Day 19 : Monday 29th February 2016
Fairtrade - Use your Brain, not just your eyes
Hi everyone, today is the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, so we are going to stick with the Fairtrade topic we began talking about last night.
On the video we showed you some Fairtrade items that were basically food, but Fairtrade is about much more than just Bananas, Chocolate and Coffee. There are lots of things which come from the
Third World like clothes, gifts, flowers and just about anything you can think of.
While it's good to be looking for the Fairtrade symbol wherever you can, lots of things aren't covered by Fairtrade schemes but you should still be looking at ways that you can buy things where people have been treated fairly and ethically.
Clothes are an obvious place to start because we all use them . A lot of clothes companies don't treat their workers well, and they might even use children to make their clothes. It is somtimes hard to tell but if you are buying a top for less than the price of a couple of pints of milk, that's probably a good indication that it isn't a fair trade.
That doesn't mean that if something is expensive, the company will be treating their workers well, but you can do some research into the sorts of policies companies have and decide which shops and companies you are happy to buy from. If you make those decisions before you go shopping, it is a good way to avoid getting sucked into buying cheap things just because you think they are a good deal.
Some companies seem to use Fairtrade in a bit of an unfair way too. They might get one or two of their products to get the Fairtrade symbol but then not treat workers fairly in lots of other parts of their companies. I am not going to say who those companies are but you can so some research for yourself, because they do exist.
It's a bit like the school bully sucking up to the teacher and getting lots of praise for being good but then behind their back, they are really mean and nasty to everyone and treat people really badly.
My main message tonight is that Fair Trade is a really good thing and a really good place to start when you go shopping. But you have to use your brain too and think about what you are buying, so that you can see the bigger picture.
If we all do what we can to shop ethically, we will make the world a better place.
Thanks for visiting the blog today - bye......Amelie ; )
(Erin is asleep...but we think she's dreaming of eating Fairtrade disc shaped chocolate, covered in delicious crispy multi-coloured shells....)
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