The Shirt on Your Back

As the death toll continues to increase, it seems as though the Bangladesh building collapse has finally caught our attention.  I'm not sure why the 112 people who died in the same country last November did not create as much buzz, but maybe the number is 'high' enough this time around.  Understanding that the garment industry creates so many needed jobs for the poor in Bangladesh, I believe that there still have to be stricter standards (both in employment and in building codes) despite the desperation of the country and its people.  As an advocate for fair trade, I believe that fair trade not only provides a fair wage for workers, it also ensures that standards are maintained (building codes, impact on the environment, etc) as certification means that businesses are inspected on a more regular basis.

Many people don't understand the price difference when talking about fair trade.  The question is not "Why is fair trade so much more expensive?" but rather "How can non-fair trade products be so cheap?"  Non-fair trade products are less expensive because the people producing the product are not being paid a fair wage.  We would not tolerate that working in the west, so why do we think that it's ok for all the people making our cheap clothes (and other items such as coffee, tea, chocolate, etc) to be paid so little?

And at the end of the day, not only are the producers not being paid fairly, most of the money ends up in cooperate hands.  Coffee farmers around the world literally make pennies for the coffee beans they sell while huge coffee companies pocket the profits.  In the case of fair trade, these farmers earn a consistent wage that ensures they can feed their family and send their children to school - the same things we are able to do in the west.  Yes it does require certification but certification brings inspections.  Fair trade cuts out the middle man where so much money is lost in non-fair trade business.

I certainly don't have it all figured out myself but I can say that I am trying.  If I can choose fair trade, I do.  I want my vote and voice to be heard clearly when I use my money to purchase fair trade options.  Sometimes that's not easy and it requires extra work but consider purchasing a shirt that supports a single Bangladesh mom who works in a safe building, returning home to her children after school, excited to tell one another about their day all because we purchased a fair trade shirt.  It feels good doesn't it - that shirt on your back?  It's a shirt that doesn't have to change the entire world, but it does change the world for a family half a world away!