Fair trade products put your money where your mouth is
By Fiona Wagner • Bankrate.com

Globalized trade has changed the face of the international marketplace. At no other time in history has such a range of goods and services travelled so far around the world, giving consumers access to an unprecedented range of products.

The benefits of globalization are undeniable -- economic growth, rising incomes, more jobs and lower prices through trade, direct foreign investment, the spread of technological innovation and freer capital flows.

But critics argue it's also led to the exploitation of poorer countries that supply the products and labour by wealthier countries that purchase the goods. The causes are complex and many, but international trade agreements that fall short of protecting workers' labour rights and the environment and large multinationals that edge small local producers out of the market are at least partly to blame.

For consumers concerned with shopping with a conscience, fair trade is gaining popularity worldwide as a viable small-scale alternative to conventional trade.

"Fair trade gives consumers the opportunity to purchase something on the basis of ethics, solidarity and concern for the environment," says Gavin Fridell, an assistant professor at Trent University and author of "Fair Trade Coffee: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Market-Driven Social Justice."

What is fair trade?
What started out as a grassroots movement more than 60 years ago has become an international system of doing business that offers better trading conditions for producers in developing countries. As of 2007, there are 632 Fair Trade Certified producer cooperatives in 59 countries worldwide.

Fair trade differs from conventional trade in that producers are given a guaranteed minimum price that covers the cooperative's operational costs plus a social premium. The cooperative invests this additional money above the floor price in some kind of community expenditure, such as a school or hospital.

"The power of the social infrastructure that's created by the producers is really far more significant than the (monetary) return they receive," says Bill Barrett, a worker/owner with Planet Bean, a fair trade organic coffee cooperative café in Guelph, Ont.

It's a win-win situation for farmers and consumers. "Fair trade and organic are our ethics," says Barrett. "But our heart is making sure the coffee tastes really damned good."