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Conscience in a Cup

Sadie Cox

Buy less. Buy local. Buy organic.

That was the key message at a presentation given May 18th by MBA student Adina Gray and Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada.

The goal of the presentation was to educate consumers about Fair Trade certification and how their purchasing decisions can affect those on the supply end of the chain.

“My research interests are in the area of corporate social responsibility, ethical consumption and international development,” said Gray.

Gray, also a TRU-OL employee, decided to look at farmer’s understanding of the Fair Trade market system.

A review of relevant literature indicated that farmers have limited understanding of the fair trade system, how it works and the long-term benefits it can offer. With this in mind, Gray decided to look at the other end of the supply chain and at what the fair trade movement does.

“I was a bit familiar with fair trade from my volunteer days with Oxfam. I wanted to do research that had practical applications and that would make an impact.”

Her research led her to a small fair trade coffee co-op in Peru called Cooperativa Agraria Cafetalera Pangoa that consists of about 500 men.

“The people in the co-op were so helpful and friendly,” said Gray. “The farmers were so proud of their work and were very environmentally aware.”

Gray found that farmers generally had a low level understanding in terms of the long-term benefits of the fair trade system, but that members at the co-op she visited had a higher understanding than most.

“This co-op is unique compared to others,” said Gray. “They are more advanced and more organized and efficient.”

The farmers had knowledge about their customer base and consumers but knew very little about the roasters who buy their product. Gray also observed that higher levels of understanding appeared to be connected to greater tangible benefits associated with the co-op.

Most of the women did not understand how the system worked as very few were involved directly in the co-op, however, many of them benefited from the community development fund established by the co-op’s board of directors to help women start their own small business.

The results of Gray’s study may be used to develop best management practices for other fair-trade co-ops to follow and to reinforce the importance of keeping stakeholders, such as the farmers, informed.

In the end, Gray hopes that her work can be used to inform and educate consumers about the power of every penny they spend.

“I want people to think about what you’re buying and the impact your purchase has on the person on the other end of the supply chain,” said Gray.

“Hopefully people will spend a few extra minutes when they are shopping to really think about what they are buying.”

Fox, who recently returned from Haiti, agreed with Gray on the importance of informing those who work in the co-ops and spoke of how the fair trade movement empowers people in impoverished conditions.

“When Oxfam works with producers we don’t just look at increasing their productivity, we look at the global market system that is undermining their efforts and creating and exacerbating poverty.”

He also explained the connection between fair trade, policy and climate change.

“As Canadians we think of climate change as some threat looming on the horizon that we should maybe do something to avert,” said Fox. “But in fact, climate change has been having an affect around the planet for more than a generation now.”

Fox said that when we look at fair trade, we have to situate it in a broader context and the climate dimensions that are related to growing many products we demand as consumers.