In a World of Plenty, a Need for Fair Trade

July 7 – The idea to organize an evening on the issue of fair trade was straightforward for the UNA-Greater Boston Chapters’ Young Professionals for International Cooperation group. After all, you can't say "international cooperation" in one sentence without adding the words "fair trade."

So tomorrow night at 6:30, the Boston group, known as YPIC, is co-hosting a fair trade panel with Fair Trade Boston, a collaborative initiative of the Boston Faith and Justice Network. The event, held at 10 Winter Place in Boston, is meant to explain the goals of fair trade, while offering personal accounts of how the system works and the people who reap benefits from it.

The panel will have the flavor of a self-guided workshop through presentations from two local fair trade businesses, Autonomie Project and Proxy Apparel. The plan is not just to raise awareness on the topic, but also to help integrate consciousness about global interconnectedness through new ways of consuming and working.

In our globalized world, there are more than enough food and services to sustain a nourished, dignified life for everyone. Too often, however, agricultural and trade policies carried out by rich and powerful countries create a system to ensure cheap consumption for themselves, while artificially deflating the costs of food and goods of developing countries. The system leaves many farmers and their communities as well as small businesses in poorer nations suffering because they cannot earn enough money to live well selling the goods they produce. To remedy this problem by setting up a system of trade justice the root problems of hunger and poverty can potentially be solved holistically.

When it is working at its best, the practice of fair trade improves the lives of farmers, artisans, producers and their families by increasing incomes, improving working conditions and promoting democratic principles in the workplace. Fair trade consumers benefit from receiving high-quality goods and the knowledge that their purchase has made a positive impact on others. It's a small but meaningful first step in the pursuit of globally beneficial international cooperation. From there, the vital goal is a partnership in advocacy; that is, promoting policies and programs that make fair trade goods the norm in the marketplace. That's a story ready to happen on July 8.

For more details, click here. To rsvp, email ypic@unagb.org.