Fair Trade Magazine - Summer/Fall 2014

free Summer / Fall 2014

fair trade C a n a da’ s v o i c e f o r s o c i a l s u s ta i n a b i l i t y

Exploring local and fair trade wine in Canada Live simply, buy ethically

Hand-stitched soccer balls from Pakistan

summer / fa ll

recipe

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growing change 24

To Be and Not to Buy

Rather than blindly succumb to the pressure to buy, one consumer takes a full year to reflect on her purchasing.

product profile Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Coconut Brown Sugar Streusel

30 Avocados In the last decade, avocados have become a grocery staple

in Canadian diets—and farmers in Mexico are the ones who deliver.

Looking for ways to incorporate fair trade into your cooking? We have something delicious in mind.

features

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on the cover Hand-stitched soccer balls from Pakistan................................13 Exploring local and fair trade wine in Canada.........................19 Live simply, buy ethically.................................................................24

inside Publisher’s Letter...................................................................................6

The Beautiful Game: Changing lives at home and abroad

Pakistan is the world’s largest producer of hand-stitched soccer balls. Without Fairtrade certification, workers risk inhumane working conditions and job insecurity.

What Is Fair Trade?..............................................................................7 Fair Trade in Canada............................................................................8

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Getting a Taste For Fair Trade Wine

Learn how both local and fair trade can contribute to a wine lover’s appreciation for all things sustainable.

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Publisher Sean McHugh Editor Bryce Tarling Associate Editor Erik Johnson

SEPT

Designer Wade Stewart

2014

We want to hear from you!

514 – 207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7 1-604-685-6005 | editor@cftn.ca

Canadian Fair Trade Network Réseau canadien du commerce équitable The Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) is a non-profit organization that works with civil society and industry stakeholders to advance awareness and support for fair trade in Canada. It supports collaboration and best practices within the fair trade movement to increase Canadian commitments to international social responsibility. cftn.ca

www.museumforhumanrights.ca www.museepourlesdroitsdelapersonne.ca

Fair Trade Magazine is published by the Canadian Fair Trade Network.

Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without publisher’s written permission. Not responsible for unsolicited editorial material.

The information provided in this magazine is for educational and informational purposes only. Fair Trade Magazine makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omission.

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publisher’s letter

Telling Times

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t seems like it was yesterday when the United Nations established its Millennium Development Goals for 2015, which featured targets for eliminating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, and establishing a global partnership for development. These lofty targets were set back in 2000, yet here we are; it’s nearly 2015, and these critical issues remain prevalent in many parts of the world.

We live in exciting but scary times. The impact of climate change is increasingly evident, while disasters such as the one we witnessed in Bangladesh remind us of the serious consequences of turning a blind eye.

The question is: What will we do? Will we rise to these challenges in an effective time frame? Or will we continue to live in a world riddled with ongoing social issues, inequalities, and hardships? We must pursue the former. And change is within reach.

In 2014, we saw 175 leaders gather in Toronto at the CFTN National Conference and two universities and two towns receive Fair Trade designations. It’s no longer about “why” but rather about “how,” as we clearly do not lack the motivation for change.

The way forward, however, will not be without challenges and setbacks, as it’s important to recognize that fair trade is often the start of a conversation and can be a means to think critically about these issues.

As a movement, fair trade comprises many ideals, principles, standards, and systems. It creates a pathway, albeit a bumpy one at times, toward change, growth, and innovation.

Today, incredible people are leading the way—from the broader level of university and college campuses and municipalities to smaller-scale businesses and volunteers—all working tirelessly to push for a better, more-just world. 2

Sean McHugh Publisher, Executive Director Canadian Fair Trade Network

The Manitoba Council for International Cooperation & its Fair Trade Manitoba program congratulate the City of Brandon, MB on becoming our province’s second & Canada’s 19th Fair Trade Town!

For more information and to sign up for our Fair Trade eNewsletter visit www.fairtrademanitoba.ca or contact us at fairtrade@mcic.ca or 204.987.6420 Manitoba Council for International Cooperation 302-280 Smith Street, Winnipeg, MB R3C 1K2 www.mcic.ca

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What Is Fair Trade?

Fair trade is a powerful tool that goes beyond charity and other aid-based programs. At its core, fair trade aims to empower marginalized producers to improve their own living conditions. With the proper resources, capacity, and access to key relationships, disadvantaged producers can earn a better life for themselves and their communities.

Goals for fair trade • Producers

are paid a fair price

that covers costs of production and adequate living standards for hired labour.

• Producer

groups ensure high

standards for labour, environmental

Protections versus rights Many internationa l development programs are geared toward establishing protections for workers around the world, yet workers wouldn’t need these protections if they had proper rights to begin with. Fair trade aims to empower producers by ensuring they have access to the rights they deserve. This involves letting them have their say in the issues that affect them.

Process and verification Fair trade products can be just like any other. Because production and trade standards cannot be verified by looking at a final product, certification and labelling systems are used to verify fair practices.

is still evolving. The fair trade of today won’t be the fair trade of tomorrow. It is our responsibility—whether it be as a consumer, business, institution, or certifier—to ensure that our notions of fair trade continually meet the challenges of global development.

We have the power to make choices that support greater accountability and transparency. By supporting the awareness and availability of fair trade products, we encourage a moreresponsible vision for the future while contributing to the development of sustainable communities.

sustainability, and respect for cultural identity.

• Producers

are paid a premium

that supports business development and community initiatives such as improving access to health and education.

• Producers,

consumers, and

businesses build stronger connections, reducing inefficiencies and encouraging more-direct relationships.

• Producers

have access to

credit, markets, resources, and industry knowledge.

The fair trade movement Fair trade offers a vehicle for promoting discussion and awareness around global issues. It’s about rethinking our production and consumption systems, and recognizing the role we play in creating a fair and sustainable world.

Despite its long history among niche markets, fair trade is relatively new for mainstream consumers, and it

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Fair Trade in Canada [British Columbia] • Fair Trade Vancouver held an information night with Discovery Organics, featuring a panel discussion with avocado growers, production managers, importers, and distributors (and three types of guacamole). The group also hosted an olive oil night with presentations from Fable Naturals.

[Alberta] • Fair Trade Olds recently rebranded. Look for their new logo at the organization’s website, Facebook page, and on sandwich boards at community events. The group also celebrated Fair Trade Fortnight with a Mother’s Day tea celebration at the Cocoa Tree Bake Shoppe, where Fairtrade certified coffee and tea were served with treats baked with certified sugar.

[Saskatchewan] • Sean McHugh, executive director of the CFTN, was featured in an interview with Global TV following a meeting with Fair Trade Saskatoon.

[Manitoba] • After two years of campaigning, the City of Brandon achieved Fair Trade Town status on May 20. “Brandon has a rich agricultural tradition and understands the importance of farmers and producers getting a fair deal,” said Mayor Shari Decter Hirst, who spoke with several local business owners to promote the campaign.

• Fair Trade Manitoba met with the premier and provincial cabinet to promote Manitoba’s becoming a Fair Trade Province. While the designation process is yet to be made formal, the government will continue to support fair trade in the province.

Brandon becomes a Fair Trade Town • The University of Manitoba chapter of Engineers Without Borders Canada encouraged students to appeal to loved ones for Valentine’s Day by selling fair trade sweets and gift packages.

[Ontario] • On May 10, Toronto hosted a flag-raising ceremony at city hall to celebrate its first anniversary as the largest Fair Trade Town in North America. The event also marked the launch of the Sugar Project, Fair Trade Toronto’s initiative to help businesses source fair trade sugar.

• Fairtrade Canada’s executive director, Tom Smith, appea red before the House of Commons sta nding committee on foreign affairs and international development to discuss issues on products manufactured in developing countries. He encouraged the federal government to develop regulations that would require Canadian businesses to account for their supply chains and proposed that the government examine its own purchasing policies to include more Fairtrade certified products.

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University of Ottawa becomes a Fair Trade Campus

• The University of Ottawa became a Fair Trade Campus on April 8. Marika Escaravage, communications and community relations at Fairtrade Canada and an alumni of the university, presented the award during the designation ceremony. “On behalf of Fairtrade Canada and the 1.2 million farmers and workers we represent, I extend my heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers, staff, and community members involved in achieving this designation.”

• Trent University became a Fair Trade Campus on April 29. “Achieving this milestone underscores what Trent strives to be: a sustainable and collaborative campus, an advocate for social change, and having the interests of its students at heart,” said Laura Storey, director of housing and chair of the Fair Trade Committee at Trent University.

• The CFTN hosted its second annual National Fair Trade Conference in Toronto, bringing together 175 delegates from community groups, universities, and large and small businesses from across Canada and the United States.

community development,” said Anick Michaud, head of the CS3R Youth Committee. The community celebrated during Fair Trade Fortnight, where they exhibited photos of fair trade producers and served cotton candy and other products.

[Halifax] • A Fair Trade Bazaar was held in a yurt in a Halifax park in May, showcasing fair trade wares from around the world.

The event also featured an information booth organized by the Dalhousie chapter of Engineers Without Borders Canada.

• Just Us! was recognized as part of Canada’s 2014 Fair Trade Fortnight for its Ethiopian coffee, which was named Canada’s Favourite Fairtrade Product.

[Quebec] • Trois-Rivières became a Fair Trade Town on April 28. “Choosing fair trade products, it is about paying a fair price to producers and workers in developing countries, taking care of the environment, combatting child labour and strengthening the rights of workers while supporting

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recipe

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Coconut Brown Sugar Streusel

By A m y Wood

W

hen I eat a warm-out-of-the-oven banana chocolate chip muffin, a wave of chocolatey comfort rolls over me. And then I eat my fourth, and then my fifth, and what remains is more of a lingering guilt and—much to the detriment of anyone around me—a rather obnoxious sugar-high.

What can I say? I lack self-control.

But calories aside, there is more to think about when snacking on your standard banana chocolate chip muffin.

Bananas This North American breakfast staple is less than appetizing when its everyday production is considered. Banana plantation workers are some of the most poorly treated, often working 12 to 14 hours daily, without paid overtime, and with the looming threat of layoffs. Further, conventional banana production

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Coconut Brown Sugar Streusel 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

1 cup (250 mL) Fairtrade certified packed brown sugar

In large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder,

1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder

baking soda, and salt.

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

In another bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, mashed

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

bananas, melted coconut oil, and vanilla.

2 free range eggs

Add wet ingredients and chocolate chips to dry

1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk

ingredients and stir until just combined—don’t overmix!

1 cup (250 mL) mashed overripe bananas

Pour muffin mixture evenly between 12 oiled muffin cups

1/3 cup (75 mL) melted Fairtrade certified coconut oil,

and place in oven until tops of muffins are firm to the touch

plus extra to oil muffin tin

and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

1 tsp (5 mL) Fairtrade certified vanilla

Meanwhile, prepare the streusel by mixing the shredded

3/4 cup (175 mL) Fairtrade certified semi-sweet

coconut, sugar, and coconut oil.

chocolate chips

When muffins are done, carefully spoon streusel topping

1/2 cup (125 mL) Fairtrade certified shredded

onto the top of each muffin and place under the broiler

unsweetened coconut

until topping caramelizes. Be sure to keep a close eye on

2 tbsp (30 mL) Fairtrade certified packed brown sugar

them, as this should only take a few minutes.

3 tbsp (45 mL) melted Fairtrade certified coconut oil

Remove muffin tin from oven and place on cooling rack for 10 minutes; then transfer muffins to rack and let cool completely.

Makes 18 muffins.

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uses high levels of pesticides—10 times more than other crops grown in industrial countries.

Chocolate Despite its reputation as an aphrodisiac, chocolate—and more specifically cocoa production—is a total turn-off. Fairtrade International estimates that 90 percent of cocoa is grown by small, family-run farms producing, typically, only 500 kilograms of cocoa per year. Unfortunately, these farmers are unable to access the futures market, which offers fairer, stable prices but typically trades in increments of 10 metric tons. Left with few alternatives, they often sell their crop for far below market value. Some commercial traders have been reported to scam farmers by tweaking their scales.

Don’t despair, though! Instead, clean up your muffin act by swapping bananas, sugar, chocolate, and coconut products for their fair trade counterparts. And with fair trade awareness increasing, more and more ingredients are becoming available at even the big chain grocers, if you can stand the fluorescent lighting. 2 Amy Wood is a lifestyle blogger and banana chocolate chip muffin devourer. She chooses fair trade and organic whenever possible. phoenixortheflame.com

FFiinnaallllyy!! FFaaiirr TTrraa ddee GGuum m

Find 6 great flavors at a store near you or online at: GleeGum.com and Well.ca cf tn.c a |

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THE MOST WIDELY RECOGNIZED ETHICAL LABEL IN THE WORLD Stable prices The Fairtrade Minimum Price covers the costs of sustainable production – even when world market prices fall.

Fairtrade Premium Paid on top of the Fairtrade price, the Premium helps producers improve their lives by investing in education, healthcare, farm improvement or processing facilities to increase income.

Producer ownership Producers participate in Fairtrade more than any other certification system.

Representing 50% of the general assembly, and taking part in governance and standard setting, they make the decisions that affect their future.

Empowerment of farmers and workers Small farmer groups represent democratic and transparent co-operatives, and workers participate in committees that decide how to spend Fairtrade Premiums.

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The Beautiful Game: Changing lives at home and abroad T

he April sky is clean and blue over Vancouver, save for a few clouds loitering above the ridges

By Er ik Joh nson

of the North Shore mountains. On the pitch at Andy Livingstone Park, the players are a blur of limegreen and red pinnies. The ball arcs through the air, transecting the field and landing at the feet of Sizwe Dlamini. In three strides, Dlamini ranges past the final red-clad defender and, clear at the top of the box, loads up. A stab of his lime-green boot propels the ball along the turf and under the keeper.

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Images courtesy of Vision Technologies Corporation

CHOOSE

FAIR TRADE

In this mixed-team tournament, members of the Vancouver Street Soccer League (VSSL) and a Vancouver Whitecaps supporter group, the Southsiders, have met up to share equipment, a meal, and a day of soccer. The VSSL comprises players from all avenues of life and features several teams based in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a neighbourhood often noted for high incidences of poverty, drug use, and other social issues. “Everyone can unite behind soccer,” says VSSL’s director of communications, Kurt Heinrich, describing how players have overcome “serious challenges in their lives” to find fitness and friendship through the beautiful game.

But the upside of this tournament doesn’t end at the sidewalk bordering Andy Livingstone Park. Hand-stitched in Pakistan, the league’s Fairtrade certified soccer balls are helping to change lives in communities thousands of kilometres away.

The cradle of soccer ball production

5,000 MILES AWAY A FARMER WANTS TO THANK YOU

S F Uo b e a

IR FAAD E TR

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Sialkot, Pakistan, is home to more than 250 sports ball manufacturers, including six Fairtrade certified. Although estimates on the number of soccer balls produced vary, from 20 million to 60 million per year, Sialkot is the global leader in hand-stitched soccer ball production. The industry’s origins trace to 1922, when Sialkot-resident Sayed Sahib capitalized on British Army officers’ fondness for locally made soccer balls.

Decades ensued; Sialkot’s reputation for making high-quality, durable balls grew, reaching its zenith in the 1980s with Adidas sourcing its iconic Tango ball from Pakistani producers.

Today, with the rise of machine-stitched and thermally bonded balls, China has eclipsed Pakistan by nearly threefold in the global marketplace. Yet leading brands including Adidas, Nike, Puma, and Reebok continue to export balls from Sialkot-

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based suppliers. Hand-stitched balls are superior in quality FIFA and major soccer ball brands have ostensibly committed to machine-made balls, and are less costly to produce than to eradicating child labour in every stage of production. Under thermally bonded balls. the auspices of the International Labour Organization and While his entrepreneurial spirit endures, Sahib would be UNICEF, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry amazed by today’s materials and manufacturing techniques. signed the Atlanta Agreement in 1997. This pact formalized Leather has been swapped for waterproof and durable the industry’s commitment to eliminate child labour in synthetics. The panels are punched, screened, and laminated Sialkot and eventually spawned the Independent Monitoring at the factory, and then shipped with the bladder and other Association for Child Labour (IMAC). Producers in the region necessities to workers based either at home or at a stitching also agreed to move stitching away from homes and into centre. The stitchers wax and harden the thread and assemble monitored stitching centres. two separate halves. They then join the

These efforts, while not perfect, halves, being careful not to puncture the have seen Pakistan make strides inserted bladder as they finish the final in eliminating child labour. But the Historically, child labour stitches blind. industry’s tiered manufacturing process Stitching is tedious, detailed work, and dependence on subcontractors allows has been the prominent and many home-based workers have the issue to linger. Cornered by low wages no choice but to toil in cramped, poorly and piecemeal pay, parents still include issue surrounding soccer lit quarters with limited fresh air and their children in stitching work. And insufficient daylight. Stiff thread slices while IMAC monitors factories and ball production in Pakistan. fingers. Hands cramp. Needles jab. stitching centres, keeping tabs on homeWounds fester. Back pain, neck pain, based stitchers is next to impossible. and loss of eyesight can be the results of

Outside of Pakistan, none of the hours spent hunched over. In time, hand cramps can turn into major soccer ball–producing nations has participated in a permanent deformities. The pressure is to produce. Stitchers multi-stakeholder commitment like the Atlanta Agreement. are often paid by the ball, which means every mistake comes Accountability to ensure proper wages and labour conditions from their bottom line. Without proper standards, earnings is also rare. A 2010 International Labour Rights Forum report can fall below minimum wage requirements. describes child labour in India’s soccer ball industry, wage inequality in Thailand’s, and deceptive reporting practices Labour issues in soccer ball production and unreasonable working hours—imagine 21-hour days for Historically, child labour has been the prominent issue a month straight—in China’s. surrounding soccer ball production in Pakistan. Since the FIFA’s stand against labour injustice presents itself, late 1990s, when the problem first received public attention, according to its website, as a partnership with the World cf tn.c a |

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Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) that upholds globally recognized labour and environmental principles among FIFA-licensed producers. Labelling balls as FIFA Approved and FIFA Inspected, FIFA communicates quality and assures corporate social responsibility. FIFA says that it will revoke licences from producers who fail to adopt the WFSGI Code of Conduct, but the Code itself merely “encourages” manufacturers to adopt third-party monitoring.

One of the strengths of the Fairtrade system is that it requires consistent monitoring and detailed records keeping, including the registration of all subcontractors. To back this up, FLO-Cert (Fairtrade International’s certifying body) has the power to audit inspection reports and employee records, and to penalize offending producers. “That is one of the reasons I subscribe to the Fairtrade model,” says James Milligan, founder of Social Conscience Fair Trade Sports Balls. “I’m one guy. What am I going to do? Go over there and check it out all the time?”

The Fairtrade standard doesn’t allow for home-based stitching and is revised regularly, eliminating potential loopholes.

Back on the turf at Andy Livingstone Park, the second half is underway. As play shifts to the east end, Heinrich, sporting a red pinny, finds himself in the box with the ball before him, a gift from a defender. He squares himself to the net, but his attempt is sky bound; the ball lands on the adjoining field. The sideline erupts with encouragement. Someone tosses another ball onto the pitch. The VSSL has been using Fairtrade certified balls since 2012, and with the league’s year-round schedule, its soccer balls “can’t be made of weak stuff,” says Heinrich.

VSSL’s Fairtrade certified balls, donated by Social Conscience, meet FIFA’s highest quality and performance standards. “When presented a choice of two equal products in everything except the back story,” Milligan says, “I think people like to choose something that makes a difference.” 2 Erik Johnson is the associate editor of Fair Trade Magazine. His article about artisanal gold mining, “Prospecting Sustainability,” appeared in the Winter/ Spring 2014 issue.

Benefits for Fairtrade producers In addition to safe working conditions and fair wages, workers at Fairtrade certified factories and stitching centres receive a Fairtrade Premium, which is designed to improve life for employees and their families. “The different factories that I’ve worked with have used the premiums for a variety of things,” says Milligan. “Healthcare and education are two of the common ones. They’ll do an eye exam. They’ll bring doctors to the factory and test not just the employees, but their whole families.” Employees at one certified factory use their premiums to shuttle stitchers to work and subsidize a grocery store for workers and their families.

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Fairtrade Certified Roses available year-round at the following retailers Thrifty Foods, Choices Markets, Whole Foods Market, Claytons Heritage Market, Olla Flowers And soon available at many retail florists in Western Canada ®

www.fairtrade.ca

I N D E P E N D E N T L Y

O W N E D

Importer and Distributor of Fairtrade Certified Flowers for Canada and the USA

AS OF MAY 12 FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED ROSES ARE SUPPLIED BY Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver

www.f lorimex-vancouver.com

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www.floristssupply.com

Getting a Tast e For

Fair Trade Wine

By Rosly n e Bucha na n

F

or me, it started selfishly. I’d recently settled in the Okanagan, the heart of BC

wine country, and I was delighted to discover how much the industry had evolved in the last 30 years. I met the local personalities behind our wine, the farmers and producers, and have become more invested in their success. I realized that the issues they face also threaten the things I love. The joy of scouting the best produce at our farmers’ markets and visiting local wineries, breweries, and distilleries for tastings, if taken for granted, could feasibly disappear.

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Motivated by these concerns, I began to wonder more broadly about the future sustainability of our food sources and eventually joined the Slow Food Canada Thompson Okanagan Convivium, which is part of “a global, grassroots organization linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to local communities and the environment.”

Slow Food was founded in 1989 as a non-profit, member-supported association “to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.”

It was when I got to know the local farmers and producers as individuals that I appreciated how my food choices could impact them—this is also true for farmers and producers around the world.

Which brings us to fair trade wine.

While I drink more BC wine than imports, because buying local makes sense on so many levels, I still enjoy trying new products, and I believe that I have no right to extol the virtues of BC wine without comparison. That said, in exploring the BC Liquor Stores for imported fair trade options, I found limited choice.

In another province, however, Manitoba Liquor Marts (MLCC) stands out from other Canadian liquor boards in clearly identifying fair trade products.

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MLCC was honoured “in recognition of their ongoing commitment to fair trade” at the first-annual Canadian Fairtrade Awards in 2012. MLCC delineates ethically produced wines on its website and in product guides, clearly marking Fairtrade and organic selections that have been third-party certified.

So if getting a taste of Fairtrade wine is so challenging elsewhere in Canada, why bother?

As Sheila Nash, MLCC product ambassador, says, “Beyond recognizing the issues and trusting in the standards set for Fairtrade designation, it sure feels good to give back. Wine is mostly a luxury purchase. If we can go that extra step in ensuring the money is well spent to support people and build communities, why not?”

According to Fairtrade International (FLO), “small families cultivating wine grapes in Argentina and Chile are susceptible to low market prices that do not generate enough income to meet their family’s basic needs. This limits their opportunity to invest in improving farming systems, lowers their productivity, and threatens their livelihood. Fairtrade certification ensures that farmers are able to cover their costs of production, supporting

grape growers to maintain ownership of their farms against the pressure of large business competitors.”

In South Africa, where the development of the wine industry depended heavily on slave labour, the legacy of apartheid has limited opportunities for economic advancement.

According to a 2011 report by Human Rights Watch, farmworkers producing fruits and wine are some of the most vulnerable people in South African society. They are among the lowest wage earners in the country and are often denied legally entitled benefits.

The report describes workers being exposed to pesticides without adequate safety equipment and having limited access to safe drinking water, handwashing facilities, or toilets. The remote locations of agricultural farms means that workers struggle to obtain health care and are often refused sick leave.

Nash says, “The good news is fair trade is making a difference. If you visit these wine producers, you see workers being looked after. It’s not just fair pay. You see hospitals and schools under construction. It goes beyond treating workers right, it’s about building communities.”

In South Africa’s Breede River Valley,

Living wage amounts established for South African vineyard workers As part of its review of minimum prices for South African wine grapes, Fairtrade International (FLO) recently commissioned researchers to develop methodologies for measuring living wages in the industry, a process that considered factors such as local food costs, nutrition needs, living arrangements, family demographics, and product availability.

FLO’s existing labour standards require employers to pay wages that align with national minimum wages, but as FLO has identified, these can be too low to meet the needs of basic living. According to FLO, “A living wage should do more than simply keep workers and their families out of poverty.

It should also allow them to participate in social and cultural life.”

The new living wage amounts for the region have been set at R144 (C$14.54) per day—37 percent higher than current national minimums (R105) and 109 percent higher than what they were at the beginning of 2013 (R69). FLO will release its revised standards for hired labour in June 2014, which will require employers to provide annual increases to achieve livable wages, as well as provide the option for workers to spend up to 20 percent of Fairtrade Premiums on wage bonuses.

the Fairhills project, an association of 22 Fairtrade certified vineyards covering 750 hectares, has been marketing sustainable red and white wines globally since 2005, producing as much as 1.5 million litres every year. Fairhills provides safe working conditions and quality housing for workers, and

Fairtrade premiums have funded the creation of child care centres, a craft co-operative, scholarships, and adult literacy programs.

Also in South Africa, workers at the Bergendal farm in the Piekenierskloof Mountains, certified since 2003, have used Fairtrade premiums to build a

PERFECT 10!

10 years of Coffee Roasting 10 years of Café Femenino 10 years of Fairtrade Certified 10 years of Organic Certified We are committed to roasting ONLY Fairtrade Organic coffee!

www.shuswapcoffee.com

All of our coffee is roasted in small batches in beautiful Salmon Arm, BC cf tn.c a |

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community hall, provide art supplies and a playground for children at their childcare centre, and install solar-powered hot water tanks in employee housing.

Globally, the largest market for fair trade wine is the United Kingdom, which, according to a Datamonitor press release, was worth over UK£26 million in 2009 with expected growth of 18 percent annually over the next five years.

Datamonitor analyst Katrina Diamonon attributes this growth to “an increase

wine has to stand on its own in terms of value and taste, and adds, “I’m impressed with the increasing quality, and prices are competitive.”

Just as I witnessed BC wines improve—and the quality of grape varieties and blends match or exceed those of other regions—the same can be seen in the increasing recognition of fair trade wines, some of which have won prestigious awards. At the 2013 International Wine and Spirits

Farmworkers producing fruits and wine are some of the most vulnerable people in South African society. in quality of Fairtrade wines as well as awareness of the concept as a whole.”

Fairtrade certified wine has been available in Canada since 2007, and demand is increasing. In 2012, Fairtrade wine made up less than 1 percent of total Canadian wine sales by volume from South Africa, Chile, and Argentina (the three nations currently exporting Fairtrade certified wine). While 2011 saw only 32,873 litres of Fairtrade wine sold in Canada, this number increased by 300 percent—more than any other Fairtrade product in Canada—to 151,590 litres in 2012.

MLCC started carrying fair trade products in 2009 and continues to expand its inventory. Part of the challenge is to find new products and carry a consistent stock. Nash described how MLCC is open to supporting small producers with limited supply, but remains mindful of the balance between price and quality. She recognizes that

Competition, a Fairtrade-certified South African winery, Place in the Sun, received a silver award for its 2013 Sauvignon Blanc. The UK-based wine magazine Decanter awarded a gold recognition to Tilimuqui’s 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon-Bonarda, which is produced by a Fairtrade-certified vineyard in Argentina.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has named 2014 the International Year of Family Farming, so there’s no better time to taste fair trade wine and raise your glass to those who tend our vineyards. 2 Roslyne Buchanan lives in the Okanagan and contributes regularly to food, wine, travel, and lifestyle magazines and blogs. @RozDB

photo credits

Photos copyright

Contributing photographer

Shutterstock: cover, pages 13, 19, 20, 30

Bryce Tarling: pages 3, 10, 11

Vision Technologies: 14, 15, 16 Anna-Marie Epp-Janzen: pages 24, 27

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growing change

To Be and Not to Buy

By Rachel Bergen

Anna-Marie Epp-Janzen is taking a year-long break from consumer culture to focus on being, not buying.

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nna-Marie Epp-Janzen believes in caring for her body, caring for others, and caring for the environment.

It’s more than a mantra for her. From an early age, Janzen remembers being different and thinking differently than her peers. Epp-Janzen’s parents recycled when it was difficult to recycle. They used reusable bags for grocery shopping before they were sold as fashion accessories. Growing up, Epp-Janzen wore hand-me-downs from friends and her older brother, and even now, as a 26-year-old, she usually wears second- or third-hand clothes.

“It was just a part of my lifestyle. It was how I was raised,” she says.

Living simply and supporting ethical organizations have been tenets in Epp-Janzen’s life since before she can remember.

These principles have also influenced her professional life.

Epp-Janzen has worked for Ten Thousand Villages, thrift stores, and non-governmental organizations like Canadian Foodgrains Bank and Project Peacemakers. “I’m very hard on myself,” she says. “Where I work has to align with my values.”

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25

growing change Epp-Janzen says she felt compelled to leave jobs with companies she didn’t agree with. One summer, she worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company to pay for school.

“I hated that. It made my soul hurt, so I left,” Epp-Janzen says.

Her quest to connect her values and actions has inspired her to almost completely detach from consumer culture.

The consumption sabbatical

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THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS! We appreciate the support and pledge to live up to the principles of Fair Trade.

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Last August, Epp-Janzen began a consumption sabbatical—a year-long break from consumerism. She is focusing on being content with what she has and letting go of the pressure to buy more. She says Western society often equates an individual’s personal value with what they have rather than who they are.

There is constant pressure to keep up with changing fashions and technologies in order to be seen as, and feel like, a valuable member of society.

Epp-Janzen’s break from consumer culture means she buys food, and not much else. Everything she buys goes through a rigorous screening process.

“If I can buy something fair trade, I will. If I can buy something local, I will. If I can’t get something local or fair trade, I’ll get it organic,” Epp-Janzen says.

She generally opts for local meat and in-season fruits and vegetables, but when it comes to international products like sugar, tea, spices, bananas, and chocolate, she prioritizes fair trade products.

These products can’t be grown locally in Canada, so consumers rely on workers in other countries—many of whom aren’t paid fairly and are susceptible to working in horrible conditions. Fairtrade certification ensures that the people who grow, harvest, and prepare these products aren’t being exploited. For Epp-Janzen, buying fair trade means respecting people who are involved in the process.

These shopping habits started well before the consumption sabbatical and will continue long after, she says.

“I’m all about integrity. That’s the most important thing to me in anything. For me to be valid as a human being in my own mind, I have to make the commitment to change how I live. Otherwise, who am I? I can’t change anything if I can’t change myself,” Epp-Janzen says.

What she wants to change are consumption patterns that harm her own body, people around the world, and the environment.

Epp-Janzen is willing to take on additional challenges if it means getting a little closer to these goals.

Not as easy as it sounds In March, Epp-Janzen added an additional criterion to her food2 6 | f a i r t r a d e m a g a z i n e  c a n a d a’ s v o i c e f o r s o c i a l s u s t a i n a b i l i t y

To learn more about the challenges Anna-Marie is undertaking, follow her blog at tobeandnottobuy.wordpress.com

Anna-Marie Epp-Janzen

consumption practices—no plastic packaging.

Plastic is so common that it’s difficult to give up entirely, she says. During her six-week plastic fast, Epp-Janzen tried to avoid plastic containers, bags, and milk jugs, not counting the plastic already in her home.

This meant drastically changing her diet. When EppJanzen and her husband, Daniel, went on their first plasticfree grocery trip, they purchased very little—fruits, vegetables, canned beans, coconut milk, and bouillon cubes.

“Its appalling how much of our food comes in plastic,” she says.

They found that despite their best efforts to avoid it, vegetables like kale were tied together with plastic twist-ties and apples and other fruits had plastic stickers on them. They were forced to bend their rules a bit.

“It all comes back to my fundamental understanding of taking care of myself, taking care of each other, and taking care of the planet,” she says. “I can’t claim to believe that if I’m not actively trying to do it.”

August marks the end of Epp-Janzen’s consumption sabbatical, and though she plans to buy a few new clothes, she says she will only purchase from companies that are making strides to be as ethical as possible.

“That’s where I want to put my money. I vote with my dollars.” 2 Rachel Bergen is a journalist based in Vancouver, B.C. She recently graduated from the UBC Graduate School of Journalism.

250-748-6227 Duncan, BC

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27

book review

the

solution revolution H o w B u s i n e s s , G o v e r n m e n t, and s o c i a l e n t e r p r i s e s are teaming up to solve society’s toughest problems

William D. EggErs & Paul macmillan H a r va r d

B u s i n e s s

r e v i e w

P r e s s

The Solution Revolution

By William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan Harvard Business Review Press, 2013 304 pages, $29.00, ISBN: 9781422192191 Re v iewed by Dustin Joh nson

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social enterprise is a business or organization that creates positive social change while generating profit to remain self-sustainable. Over the past decade, the social enterprise movement has rapidly expanded and transformed.

New forms of currency, technologies, and sector linkages have led to solution-oriented markets aimed at dealing with a range of intractable problems, from a lack of education and sanitation in the developing world to the rising costs of healthcare and infrastructure in industrialized nations. In The Solution Revolution, authors William D. Eggers and Paul MacMillan, both policy consultants for Deloitte Research, term this the “Solution Economy.”

Examples of the solution economy take many forms.

Ride-sharing apps on smartphones allow city dwellers to easily connect and carpool, reducing congestion and costing a fraction of government-funded infrastructure improvements. Multinationals, in partnership with local NGOs and governments, create markets for soap among the world’s poorest—simultaneously improving sanitation and turning a profit. Social impact investors look to support new

ventures of all forms, spurring social changes in education, low-income housing, and human trafficking.

These ventures, whether initiated by small startups, new divisions of established multinationals, or partnerships between NGOs, businesses, and governments, share a number of common attributes: They challenge established ideas of how a product is made or a service is delivered; they see gaps in existing markets and create ecosystems, markets beyond our traditional notions of exchange, to solve greater social issues; they also use increasingly available and cheap mobile technology to access and process unprecedented amounts of data, make connections across the globe, and scale rapidly to deliver a larger impact.

According to Eggers and Macmillan, one of the new currencies of the solution economy is reputation. The performance of companies beyond their financials is scrutinized ever more by the public. Consumers look for products that align with their values and search for proof of this alignment. What’s more, word of bad practice can spread rapidly online.

But reputation doesn’t need to be an issue of risk, as governments and corporations can take on new initiatives to become social change-makers themselves. This is where fair trade certification can assure consumers while bolstering or preserving a company’s reputation. Participating in community initiatives such as Fair Trade Town and Campus campaigns can also influence others within a community, helping ensure these social commitments continue to grow.

The business of doing good is catching on across the world, and companies, NGOs, and governments must constantly adapt to changing realities. National governments are nolonger able to tackle public challenges with their own topdown solutions, and foreign aid, on its own, has struggled to address issues in the developing world. These challenges, among others, have played into the rise of social enterprise.

As part of this movement, we should recognize our own roles in overcoming these challenges. Fair trade has a role to play in the solution economy, supporting disadvantaged producers in innovating their own prosperous futures, but to remain relevant, it will need to continue to evolve to reach its potential. 2 Dustin Johnson represents Atlantic Canada on the Canadian Fair Trade Network’s board of directors. He is pursuing a masters degree in resource and environmental management in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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It takes all of us to make change happen.

Chartwells is pleased to partner with the Canadian Fair Trade Network in leading the way by supporting Fair Trade Campus initiatives. We are proud to support our Fair Trade Campus partners at Simon Fraser University, University of Ottawa, Trent University, and McGill University.

Chartwells is the leading provider of dining services to Canadian students. For further information, contact Lorna Willis: Lorna.Willis@compass-canada.com.

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5

product profile

Avocados

Growing opportunity for farmers

By Bryce Ta r ling

T

he avocado, also referred to as the alligator pear, is a berry belonging to the family Lauraceae, which also includes culinary staples such as cinnamon and bay leaves.

The majority of avocados we eat are the Hass variety, named after its initial planter, propagator, and patent-owner, Rudolph Hass, who planted the first of its kind in California in the 1920s. The original tree succumbed to root fungus in 2002, after being tended by Hass’s children for 50 years after his death.

In Canada, the popularity and consumption of avocados has increased by more than 350 percent in the last decade, from 15.8 million kilograms imported in 2003 to over 57 million kilograms in 2013—of which, almost 80 percent were grown in Mexico.

Individual trees take eight years to become fully productive, and if cared for, can produce up to 100 kilograms of fruit per year for 20 to 25 years. Avocados are a climacteric fruit, which means they’re picked when mature but ripen in storage or transport. This is why avocados can be harvested thousands of kilometres away but still arrive fresh in our grocery stores. That said, avocados are a perishable commodity and can damage easily. Producers in developing countries

can lose up to 50 percent of yields before their product reaches store shelves.

Trading is the pits For growers, negotiating contracts with local traders can be difficult, as these arrangements are often verbal and may not contain conditions for quality, price, or payment. Buyers rarely pay on delivery, and when they do it may be on reduced terms—if they pay at all.

And while traders can always find new sources, growers must take what they can get.

Vast and inefficient distribution networks can also affect price. In Mexico, excessive handling through large, centralized distribution centres can mean shipments will pass through the same place more than once before reaching their final destination. This increases the cost of the final product, which is mitigated by paying farmers less—often less than national minimum requirements. In addition, growers rarely receive overtime pay or vacations.

Fair trade makes for thick skin At a recent panel discussion in Vancouver, Gustavo Vallejo Esquivel of Pragor Organic Avocado in Michoacan, Mexico,

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spoke about how fair trade practices have helped growers avoid excessive handling in conventional supply chains. “We now sell directly to the [Canadian] importer,” said Vallejo Esquivel.

For Vallejo Esquivel, fair trade equates to better prices and higher wages for workers. The additional premiums from fair trade have allowed his community to build walls around cemeteries to prevent dogs from digging up gravesites. They’ve also invested in health projects for seniors and a music school to help promote local cultural traditions among the community’s youth.

“There are a lot of people living in a community who don’t think they can participate, but when you give them education and training, they can do anything,” said Vallejo Esquivel. 2 Bryce Tarling is the director of communications at the Canadian Fair Trade Network and editor of Fair Trade Magazine.