In the first chapter of John Bowes book, A Fair Trade Revolution, Bowes details the evolution of the Fair Trade movement. While this chapter provides background details on the history of Fair Trade, it also makes a connection, intentional or not, that Fair Trade is perpetuated by the harmony of western and non-western ideals.
I was interested to learn of that the development of the Fairtrade mark was vital to the growth of the Fair Trade movement. The chapter reports that 70% of the adult UK population is able to recognize this label. Consumers also understand that this label is a legitimate accreditation which indicates that the product has met Fair Trade standards and is priced fairly.
This label opened up distribution options for Fair Trade products and also led to a consumer demand for the good. However, I feel that this relates back to consumers’ love of labels. Often people make purchases because of what it says on the tag and not necessarily because of quality. For example, people purchase Coach Handbags because it’s Coach and not because it is the exact product they are looking for. The western emphasis on the “name” or “label” of a product is seen in the success Fair Trade to a certain degree. Now that Fair Trade is becoming a more mainstream consumer trend it is gaining popularity and customers.
However, while Fair Trade might be supported by western consumers, it did not evolve as a result of western development programs or ideals.
The last page of the chapter indicates that the success of Fair Trade model is not from a western person giving the developing world a solution. Rather, it is people in that region who wanted a change their lives and they constructed a way to do that so they can stand on their own and support themselves independently.

After reading “A Brilliant Idea” from the Fair Trade Revolution, I can see Fair Trade developing and growing by staggering numbers. However, the amount of people that need Fair Trade is also staggering. In this introduction, it states, “fair trade may currently be benefiting more than 7 million people in the developing world.” This is an excessive amount of people. The next shocking statistic is that 2.6 billion people, about 40 percent of humanity, are living on less than 2 dollars a day. These numbers are shocking and real, which is scary to think of the disparity between the other 60 percent of the population.

I learned that the FAIRTRADE mark has not only help consumers make a better choice, but also helps retailers focus on a credible and recognizable detail. The farmer also always receives enough money to cover costs and stay in business. It also helps keep children under 15 out of employment. The standards and implications of this allow a consumer to be sure they are buying certified fair trade in every way.

Nestle even began to push its way into an ethical movement, whereas before they were known for the opposite. This shows that some businesses have been drawn to fair trade reluctantly, which is not always the best way. In a way, fair trade is creating its own specific tensions. These businesses want more and on-shelf delivery, while fair trade finds it difficult to keep with a fast pace because of the nature of the products. Sometimes they cannot keep up with the level of demand. It is a challenge to create a lot of products with keeping with quality. I did not realize this was a large issue in Fair Trade but it can hinder the progress.

I also learned that America’s commitment to the capitalist market economy has driven the pursuit of personal material wealth at the expense of other issues such as global economic and social problems. This is a major reason why fair trade has not been as successful as it could be. However, even with these obstacles, fair trade is progressing. It is America that needs to participate more to help its growth. I personally did not know much about Fair Trade before, but now being exposed and aware of the different issues, I can help raise awareness in my own area of life.

In John Bowes’ article, “Introduction to a Brilliant Idea,” Bowes expresses the problem of poverty as “appalling collective failure of human society” (Bowes 2). I found this to be a very striking and accurate representation. Like Bowes mentions, there is so much income disparity in the world. Bowes mentions that the “poorest 40% account for just 5% of the global income,” while the richest 20% have account for three quarters of the global income. While I understand that it is practically impossible to employ equal distribution of wealth, I cannot help but to wish the global income was a bit more fairly distributed. Many problems in the world, such as poverty, can be classified as “collective failure of human society,” since most of us lack the motivation or power to do something to change this.

Bowes later on, mentions how much the Fair trade mark means, and what the producers and traders are obligated to do. It is said in the article, that a long lasting partnership is preferable, that the importers are “required to be prepared to pre-finance up to 60% of the purchase value of the seasonal crops,” that producers have to demonstrate that they are following specific requirements, etc. It is inspiring to learn that so many of the companies, especially in the UK, are promoting fair trade practices (even with the many requirements that must be met and followed).

Bowes later states that these many obligations must be met “if the integrity of the Fair trade Mark is to be protected” (Bowes 7). This statement really helped me realize how much the Fair Trade Mark meant and symbolized. It is not just a simple mark; it represents the hope, pride, and dignity, for which the integrity of the mark must be protected.

Although Bowes determines that many of the businesses will “switch out of fair trade” (Bowes 12), and that to some, fair trade is just simply a “partner of convenience,” I really hope that this is not the case, and that many more businesses will join in on the fair trade movement. Since some companies and businesses have “reluctantly” been drawn to fair trade due to “changing customer expectations,” it is especially important for consumers to keep raising awareness and demanding fair trade, in the hopes that one day, fair trade won’t be a “small part role [but] a full scare trading revolution” (Bowes 16).

Every reading in this class has made me realize that despite the amount of dedicated service and aid for these third world countries, there is so much more work to be done. "A Brilliant Idea" is a cry for justice.. even amongst our fellow Fair Trade certified comrades! For multinational corporations, obtaining the Fair Trade label is not meant to represent the company as 100% morally right. It seems as if the Fair Trade products are becoming commodified, and companies simply seek to obtain the label to promote "awareness of social injustices." Then why isn't Starbucks 100% Fair Trade right now?! There is so much more for companies to be doing, and it seems through this article that many companies are doing the bare minimum to sell the products. I had a feeling that despite the fairer living conditions of these laborers, but I knew that they wouldn't be living in a luxurious apartment either.
I was particularly interested in the relationship described between the laborers, companies, and consumers. Both the companies and laborers have a specific obligation, the latter following certain labor laws--right to association, collective bargaining, no children under age 15, and the former must maintain the obligation of setting a Fair Trade premium price to pay for social, environmental, and developmental projects for the laborers. However, we as consumers also become part of this relationship triangle. And we haven't been doing such a good job in maintaining this relationship! It was interesting to see that the US was the most stubborn nation in promoting Fair Trade, and it is vital that we start to participate more in promoting Fair Trade.
And as all Fair Trade readings do, I am inspired to be among those people who start to make a difference and raise awareness in the US. Our country may be lagging behind, but there is still hope that as a school, Fordham can help raise awareness this semester, (and in the future) through our projects and selling products through the Fair Trade cart. Along with selling the products, I am also excited to raise awareness of Fair Trade and show people that they too can make a difference with each purchase.

After reading “A Brilliant Idea” from the book Fair Trade Revolution, I found some of the statistics to be particularly thought provoking.
One of the facts that jumped out most to me was that 1.4 billion are trying to survive at or below the World Bank’s poverty line and are living off of approximately $1.25 a day. Additionally, 2.6 billion, which is 40% of human is living under less than $2 a day.
It is simply astonishing to me that such a large amount of people are living in poverty, yet only a small percentage of people are trying to help and do something about it. I do not understand how such advanced societies, with advancements of all kinds being developed on the daily, can go on without serious consideration and desire to efficiently help these people in need. It is a reminder to me that society has generally been desensitized by the desire for money and power. That said, it was still good to see the statistic that said that there are 400 fair trade towns, 1500 fairtrade schools and 4000 fair trade groups which are all working to make a positive impact.
Another fact that popped out at me was that the UK grocery market, which consisted of 140 billion pounds, has about 800 million pounds towards Fair trade products. That is less than 1 percent of total grocery sales.
While the figure “800 million pounds” sounds like a large number, when in comparison to the grand scheme, it is quite upsetting that it is less 1 percent. I almost feel greedy in this regard that it is just not enough. I struggle with the fact that I should be happy and appreciate what is being doing (in general about Fair trade) but at the same time, it can get extremely disappointing to see the lack of effort all around. Even more so to read information that companies become fair trade certified or socially responsible basically for marketing purposes. Where is the genuine human care for one another? If Starbucks in the UK is Fairtrade, why isn’t it 100% in the US? Did the UK Starbucks do it in an effort to stay relevant in the UK since Fairtrade is bigger there? So many questions.

The statistics in “A Brilliant Idea” ended in 2007, with the U.K. beating the U.S. in total sales per capita. Out of curiosity, I set out to find out what has happened since then. Oddly enough, it’s incredibly difficult to find any real data on total Fair Trade sales, but I was able to find a university study done on the years 2007 – 2009 (http://www.uvm.edu/~kpanosia/Site/About_Me_files/FairTradeReport.pdf). The most revealing bit of data in this report is on page 8, Data Table 1, “Retail Sales Around the World.” According to the report, sales in the U.S. still trail behind the U.K., with annual growth in the U.S. around 7% per year. In the U.K., awareness of Fair Trade has caused growth of 15%. (That, however, pales in comparison to Canada; 66% growth in 2009!)

According to the article, Fair Trade sales are weak in the U.S. because of a “…culture of self-centered political and emotional isolationism… and a virtually undeviating commitment to the capitalistic market economy…” With the slower growth in the U.S., it’s not surprising that companies are slow to buy in. If the people don’t demand it, the companies won’t provide it.

That said, according to “A Brilliant Idea,” maybe growth isn’t what the Fair Trade market wants! According to the article, the only way to supply the volume of any commodity that a large-scale market may request would include large, plantation-style farming which is in direct competition with democratically run farms and runs counter to the point of Fair Trade.

Small scale seems to be the only way that Fair Trade can operate, but it makes me wonder how viable a business model Fair Trade will be in the long run, in terms of its ability to help large numbers of people. If the ultimate goal of Fair Trade is to become large enough that all farmers and artisans can sustain themselves and their families, the scale must expand and deliver enough of an output that the money flowing from the developed world impacts every artisan/farmer in developing nations. It runs counter to my intuition to think that the best case scenario is helping a very small number of people, but this article seems to suggest that small scale is not only the best case, it is the only way.

John Bowes' "A Brilliant Idea" helped to simplify and expand on what exactly Fair Trade is, and more importantly: how Fair Trade is important and benefits our modern day world.

The statistics Bowes presents of how "1.4 billion people of the world's population are trying to survive at or below the World Bank's official poverty line of just $1.25 a day" and how "the poorest 40 per cent account for just 5% of global income whilst the richest 20% take three quarters of the pot." While these statistics are dramatic, they aren't exactly shocking after the extreme exposure about the gap between the rich and the poor through things like Occupy Wall Street, documentaries like Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream, etc... Although it was not incredibly shocking to me, it is most definitely not okay that so many people are suffering under unfair conditions and wages while others are so well off. I knew Fair Trade benefited the workers and made sure they were being treated correctly and paid fairly, but I wasn't exactly sure how that was all guaranteed until this article.

I was really interested to learn how the international fair trade standards that the "FAIRTRADE Mark" actually represents. Bowes helped explain to me how first there is a "minimum price set at a level which ensures that the producer is able to cover all costs necessary for sustainable production." This seems fairly simple to understand, but what was something I would not have thought of is how this minimum price is not a set price but actually, "if the market price for a product increases beyond the Fairtrade minimum then the producer will receive the higher of the two prices." This set-up is completely different than the classic corporate "for profit" idea that we are often exposed to. Like Suzy said in her post above, the relationship between the consumers, companies, and producers really interested me and I was really pleased by how fair trade promotes the "importance of partnership between trading partners." I really do think fair trade can and should be the future of our society and business, and although companies that become involve with fair trade, like Nestle's, may do so as an opportunist exploitation of the emerging popularity of fair trade, I agree that there is a positive side to things as although it may not be for the right reasons it is good to see that the consumers are pushing corporations to do the right and moral thing.

"A Brilliant Idea" confirmed my enthusiasm and belief in Fair Trade, and I hope that it does continue to expand in popularity until all major corporations create better contracts with their producers and employees.

The statistics in “A Brilliant Idea” were thought provoking. The statistics help put the struggles of living in a first world country into perspective. In the world there are over 1.4 billion people who are living below the World Bank’s poverty line and make an average of $1.25 per day. Another fact that stood out was that over 40% of the world’s population is living on less than $2 a day.

That means that almost 3 billion people struggle to get by on less than the price of a coffee in NYC. These types of statistics are shocking and quite powerful. It is important to note that the prices for goods in places where people make less than $2 a day are much lower than those in first world countries. Nonetheless, these people live under terrible conditions which are perpetuated by Western demand for low cost manufacturing.

The article also explained the meaning of the Fair Trade symbol. The most important is that it assures that the certified fair trade company pays a certain minimum price for the production of the good in order to assure that the producer is able to cover “all costs necessary for sustainable production.” I liked the fact that the price stresses a sustainable level of production which shows that there is a long term focus for the fair trade initiative. Furthermore, the fair trade mark ensures that child labor is not used in the production of the product and that manufacturing conditions are humane.

According to the article, Fair Trade sales are weak in the U.S. which goes to show why fair trade is a neglected issue by many large corporations. Companies that are driven by maximizing profits are complacent to ignore fair trade initiatives if their customers aren’t willing to pay more money for fair trade certified products. This inability for fair trade to operate in the large scale market is a troubling sign for the sustainability of this business model. Without the large scale market, the fair trade market is left to target a highly isolated niche market which makes it hard to bring about any large scale changes worldwide.

One part of this chapter that stood out to me was the connection the author drew between climate change and fairtrade. The author talked about how climate change only drew attention from millions of people after politicians and large companies began to express concerns. It started out as a little known theory and now people across the world are constantly thinking about it and many working to try and reduce climate change. The author also talked about how fairtrade inherently adds to climate change due to the carbon burning that occurs in any international trading.

I found this to be an extremely interesting point of view. First of all I thought of how global warming drew a lot of critics intially and was seen as a huge controversy. Similarily fairtrade has attracted many critics of whether it is having a postive or negative effects on markets. There are many who believe that fairtrade falsely raises prices and leads to oversupply of goods. I think that as with global warming, more people will start to listen to arguments for increased fairtrade as it is talked about more and more evidence of it's positive effects are proven. As far as the fact that fairtrade adds to climate change through carbon emmisions, I don't see anyway around that as carbon emmissions are an essential part of transporting goods. The only way to change that is to steer away from fossil fuels and that is an entirely different conversation altogether.

Another aspect of this chapter that caught my eye was the anaylsis of how mainstream major companies adding fairtrade foods to their product line may be a double edged sword. While major companies selling fairtrade products might increase the amount of people in devolping countries that recieve the benefits of fairtrade it could utlimately reduce the impact of fairtrade. With mainstream retailers selling fairtrade goods and foods, it provides more access for customers to find and buy fairtrade as well as increase demand for production from producers. The flipside is that these companies work on economies of scale and are all about large scale production. The very nature of large scale production is in fact contrary to the goals of fairtrade. While fairtrade promotes cooperatives and small scale farms that allow for transparancy, democratic decision making and growth for all involved, large scale production does the opposite. It promotes beauracracy and concern for the company's bottom line, not the welfare of all employees or producers. The concerns that many have with big business getting involved with fairtrade is not a simple argument nor is it a question with a right or wrong answer. Most liekly it will take time, anaylsis and ultimately trial and error to navigate around this issue.

While reading "a brilliant idea", I thought it was extremely interesting to see how much fair trade has grown.

The first thing that I found to be particularly fascinating was the development of the Fairtrade mark and its impact on the expansion of fair trade. The foundation on which the Fairtrade mark has expanded the industry seems to rest on the fact that it provides a visual authenticity to those who seek to support fair trade; a guarantee that what you're buying does in fact come from an ethical source.

Perhaps the most attention grabbing aspect of the Fairtrade mark was the fact that the article used the term "brand development" as an incentive to companies who partner with Fairtrade programs. Shortly after mentioning this, it went on to talk about Nestle. I found it ironic that we had learned about the unethical business practices of Nestle earlier in the school year when we looked at "The dark side of Chocolate". I think that the fact that Nestle is now using a fair trade coffee mix could either be a brand development move, as mentioned above, or it could be that Nestle genuinely wants to be a supporter of fair trade. That being said, I think that this is an excellent turn around for international corporations like Nestle in regards to taking a step in the right direction.

The second thing that popped out at me was the fact that the article brought up the topic of climate change. It emphasized that fair trade is often on an international scale and requires a lot of transportation of goods. This apparently results in a significant carbon footprint.

To be honest, I was surprised by the fact that climate change was included within the article. I feel like this is an aspect of business that isn't really thought about. While I can definitely understand the importance of trying to minimize one's carbon footprint, I think that it is a necessary evil. If we tried to minimize our toll on the environment, then globalization and trade between international fair trade co-ops would no longer be in existence.

Fair Trade is not just about starting something and wanting it to just rapidly grow, it’s a leading movement that has been started and its main purpose is to revolutionize and change conflict business practices that have exploited slavery, human trafficking and rape at the very least. This article like most of the articles we have read so far focuses on the impact that Fair Trade has had so far, the participation of businesses that would like to be part of the Fair Trade movement for whatever reason, to the countries such as the United States who has not fully embraced the Fair Trade Movement for whatever reason.
The article spent time talking about the FAIR TRADE MARK and its development and what is signifies. I found it very interesting to what extent the Fairtrade Foundation had on protecting the integrity of the FAIR TRADE MARK, and according to the article, the mark represents a visual guarantee that a product has met international Fairtrade standards. These standards are constantly being met and checked by an auditing process that has been put in place by FLO-Cert.
A part of the article, as others touched on briefly, that to me was disturbing was when James talked about the world poverty level. The numbers do not sound realistic, but it is so much factual according to World Bank in 2008 and this is a global challenge which we all face. Overall, this article brings about further awareness and what we still have to contribute to bring change.

I thought that the introduction to “A Brilliant Idea” was such an interesting read, especially because it delves deeper into the business side of fair trade. One fact that jumped out to me was the poorest 40% of people in the world account for just 5% of the world’s income, whereas the richest 20% account for about 75% of the world’s wealth.

The statistics on the disparity when it comes to wealth are upsetting, because a person cannot choose the circumstances in which they are born, and most of the world doesn’t have the resources and/or the political structure that we have here in the United States that would allow them the opportunity to climb the economic ladder. Reading this brings about a certain sense of guilt, but also a sense of gratitude. More people should be aware of these statistics not just to take action, but to really appreciate every moment and opportunity they are given in life.

I also thought the author’s information on the Fair Trade Labeling Organization International was interesting, especially from a marketing standpoint.

I definitely think that the FLO is so important in getting the word out about fair trade, because it endorses products and gives the consumer a visual reassurance of fair trade goods. The potential of the fair trade mark is huge, and perception plays an important role in that. I thought it was a good point when the author talked about the positioning of the FAIRTRADE mark, and how it has been necessary for the public to associate the logo on fair trade goods with high quality products. This is where the dilemma about big brand names taking the mark mainstream, because a lot of the time, their intentions can be in question and the image of a fair trade product in a customer’s mind could get distorted, but at the same time, the big brands are so important in getting the word out and reaching a huge market of consumers with their products.

Fair Trade is becoming more popular every day, and it should be. It aims to bring benefits to the 1.4 billion people that are living below the poverty line; these people mostly live in the developing countries and work in primary economic activities (mining, fishing, agriculture..). Their living conditions are harsh and it might appear that it's only because their ways are not profitable, but it's also due to the developed world's disinterest of altering the status quo.

That status quo has made a handful of people grossly rich and powerful, so it became easier for them to keep it that way. The suppressed had been fighting for a better life but their attempts have been futile. It's not until the development of globalization that western population realized the troubles of these people and are now willing to help.

The help has come in the form of buying fair trade products, which can be identified with the Fair Trade logo. This logo ensures that the products were ethically obtained and it's getting more recognition by the consumers. This is doing a whole lot of good to the people on the beginning of the supply chain, the consumer, and also helps with an issue that seems unrelated which is global warming.

Consumers are noticing the benefits and are beginning to seek these products. Companies have noticed that and are beginning to supply these products. If the consumer's standpoint is to help, the movement will be sustainable: if it's to follow a trend, then that consumer will eventually lose interest in paying that extra premium to help. If the supplier's standpoint is to help: the movement will be sustainable; if it's to profit from the trend, then the solution is temporary and the wealth inequality will just worsen as they get richer.

Hi Everyone,

The first thing that really shocked me in this reading was the 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 a day. It is very hard to imagine, but when I really think about it, sadly, this number makes sense. Reading this made me think of how much money I spend a day on daily necessities. Most Americans probably spend $2 on coffee a day. The thought of having less than $2 is so far away, that it is hard to fully grasp.

Another thing that I found interesting was the connection between global warming and fair trade, and how fair trade contributes to climate change with the shipment of goods long distances. In addition, it was alarming to read that climate change could drastically affect coffee farmers. Now that we know that fair trade can be bad for climate change, its scary to think how climate change could be bad for fair trade.

The last thing that stuck me was that the US falls behind the UK in fair trade sales per capita due to our culture of self-centered political and emotional isolationism. I found this specific quote to be particularly disturbing; "....which has,historically, driven the single-minded pursuit of personal material wealth at the expense of an empathetically motivated response to global economic and social problems." I think that this will be a great topic for class discussion because I think this quote has a lot of truth to it. When I read this I instantly thought of the amount of greed we have in this country, and how hard it is to turn around a culture like this.

“A Brilliant Idea” really opened my eyes to how much Fair Trade as an idea has grown, but also proved that it has a long way to go to help all the people who need it.

During the Occupy Wall Street protests last year, wealth disparity in the United States became a very popular topic of debate. However, I was still shocked to read that the poorest forty percent of the world’s population is sharing just five percent of the world’s income. Meanwhile, the richest five percent of the world is sharing seventy-five percent of the world’s income.

It is very interesting to think about my past views on wealth disparity during the Occupy Movement, as opposed to now that I am looking at it from the viewpoint of people in impoverished third world countries. Many Americans rightfully grew enraged when they were informed that the richest people in the country had so much influence and wealth, they were practically running the country. However, many of us failed to realize that we were not the true victims of the income disparity. The true victims are the people in third world countries who are forced to manufacture the items we purchase and dispose of here in America everyday. An American is officially considered to be living below the poverty line if their household income is below $11,490 but I think most people would agree that incomes much higher than that could still be considered poverty. It is unbelievable that around the world 2.6 billion people are living on less than $2 a day. Obviously the cost of living is much lower outside of America, but it is still difficult to imagine.

It was also very interesting to read about the environmental issues associated with Fair Trade. In order to support the farmers and artisans, their products must be shipped and sold in countries where people can afford to pay a slightly higher price. However, shipping items around the world presents a huge problem in the eyes of environmentalists who are working to minimize the amount of carbon and other toxic gases in the air. On top of that, the damage done to the environment by fossil fuels is making it more and more difficult for famers to get the most of their land. It is difficult to say what the best answer is in this situation because both environmentalists and fair trade activists are doing such important work. I do not know the best way to strike a balance between getting FAIRTRADE certified products from producers to consumers, while doing as little damage to the earth as possible.

The first thing that really impacted me from the reading was right at the beginning when the article listed some statistics. Fair Trade has done a lot of good and has directly benefited more than 7 million people in the developing world. However, this is only a small portion of the world that lives below the poverty line. These are some of the most astonishing numbers I’ve ever encountered: 1.4 billion people, one-fifth of the world’s population, live at or below $1.25 a day. Also, 2.6 billion people, about 40% of humanity, are living on less than $2 a day. That’s striking and it actually made my jaw drop.

The second thing I found really eye opening was the concerns that the article raised on the impact that fair trade has on climate change. Importing goods from countries that are thousands of miles away produces a colossal amount of carbon emissions. To make matters more complicated, this pollution directly affects many fair trade growers whose growing conditions are deteriorating. It’s definitely another issue to think about and to consider when scaling fair trade initiatives.

I’ve always known that a large percentage of the world lives in poor conditions, and it made me grateful for the opportunities and blessings I have in my life. However, when I read the sheer number of people that are living under $2 a day it was definitely a wake-up call. I don’t really know how to process this information or what I can really do help change this number. The problems in developing countries extend beyond just economical and history does seem to indicate that intervening is the best route. It’s definitely disturbing, to say the least, but it also gives me a new appreciation for how much of an impact fair trade can have on these people’s lives.

There are multiple values in terms of ‘improving the world’ that I hope to maintain. One of these is to make sure I live my life in a way that leasts impacts our environment. I’ve seen various media that have indicated climate change is a real issue with grave consequences. The article raises an issue with fair trade increasing carbon emission by shipping fair trade goods from countries thousands of miles away to our front door. Is this sustainable? Is fair trade really a long-term strategy or is it only until growers and producers have established enough infrastructure to start trading locally? These are questions that I’ve never considered but they are vital to the scaling of fair trade. I’ve seen more and more campaigns that call for buying local in order to help our environment and revitalize our economy. It’s hard to balance our priorities but it’s an issue that we deal with all the time.

“A Brilliant Idea” certainly opened my eyes to how much more needs to be done to move the fair trade movement along. In the beginning of the article, one statistics really shocked me and made a big impact. It is estimated that 1.4 billion people, which is one fifth of the world’s population, are trying to survive at or below the World Bank’s official poverty line of just $1.25 a day. This really shocked me, because for Americans, $1.25 is so minimal. We definitely take for granted how lucky we are to have the necessitis of life including food, clean water, and shelter. Fair trade needs to spread so that these impoverished people do not have to live in such terrible conditions anymore.

I was surprised to read how fair trade is impacted by the environment. When transporting products and raw materials, the carbon emissions are harming the environment. This is a problem for fair trade. It is hard enough as it that Fair trade does not get enough attention, but the fact that it impacts the environment is not good for the cause. Hopefully we can find a solution to this problem.

Another part of the article that surprised me was the fact that Europe is really leading the effort in fair trade products, while America has not taken much iniative at all. This is frustrating to me, because we have the resources available to spread awareness and get more fair trade products on the market to replace ones that do not come from fair trade practices. There is so much more American companies can be doing to make their products more fair trade friendly. I think these companies need more education about the reality of unfair labor practices and we need to give them suggestions to make their products fair trade.

Reading this segment on how Fair Trade has evolved over time and how far has come since its beginnings, I find myself caught up in the first couple pages. The segment "A Brilliant Idea" first establish some positive facts about how far Fair Trade how come: fairtrade product sales at £800 million as of 2009 and benefiting 7 million people in developing countries. With such great numbers it easy to think that these corporations have done much for the world, but my favorite part about this reading was the fact about how real they were with their current situation and aware at the fact how bad the world's situation is. 1.4 billion people (or 1/5 of the world's population) live below or at $1.25 a day. 40 percent (or 2.6 billion people) live less than $2 a day. We live in a world where the poorest 40 percent of the world's population owns 5 percent of the world’s income, while the richest 20% owns more than three-quarters of it. I mean that’s a colossal difference in both people and income.
What really stuck out to me in this reading was the whole idea of who is concerned about these issues. In the UK 5% take these ethical issues seriously and 20% feel empathy towards these issues; in other words roughly 25% really care about Fair Trade and their mission for the world. This wasn’t too surprising to me and I wouldn’t be surprised if that percent was much lower in the United States. We do live in this “me” period, where the majority is only concerned on how to “better” themselves. I’ll admit that I’m even part of this majority (Hell, even our school part of the majority). It’s sad because I believe deep down, in the backs of everyone’s head, that people who purchase certain items do know how these are made and how unfair these people are treated for their services. I feel like people aren’t willing to acknowledge these unfair practices, just because it would be too difficult to take responsibility for these actions (Buying is voting). They just want to buy what they want without thinking; they don’t want to add more stress into their days.
I’m trying to put down FAIRTRADE MARK’s efforts as merely hopeless. They have done a great deal in this fight for more ethical work practices. They created Fair Trade Towns worldwide, and they even worked with environmental organizations in order not to tackle unethical work practice, but also keeping the environment alive. I really do hope we see a difference in the near future. I hope the world can figure out a way to make ethical practices a normal way of life.

After reading “A Brilliant Idea,” I was impacted by several points and made a couple of realizations about the status of our own economy in relation to fair trade products.

Throughout the selection, there was a considerable amount of data on the profitable nature and the mass-market appeal of free trade goods in many countries, which made me very hopeful for the progress of the free trade industry. This passage shows that through the history of fair trade and the buildup of fair trade programs in large chains such as Oxfam, there has been considerable progress with socially-conscious goods and that the fair trade industry only has room to grow in unexpected places. This also was encouraging, as some of the fair trade profits could easily help bridge some of the troubling economic gaps between citizens of the First and Third world.

On the other hand, I was concerned on the comparative lack of American involvement in fair trade. Even though the American economy has a larger amount of possible customers and a wider market opportunity, we are not making a conscious effort to devote more of our spending to more positive areas like the fair trade industry. Hopefully, with greater proliferation of fair trade products alongside deeper education on the fair trade industry, I believe that Americans can definitely turn our lack of fair trade spending around. We just have to make the first few influential steps.

"A Brilliant Idea" brought up many points about Fair Trade that were once again extremely interesting and very eye-opening.

The forst point in the article was the statistic which informed us that 40% of the world only lives off of less than $2 per day. Thinking about this point seemed so surreal to me when most some staple items like milk and bread cost even more than that just by themselves. It seems so unfathomable how ridiculous our culture can get; even I fall victim to the "first world problems" when some I so "desperately" need to survive becomes unavailable at the moment I need it. I truly give credit to the people in these developing countries who are trying to make a better life for themselves even when it seems like the system is setting them up to fail and fall back into the unfair customs that they have to once again endure.

The other point in the article that kinda surprised me was the idea of climate change and how it can be effected by Fair Trade. Most of the time when we think of Fair Trade we only think about the good that comes from it, but this article brought up the point that somewhat challenged me. It just seems so hard to try to do good, but then realize that your efforts could also be harming the people or the product that they are depending on. I feel like we almost need to come up with ways to help lessen the transportation emissions, but then I'm worried that it will cause another problem in the future and eventually bring us back full-cirlce to more problems surrounding by such good and innocent intentions to help out other people who truly need it.