Fair trade

Millions of people around the world rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. In some poorer countries up to 70% of the population is fully or partly dependent on it. The growing market share and power of retailers has contributed to a situation where workers’ rights and environmental standards are under pressure in an effort to secure large quantities of products at the cheapest possible price.

Labelling and accreditation systems like Fairtrade and Traidcraft have been crucial in raising the profile of ethical issues in food and farming. Today the UK market for ‘ethical’ food is the second largest in the world after the US, and UK Fairtrade sales alone stood at £712 million in 2008.

Ethical argument

The issues that arise from accredited some products as fairer than others include:

• Why are unfair products - for instance those made in illegal working conditions - be on the shelves at all?
• Do 'ethical labels' live up to their promises - are they fair or just fairer?
• When big businesses buy into ethical standards, does that erode their value either in practice or in principle?
• Is competition in the ‘ethical’ foods sector creating too many different levels and types of ‘ethical’ standard, damaging consumer trust in the movement?

Priorities:

• ‘Omnistandards’ that encapsulate multiple ethical and environmental standards could help to help make sure consumers aren't confused by the proliferation of labels
• Collaboration, campaigning and regulation could help competition on ‘ethical’ products to drive progress rather than just profits