 or online from Christian Aid.

How to identify fairly traded goods

People often ask how they can tell whether goods have been fairly traded. There are so many claims made . . . how do we know what is genuine? There are three main ways of recognising a genuine Fair Trade relationship:

The Fairtrade Foundation and the FAIRTRADE Mark

The FAIRTRADE Mark guarantees a better deal for producers through specific standards for producers and traders. There are two sets of standards for Fairtrade certified producers: one for democratic small farmers' organisations and one for plantations and factories. With respect to the latter, for example, producers must:

  • pay workers decent wages,
  • guarantee the right to join trade unions
  • and provide good housing when relevant

On plantations and in factories, minimum health and safety as well as environmental standards must be complied with, and no child or forced labour can occur.

Fairtrade registered traders agree to:

  • pay a price to producers that covers the costs of sustainable production and living;
  • pay a 'premium' that producers can invest in development;
  • make partial advance payments when requested by producers;
  • sign contracts that allow for long-term planning and sustainable production practices.

(information taken from the Fairtrade Foundation website, www.fairtrade.org.uk and supplemented by the Fairtrade Foundation)

The FAIRTRADE Mark, which is administered in the UK by the Fairtrade Foundation, is a guarantee that these standards have been met. If you see it on a product - and as of Winter 2007, there were more than 2,500 retail and catering products carrying the Mark! --you can be sure that the producers of that product (or, where only some ingredients are certified, the producers of those ingredients) have received a fair deal. If you want to see the Fairtrade standards for any particular product, you can find them by going to the Fairtrade Labelling Organization [FLO]'s website's standards page www.fairtrade.net/sites.standards/set/html.

NB: The FAIRTRADE Mark applies to products, not companies. It guarantees that a specific product's producers received a fair deal -- but should not be taken to imply anything about a company as a whole. If the company as a whole is not a Fair Trade Organisation (as certified below), there is no guarantee that the producers of its non-FAIRTRADE-Marked products are in a Fair Trade relationship

The Fair Trade Organisation Mark

The FAIRTRADE Mark's standards, however, apply primarily to commodity products: things like coffee, tea, bananas, cocoa, sugar and cotton. Most handicrafts aren't certified on a product by product basis - it would be too complicated to work out the standards for each product. So how do you know whether such products really are fairly traded? One way is to buy products produced or imported by Fair Trade Organisations. Fair Trade groups that produce and/or import fairly traded products -- whether these be food, handicrafts, clothing or any other product -- are recognised as Fair Trade Organisations if they adhere to the International Fair Trade Association [IFAT]'s Fair Trade standards and are members of IFAT.3

IFAT (www.ifat.org) is a global network of over 270 Fair Trade Organisations that works to develop Fair Trade markets, build trust in Fair Trade through monitoring and advocate for fairer trade. Members have been through IFAT's monitoring process. Traidcraft, Tearcraft, and Divine Chocolate are some of the best known IFAT members - others include clothing companies like Bishopston Trading and People Tree and handicrafts companies like Shared Earth.

In their promotional materials, Fair Trade Organisations will often indicate that they are members of IFAT, and often use the Fair Trade Organisation Mark. (seen left, on the IFAT banner) Membership of IFAT and use of the FTO Mark are also signs of a genuine Fair Trade relationship.

 

The British Association of Fair Trade Shops [BAFTS]

Importers and retailers can also be members of BAFTS - the British Association of Fair Trade shops (www.bafts.org.uk). BAFTS members also include, as the name implies, Fair Trade shops . . . though smaller local shops - while selling largely or wholly Fair Trade goods -- may not necessarily have applied for certification. To find a list of Fair Trade shops in our area, click on the "Where Can I Buy Fair Trade" link below.

Praying and Preaching on Fair Trade

FTF picture of banana truckFTF cocoa pictureFTF mangoFTF Tea 1FTF Tea 3

Lord God,
In the fields of the poor
Even when abundant fruits ripen,
Injustice sweeps them away,
And families hunger.

Help us to share
The fruits of your bounty
So that all your family may benefit
From your gracious gifts. Amen.


Prayer

Praying for Fair Trade in church allows us to bring trade issues before God, asking that His love and justice will transform the current system and assist those who suffer because of unfair trade. It also can stir the hearts of those praying with us.

Each year, the Fairtrade Foundation produces a "Church Action Guide," which contains a wealth of prayers, Bible studies, and other helpful material. To go to the 2008 Church Action Guide, click here. If you want guides from before 2008, CCOW has copies of several available on request.

There are additional prayers on the Traidcraft and CAFOD websites (Traidcraft also has a Fair-Trade-related harvest pack), and some of CCOW's Fair Trade prayers can be downloaded at the end of this page. You'll notice some overlap with the Fairtrade Foundation resources; all four agencies are contributors to the Church Action Guide.

Fair Trade prayers can be as conventional or as innovative as you wish. If you’re from an informal tradition, why not try something new? For example, following a suggestion by Peter Graystone, hand everyone a sample tea bag as they come into church. During prayer time, ask them to hold it, to sniff the aroma of tea, to pray for all who have grown, picked and transported the tea – and for justice in the tea trade over all. Or show a powerpoint sequence of images of Fairtrade producers (the Fairtrade Foundation has photos available for download) as a focus for your prayers.

Preaching

If you’d like a sermon on trade during Fairtrade Fortnight, the “Church Action Guide” contains meditations and sermon guides based on the lectionary readings for at least one Sunday in the Fortnight.

If you’d like to preach (or suggest that someone else preach) about Fair Trade or trade issues at other times during the year, you might want to look at “Development Matters,” a week-by-week linkage of the lectionary readings to development issues. It’s put together by Dr. Elizabeth Perry and is available in hard copy from CCOW or on the Anglican Diocese of Bath and Wells’ website.

Plays

If your church is open to plays, why not try a sketch?

If you have the technology, you could even go for a film. The Fairtrade Foundation has short video clips on their website.

Fair Trade Campaigns

FTF bananasFTF cocoaFTF coffeeFTF teaFTF tea

Like debt, Fair Trade is one of the decade's great campaigning success stories.

When the first Fairtrade products arrived on the market, it wasn't at all clear they'd succeed. The food and beverage retail industry is fiercely competitive, the early Fairtrade products cost more than conventional ones - and few thought that consumers would pay the extra for ethical consumption.

And then the till roll campaign, championed by Christian Aid, started. Were you one of the people who saved your receipts . . . helped to gather together those from your church . . . went to the supermarket to make the point -- "This is how much we spend . . . and we want Fairtrade"?

If you were, you were part of the reason why Fairtrade got off the ground.

Fairtrade Towns

A second reason was the campaign begun by Bruce Crowther in Garstang, Lancashire. Bruce and the local Oxfam group got the idea of making Garstang a "Fairtrade Town." They thought through criteria that would show that their town supported Fairtrade, convinced local merchants and organisations to participate, and in May 2000 they were crowned the first Fairtrade Town with the blessing of the Fairtrade Foundation.

Today there are over 300 Fairtrade towns and many more seeking the status -- each with active groups promoting Fairtrade in churches, schools, restaurants, shops and government offices. In our area alone Abingdon, Banbury, Chesham, Faringdon, Leighton/Linslade, Maidenhead and Windsor, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Oxford and Reading are all Fairtrade Towns, and Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Bicester, Grove, Slough, Wallingford, Witney and Woodstock have active campaigns. To find out more about how to become a Fairtrade town, click here.

Fairtrade Denominational Bodies, Churches, Schools, etc.

In 2003, when Chester became a Fairtrade Town, the Anglican Diocese of Chester decided to affirm its support for the initiative also, by becoming a Fairtrade Diocese, adapting the five criteria for a Fairtrade Town to the diocesan structure. Other denominational bodies soon followed their lead. To see some sample criteria for a Fairtrade denominational body, click here.

Today there are Fairtrade Church campaigns, Fairtrade School campaigns, Fairtrade University campaigns, and more.

If you would like to join a local group -- or set up one -- and would like assistance, contact CCOW. We have worked with a number of towns and churches on their campaigns -- and would be delighted to work with you.

Pictures courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk 

What Can I Do?

FTF bananasFTF cocoaFTF scalesFTF mangoesFTF tea 1FTF tea 3

Some suggestions for personal action . . . .

  • Pray for Fair Trade. Give thanks for its successes: the benefits it has brought producers, the lives transformed and saved, the chance it offers consumers to live ethically, the inspiration given to those who would like to see a fairer world in which God's commandments of love and justice are obeyed. Pray for wisdom for those who guide the movement, strength for those who have to take hard decisions about choosing ethics over profits, strength and discernment for consumers as they make their choices, and the growth of the movement to allow more and more producers to take part.
  • Make a decision that when you are purchasing goods, you will go for the fairly traded option wherever it's appropriate and you are able. With more than 2,500 FAIRTRADE-Marked products in a wide variety of categories and an ever-growing range of fairly traded clothing, home furnishings, stationery and crafts, there are more options than ever.

  • Help to convert others. If your church isn't already a Fairtrade Church, encourage it to become one. Join the Fairtrade Foundation's "Fairtrade at Work" or Fairtrade Schools or Fairtrade Universities campaigns and convert your workplace/school/university. If your town is a Fairtrade Town, find out how you can join in the Fairtrade activities; if it isn't, join or form a group to further this goal. A listing of local groups with websites is in our "finding out more" section; contact us for details of other groups.

  • Ask for Fair Trade. If your supermarket isn't stocking all the Fairtrade goods that their parent company carries, request that they do so. If your local shop isn't carrying Fairtrade goods, see if you can work with them to enable them to do so (contact CCOW for more details). Just make sure, though, that if you do this, you follow through by buying the products yourself and encouraging others to do so -- no store will keep stocking goods they can't sell.

  • Make Fair Trade fun. Follow Fairtrade Man's challenge and eat only fairly traded products for a period of time -- and write about your experiences. Or (slightly easier!) hold a Fairtrade recipe contest, in which people submit recipes with a minimum number of fairly traded ingredients. . . . .

  • Find out firsthand about the benefits of Fair Trade. Each year, the Fairtrade Foundation and various Fair Trade companies arrange producer visits during Fairtrade Fortnight. Attend one of their talks, ask questions, and find out what it's all about. Or, if you feel you could make the benefits justify the carbon involved, visit producers via Traidcraft's People to People tours.

  • Make a donation to further Fair Trade. Traidcraft is a company, but it also has a charitable wing that provides services -- such as market advice -- for people who want to break into the Fair Trade market. To find out more and donate, go to the Traidcraft website.

Photographs courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk

Where to Buy Fair Trade Locally

Berks, Bucks and Oxon Shops Specialising in Fair Trade Products

Abingdon
Abingdon Traidcraft Shop
Part of the joint Abingdon Traidcraft/AfPIC shop, 10 Bath Street.
Open daily, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 to 5.

Aylesbury
The Fair Trade Shop at Aylesbury Methodist Church
Aylesbury Methodist Church, Buckingham St.; 01296 581414
Jan – Oct: Open Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 12 noon;
Nov – Dec: Open Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm

Faringdon
The Mustard Seed
19 Market Place, Faringdon SN7 7HP; (01367) 244821
Open daily, Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, Saturday, 9 to 1.

Grove
The Cornerstone
Grovelands Shopping Centre, Savile Way, Grove; (01235) 772280
Open daily, Monday through Saturday, 10 to 4.

Milton Keynes
The Kiosk
Church of Christ the Cornerstone, Central MK; 01908 230622
Open Monday through Friday, 10 to 4, Saturday, 10.30 to 2.30

Sust!
The Food Centre, Secklow Gate, Central MK; 01908 232255
Open Monday through Saturday, 9 to 5:30, Sunday, 12 to 4.

Oxford
Fairtrade@St. Michael’s
St. Michael at the Northgate, Cornmarket, Oxford; 01865 722505
Open Monday through Saturday, 10 to 5; extended opening hours in Christmas season.

Pula (African artworks and crafts)
North Parade, Oxford
Open Monday through Saturday

Reading
RISC (www.risc.org.uk)
35-39 London Street, Reading; 0118 958 6692
Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 – 5:30 (7:30, Th), Saturday, 10 to 6.

Wallingford
Just Trading
80 High St, Wallingford, Oxon; 01491 824778
Open Mon to Wed 9 to 5.30; Thurs 9 to 7; Fri 9 to 6.30; Sat 9 to 5.

Wantage
The India Shop
39 Market Place, Wantage, Oxon, OX12 8AW; 01235 771040
Open: Monday - Saturday 9.00 - 5.30

Wendover
@ St Mary’s
High Street, Wendover; 01296 623123
Open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays from 10 to 5; Wednesdays and Saturdays 10 to 1.

Woodstock
One Village
Outlet Shop on A44, Woodstock;Tel: 01608 81181, progress@onevillage.org

What Can My Church Do?

FTF bananasFTF bananas FTF scalesFTF mangoFTF tea 1FTF tea 2

When a church supports Fair Trade, it makes a clear statement for justice.

The Fairtrade Foundation’s “Fairtrade Churches” programme offers an official way for churches to demonstrate their commitment to Fair Trade. More than 4,000 Fairtrade Churches have already been certified.

At present you can apply for a Fairtrade Church certificate if the appropriate Council or Church meeting has agreed that your church will:

i. use Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which you have responsibility.

ii. move forward on using other Fairtrade products (such as sugar, biscuits, fruit)

iii. promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight – and through other activities whenever possible. (Fairtrade Fortnight is generally the first two full weeks in March.)


For further information from the Fairtrade Foundation, click here .
For frequently asked questions about the Fairtrade Church criteria, click here .


Many local denominational bodies have Fairtrade campaigns that your church can join.
To find out about . . .
the Anglican Diocese of Oxford's Fairtrade Diocese campaign, click here.
the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth's Fairtrade Diocese campaign, click here.
the United Reformed Church Wessex Synod's Fairtrade campaign, click here and then click on "Our Work" and "Church in Society"


Another way of supporting and promoting Fair Trade is through participation in "The Big Brew," a series of events held over the course of one week in Fairtrade Fortnight. "The Big Brew" is co-sponsored by Traidcraft and local agencies and denominations -- and provides a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of Fair Trade in your church and community.

Holding a Big Brew event is easy. You choose the kind of event, any beneficiaries, the location and the time. The only criteria are that your event must:

  • be registered with Traidcraft
  • be called "The Big Brew" and take part during the designated period
  • involve serving Fairtrade beverages and
  • be publicised with official "Big Brew" materials

Beyond that, let your imagination go! Last year's Big Brew saw Fairtrade coffee after pram services (right) and "at home" events. The "trolley dollies" of one village church decked their new tea trolley with Big Brew posters and invited the whole village into post-service refreshments.

Click on the titles for coverage of the 2007 Big Brew in The Door and Christian Today .

Big Brew 2008 was a tremendous success with around 150 events: Congratulations to all who participated! Stay tuned for plans for Big Brew 2009 . . . . .

But these are only a few ways of supporting and promoting Fair Trade . . . and churches in our area are doing so much more. To find out what they are doing, click on any of the headings under "What Can My Church Do" in the left hand column.

Top photographs courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk 

Fairtrade Church FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about point (i)

Q:What if some of our members don't like the taste of Fairtrade tea or coffee?

A: First question -- have they tasted it recently? Some people, when they think of Fairtrade coffee, are still thinking of the old "Campaign Coffee" . . . and even dedicated Fairtrade enthusiasts will agree that "Campaign Coffee" was pretty grim. But times have changed, and we now have hundreds of different Fairtrade coffees and teas, some of which have even won medals for their taste. If you organise a tasting, you're sure to find one that is generally pleasing. If people still hold out for particular non-Fairtrade brands, perhaps it is worth thinking whether there are legitimate reasons or whether individual preference is being pursued at the expense of justice.

Q: What if our church doesn't normally serve tea or coffee after the service?
A: That's fine -- just make sure that you use Fairtrade products whenever you do serve tea or coffee . . . say at a church fete, or when you have visitors during sponsored cycle rides.

Q: What about meetings in people's homes?
A: No one expects a church to mandate what people serve in their own homes. . . . so there's no need to schedule inspections of committee members' cupboards! But it's still good to encourage members of the congregation to use Fairtrade products at home, as well as in church. Some churches have voluntary pledge schemes for members -- people sign on to use tea and coffee, or to buy a certain number of Fairtrade products. The Abingdon Traidcraft Group offered the "2 x 2 Challenge": participants committed to buying £2 worth of Fairtrade products a month for 2 years. Going further, fairtrade@stmichaels and The Door newspaper have challenged people to eat at least 3 fairly traded products a day for a given period. It's not hard, actually, given the extended range. Perhaps someone in your church might even like to follow the example of Tearfund's Ben Clowney (aka Fairtrade Man), who ate ONLY fairly traded products during Lent 2007!

Frequently Asked Questions about point (ii)

Q: We love the Fairtrade biscuits . . . but we need to serve more than 100 a week -- and that could get quite expensive. What should we do?
A: Firstly, take heart! Traidcraft has now brought out a new bulk chocolate chip biscuit that is quite affordable. But where there is a Fairtrade product that is beyond your budget to buy on a regular basis, note that the wording of point (ii) gives considerable flexibility. So perhaps try to use that product as often as you can, but don't worry if that's not every week. What matters is that you try to move forwards . . . assessing where you can make the switch and acting accordingly.

Q: Our local shops and supermarkets have Fairtrade tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas -- but where can we find the other products?
A: National chains and many centrally supplied smaller stores now can offer -- in theory -- a wide range of products . . . but they don't necessarily show up on the shelves of every branch. Try a survey of church members to see if any have found a good local supplier. Or check the Fairtrade Foundation's website to see what products should be on offer . . . and if they aren't, ask for them. You can also try going to one of our local specialised Fair Trade shops, which often supply the widest range of products -- or order online or by mail.

Frequently Asked Questions about Point (iii)

Q:What does it mean to promote Fairtrade? Are we going to have to do massive stalls?

A: Some churches, particularly smaller ones, are quite concerned about point (iii) -- they fear that as tiny congregations they may be asked to undertake projects that are beyond their capabilities. But not to worry! What you do to promote Fairtrade really depends on what is appropriate given the size and nature of your church. In a small village church, a poster up at a Fairtrade coffee morning or a notice in the church magasine will form important contributions. Larger congregations can work on more ambitious projects. What matters is that you do what you can -- not what you can't. That said, never underestimate what a small group of enthusiastic people can do.

Promoting Fair Trade -- Communicating the Message

Churches can help their congregations and others to learn more about Fair Trade -- what it is, how it fits within a Christian context, how it benefits producers, and where to find fairly traded products for retail or wholesale.

POSTERS

The Fairtrade Foundation, Traidcraft and other organisations produce attractive, colourful posters that many churches find very helpful. Churches in dual-use buildings and churches with halls that are used by a wide variety of organisations can find this a particularly effective way of spreading the word beyond their congregations. To obtain copies of available Fairtrade Foundation’s posters, go to the Fairtrade Foundation's online ordering page or ring 020 7440 7676. New posters come out for Fairtrade Fortnight each year. A simple Fair Trade A4 poster can be downloaded at the BAFTS website .

You can also make your own signs -- Wheatley United Reformed Church has, in addition to the Fairtrade Foundation posters, a notice in its kitchen stating that it is a Fairtrade Church and requesting that those who hire the kitchen use Fairtrade products if possible. And a member of the Oxford Friends’ Meeting House has done delightful, humorous signs with a Fairtrade message that festoon the Meeting House kitchen. Be sure, though, that if you make a sign with the FAIRTRADE Mark on it, you are conforming to the Fairtrade Foundation’s guidelines for use of the logo .

NEWSLETTERS, MAGAZINES AND WEBSITES

A note telling where to find Fair Trade products? A list of local Fairtrade Fortnight events? Information about what Fair Trade means? A Fair Trade prayer? The story of a producer? A few paragraphs on the theology of Fair Trade? There are so many ways that you can introduce Fair Trade into your newsletter!

Some newsletter offerings can be seen on the internet: one from St Andrew’s Clewer, for example, offers a calendar for Fairtrade Fortnight (www.standrewsclewer.org.uk/pdf/MessengerMarch2004.pdf). For a ready-made piece for your newsletter, try some of the articles from Traidcraft . CCOW also creates materials available for magazine use; to join our Fair Trade email list, send an email to maranda@ccow.org.uk with FT List in the title.

Speaking of the web . . . what about the church website? If you’re a Fairtrade Church, you can proclaim it on your site as Deanway United Church in Chalfont St Giles does. Anglican churches in the Oxford Diocese have an easy way to do this; when you are listing your church’s features on the diocesan “A Church Near You" feature, just click on the “Fairtrade church” option to add a small Fairtrade sign to your entry. Another good idea is to follow the lead of churches like the Roman Catholic parish of St. George Buckland and Blessed Hugh Faringdon and offer links to Fair Trade organizations both local and national.

LOCAL MEDIA

Having an exciting Fair Trade event? Getting it into the media can help interest people in the event and raise the profile of Fair Trade issues at the same time. If you’re contacting local media, a good press release will help get your story noticed. A press release doesn’t have to be elaborate – just give WHEN and WHERE the event will be occurring, WHAT will be happening, and WHO is involved. And don’t forget the WHY – a few sentences that say what Fair Trade is and why you’re involved with it. Be sure also to give contact details in case the radio station/paper wants to contact you to ask any questions. If you don’t hear from them, follow up your press release with a phone call. If you’re sending your release to newspapers beforehand, you can add a note explaining what photo opportunities might be available. If you’re sending the release to papers after the event, send your own pictures. [Make sure that you have permission from parents if the pictures include children]

Local radio can also be very helpful – our area is covered by BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio Berkshire. Numbers for “phoning in” stories and email addresses are on their websites (go to www.bbc.co.uk/and in the phone books. You might also like to try commercial radio stations, such as Fox FM, and/or your local Christian station. If you have an event which is particularly visual, it might be worth sending your press release to television stations, also.

Denominational papers are also often happy to carry stories about churches’ Fairtrade events. Email your press releases to The Door (door@oxford.anglican.org), the Methodist Recorder (see guidelines at www.methodistrecorder.co.uk/mrwrite.htm), the Baptist Times (see contact details at baptisttimes.co.uk/contactu.htm), or the United Reformed Church’s “Reform” (reform@urc.org.uk).

LOCAL FAIR TRADE GUIDES “But where can I find Fairtrade goods?”

If people in your congregation or wider community don’t know how to access Fairtrade products, you can produce a local guide to help them. Depending on the size of your town, this can be either a small or a fairly large project. If it’s the latter, it’s a great one to do ecumenically – divide shopping areas up amongst the churches, and let the survey begin! A committee of Churches Together for Chesham, which has been one of the driving forces in Chesham’s Fairtrade Town campaign, recently put out a listing of Fairtrade outlets in the town; it’s an invaluable resource. There are different formats for such guides: you might choose simply to list the names of shops that carry Fairtrade products. Or perhaps you would like to indicate which products are sold where – many people find this helpful, though it does need more frequent updating. One enterprising church did a “shopping list” of Fairtrade products, listing items and putting under each the locations where it could be purchased. If you’d like to look on the web at some examples from different-sized towns and cities, try www.Fairtrade4Chesham.co.uk, www.faringdonfairtrade.org.uk/Get_Involved_/Directory/directory.html, www.mkfairtrade.org.uk (Milton Keynes), www.oxfordfairtrade.org.uk (a web-based version of the Oxford print guide), and www.risc.org.uk/readingfairtrade/shopping.htm. (There’s also a web guide for Reading, www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/features/2004/03/fairtrade_shops.shtml.) CCOW has hard copies of the Chesham, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Reading and Slough guides.

TAKING THE FAIRTRADE MESSAGE WITH YOU WHEN YOU SHOP

Some shops and supermarkets carry a wonderful range of Fairtrade products. Some don’t. If your local is one of the latter, church members can request that they carry a wider range. For supermarkets, check what products the chain has available (The most up--to-date guides will be at www.fairtrade.org.uk/products). Then use the Fairtrade Foundation's "Stock It!" postcard (you can order free copies), a store request book, or ask to talk to the manager or write letters to ask for those products to be in your branch. For smaller, local shops, speak to the shop owner about options. If your shop doesn’t have immediate ways of accessing supplies, you might suggest a sale-or-return trial from a nearby specialised Fairtrade shop or Traidcraft key contact. Whatever the case, remember to buy the products once they are on the shelves. Otherwise they won’t stay there . . . shop owners can’t afford to subsidise Fair Trade!

TAKING THE FAIRTRADE MESSAGE WITH YOU WHEN YOU EAT OUT

Who would have thought, even five years ago, that by 2005 Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Marks and Spencers’ Café Revive, AMT, and Pret a Manger would all be offering Fairtrade beverages? And AMT and Marks and Spencers Café Revive don’t offer any other kind of coffee! There are also numerous independent restaurants that serve Fairtrade beverages. But there are still a lot of cafes and restaurants that don’t offer any Fairtrade option. To help people who want to change this, the Fairtrade Foundation has produced “Order up” cards. The card, designed to be handed in at your favourite eating and drinking spots, signals your request for Fairtrade products – and has a detachable component that the restauranteur can mail in to receive details of how to access commercial Fairtrade suppliers. Why not hand these out in church, explaining how to use them and encouraging members to hand them in to their favourite eateries? CCOW has copies available.

Promoting Fair Trade -- Fair Trade Stalls

Your church can help widen the market for fairly traded goods by increasing people's ability to access them.

Fair Trade Stalls

Setting up a Fair Trade stall in your church can be a good way to introduce a congregation to Fair Trade, to offer a wider range of Fair Trade products than is available in many shops, and to assist parishioners who find getting to shops difficult.

Most Fair Traders sell goods from either Traidcraft or Tearcraft. Traidcraft offers a wide range of its own foods as well as clothing, jewelry, home furnishings, stationery and crafts. Tearcraft offers jewelry and accessories, home furnishings, stationery and crafts.

You can order online or by mail. If you are going to be placing regular, fairly large orders, consider becoming a "Fair Trader" (Traidcraft rep) or Tearcraft rep. This can give you access to discounts, a credit account with the organisation, promotional materials, and advance screenings of the companies' lines.

If you are just starting off and are concerned about buying goods without being sure you can sell them, many local Fair Trade shops and also Traidcraft “key contacts” will do a sale or return box. Contact Traidcraft at 0191 491 0591 to find the number for your local key contact or go to the Tearcraft sellers list for a postcode listing of all Tearcraft sellers.

Some church stall holders also buy in stocks of Fair Trade foods from local shops or supermarkets for resale. This allows them to bring in fresh goods (such as bananas) and also to indicate which local shops sell Fairtrade products.

Fair Trade Stalls with a Plus

Some churches occasionally have more specialised Fair Trade producers or importers come in for “one-off” sales. Wheatley URC, for example, had a talk during their service by Colin and Carol Morton who run Hadeel, followed by a sale during coffee. And St. Matthew's, in Oxford, had a series of different retailers in over a period of time. Have a look at our list of local Fair Trade shops and Fair Trade representatives for ideas.

And if you want to take the opportunity outside the church . . . why not follow the lead of one local congregation which has proposed having a stall in the local car boot sale, as a way of having a Christian presence at the event and promoting Fair Trade at the same time.

Supply Chains for Fair Trade Stalls

If you're a small church, ordering Fair Trade goods for a stall may seem problematic – as may storage of the goods in between stalls.

A number of area churches cluster together to order as a group: in one town, for example, two Anglican churches work together; in another, the local Roman Catholic and Anglican churches share a common store of goods.

In two areas – Abingdon and Milton Keynes – large numbers of churches, groups and/or individuals have joined together to create a single entity that orders for all. This has the benefit of ease – and of enabling small churches to benefit from the economies of scale that large orders produce.

The Abingdon Traidcraft Group is a task force of Abingdon's Churches Together group. It has a network of 20 member churches and “Regular Local Customers” as well as sharing a retail outlet with the “Action for Children in Conflict” charity shop. Members are able to order online via the group's website. Deliveries are made to, and can be collected from, the shop.

Milton Keynes' “Just Trading” is the trading arm of the Milton Keynes Peace and Justice Network. Based at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone, it sells Traidcraft products through a kiosk in the church, but also supplies large numbers of area churches. Deliveries are made to Christ the Cornerstone, whence churches can pick up their orders. For further information

Some Resources on Fair Trade

FTF bananasFTF cocoaFTF scalesFTF mangoFTF tea 1FTF tea 3

Three Books to Read

50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade. John Madeley and Miles Litvinoff, Pluto Press, 2007. To order, click here.
An accessible journey through some of the reasons why we need Fair Trade -- and how we can support it.

Fair Trade: Market-Driven Ethical Consumption. Alex Nicholls and Charlotte Opal. Sage Publications, 2005. To order, click here.
An academic consideration of Fair Trade's origins, current manifestations and future.

Markets, Fair Trade and the Kingdom of God, ed Peter Johnson and Christopher Catherwood.Traidcraft and Regnum Books, 2001.
Essays combining theological and developmental perspectives, primarily by key figures from Traidcraft.

Copies of these books may be borrowed from CCOW.

Online Resources to Download


Basic Introductions

Bible Study, Prayer and Theology


Facts and Figures, Case Studies and Academic Papers

Church Activities

  • Promoting Fair Trade -- Events that Engage (CCOW -- download below)
  • Promoting Fair Trade -- Making Products Available (CCOW -- download below)


Fair Trade and Environmental Issues


Fair Trade and Wider Trade Issues

  • Fairness in Trade (UK Food Group) -- report examines how one could extend the concept of fair trading throughout the retail sector


Information about Fairtrade Products and Availability

Resources Focused on Specific Products

Bananas (for a far more complete listing, visit BananaLink)

Cocoa

Coffee

Cotton

  • "Follow the Thread" (ft.com; if you do not have access to the FT online, contact CCOW to borrow the article)

Roses

  • Fairtrade Roses -- Questions and Answers (Fairtrade Foundation)

Articles Critiquing Fair Trade or Aspects Thereof -- and Responses to Them

"Good Food?" Economist, 7 December 2006.

Alan Beattie's "Follow the Thread" not only presents a case study in cotton, but also offers a balanced assessment of some of these common criticisms of Fair Trade.

Photographs courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk 

Finding Out More about Fair Trade

FTF bananasFTF cocoaFTF scalesFTF mangoFTF tea 1FTF tea 3

International Fair Trade Networks

Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) is the centre for Fairtrade internationally. Go here for information about how producers can be certified, what the Fairtrade standards and prices are and impact studies

IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association, is the membership group for Fair Trade Organisations. Go here for information about Fair Trade Organisation standards and information about individual Fair Trade Organisations.

NEWS, the Network of European World Shops, is the umbrella organisation for Fair Trade and World Shops in Europe. Its UK member is the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS). Go to BAFTS to find out where Fair Trade shops are located, see the BAFTS standards for Fair Trade shops and importers, and a wide variety of Fair Trade resources.

EFTA, the European Fair Trade Association, provides statistics about Fair Trade in Europe and advocates on Fair Trade issues with the EU. EFTA has a particular brief to work on issues of Fair Trade in public procurement (ie whether councils can specify that products they buy must be fairly traded)

Centre for Alternative and Fair Trade Studies is an international network of scholars and practitioners analyzing initiatives which seek to enhance social justice and environmental sustainability through fair and alternative production, distribution, and consumption practices.

British Fair Trade Organisations

The Fairtrade Foundation website offers a mixture of general information about Fairtrade and campaigning material focused on the UK.

Local Fair Trade Coalitions and Pages

Aylesbury Fair Trade Initiative

Chesham Fairtrade

Faringdon Fairtrade

Leighton Linslade Town Council Fairtrade Page

Milton Keynes Fair Trade Forum

Oxford Student Fair Trade Coalition

Reading Fairtrade Town Initiative

Sandhurst Fairtrade Group

Stanford in the Vale' s Fairtrade page

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Fairtrade Group

Witney Area Fair Trade Action Group

Wokingham Fair Trade Campaign

 

Photographs  courtesy of the Fairtrade Foundation, www.fairtrade.org.uk