The Notion of Fair Trade

In our ever-increasing busy lives not many of us stop and think about where our food comes from; whether a fair price has been paid to the producer of that food or if anyone has been exploited in the process of getting that food to our table.

I had never thought about myself until a couple of years ago when I was fortunate enough to attend a function celebrating and highlighting the importance of "fair-trade". Kylie Kwong (Australia's ambassador for fair-trade) was there along with fair-trade coffee growers from Papua New Guniea. I was fascinated to hear their story and blown away by the impact our choices, as western consumers, have on the lives of those in the third world. Needless to say I had no idea the amount of work by growers that goes into the cup of coffee I enjoy every morning.

This me with Henry Arme who is from the Purosa region of Papua New Guinea

Fair Trade is a term that simply means that the producers of a product get paid a fair price for their produce. I watched a DVD recently called “Black Gold” – a very powerful documentary showing why growers in the third world don’t get paid a fair price for their coffee. Something that is very disturbing in this world of extreme affluence.

“Black Gold” is based in Ethiopia – known as the birthplace of coffee!
Tadesse Meskele manages a corporation of coffee growers and strives to achieve a better price for their coffee. Tadesse’s union buys coffee from 101 individual co-operatives around southern Ethiopia and sells it throughout the western world. It is the Sidamo brand of coffee and is considered to be one of the world’s best.

In Africa 1 cup of coffee costs 1 birr (US$0.12).
In the US is costs 25 birr (US$2.90).
You get 80 cups of coffee from 1kg of coffee beans.

Currently one kilo of coffee beans is been sold for 2 birr (23 cents).
In Western countries 80 cups is been sold for 2000 birr (US$230.00).
So out of that $230.00, the grower is getting 23cents.

The supply of coffee on the world market was once regulated by the International Coffee Agreement, until its collapse in 1989. Since then the price paid to farmers has fallen to a 30 year low. Tadesse believes that for his farmers to live well (meaning nutritious food, clean water and children attending school) they need to make 10 birr per kilo of coffee. The growers themselves would be happy with 5 birr per kilo. Last year they received only 1 birr per kilo.

On top of this, rich countries pay three hundred billion dollar subsidies every year to their farmers. Africa cannot afford subsidies to their farmers. In 2003 the World Trade Organisation (WTO) met in Mexico to review and set the rules for global fair trade. It was the hope that the poorer countries could trade on a level playing field with the rest of the world but unfortunately these subsidies will continue to protect farmers in wealthy countries. Today Africa is the only continent in the world to get poorer over the past 20 years. Its share of world trade has fallen to one percent because it cannot compete with western producers.

As a result Africa is now more dependent on emergency aid then ever before – more than seven million people rely on foreign aid in Ethiopia alone. Ironically, if Africa’s share of world trade increased by just one percent it would generate a further seventy billion dollars a year – five times the amount it now receives in foreign aid.

Tadesse shares an emotional story of poverty and unfairness in an affluent world. His hope is that “one day consumers will understand what they are drinking and demand to pay a fair price.” He believes the consumer can bring about change if they become aware of the producers and how they are suffering.

I think we can Live Better and through our consumer power we can Make a Difference. By buying fair trade we are empowered as a consumer to pay the grower a fair price. If the grower is paid a fair price he is then empowered to Live Better. Profit from fair trade is used collectively in the third world communities to build schools, educate the young, provide clean water and nutritious food, provide health care as well as infrastructure – all taken for granted here in Australia.
By Living Better and Making a Difference here in Australia we are allowing others to Live Better and Make a Difference within their communities.

“Awareness is the first step to change”

I was very moved by this DVD and feel that now I have this awareness I need to do something more. Here at Mammoth Health we are going to explore ways we can do more for these communities directly. We’ll keep you posted.

If you would like to watch Black Gold DVD, the Mammoth Health Library has a copy to lend out or click on the following link and watch online: http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

' Live Better. Together We Can Make a Difference'

http://www.mammothhealth.com.au

Live Better. Together We Can Make a Difference

I was recently having a coffee with a colleague and we were discussing our personal philosophy; our mantra. It got me thinking. How could I put in one statement what I was about and what my life's work was about? At work, (at Mammoth Health) we’re about more than just addressing illness with supplements and diet. We are also about living our lives to their full potential. Healthy, vital people are more likely to be happy and when we are happy we have a positive impact on everyone we meet and they in turn leave a positive impact on the people they meet (the ripple effect…). We are also about reducing our carbon footprint – treading more lightly on the earth, living a more sustainable life and preserving the environment for future generations. We’re about being conscious of what we eat, where it comes from and whether a fair price has been paid to those who produce it for us. And we’re about living a deliberate, full life where what we do makes a difference.

So my one statement mantra is:

'Live Better. Together We Can Make a Difference.'

We are more than just our physical selves – we are mind, body and soul and together they make up who we are. Our mind, our body and our soul empower us to live optimally; to live fully and to live deliberately and to really know that we can make a difference.

Mind: to live better we need to continually learn new things; to challenge ourselves, to broaden our parameters and see things for what they are. In this fast changing world with many scientists now warning that global warming is the most immediate and urgent challenge we are likely to face in our lifetime we will need to develop resilience.
I have also set myself the challenge of being more curious and on that note I recently learned that my IT guy, Toby has pet tree frogs! I was so fascinated and intrigued when he told me about them – their diet, their different personalities etc. that I decided to learn more about tree frogs. So this week I’m going to expand my mind and discover the wonderful world of tree frogs. What new thing are you going to learn about this week?

Body: it is not until our body breaks down that we fully appreciate the fact that we often take it for granted. Most of us don’t value our health until we are unwell. The food we eat, the exercise we do and the relaxation and leisure activities we pursue all impact on our body which in turn impacts on the way we think and the way we act.
Just remember that feeling of the ‘morning after’ a big night out indulging in too much alcohol, junk food and limited sleep. Our tolerance levels are low, our mood is compromised. We feel tired, under the weather and in no way open to living fully and optimally. Then bring that back to every day living and the way we choose to live. By feeding our body daily with healthy, whole, unprocessed foods (vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, fish & lean meats) cooked lovingly, without additives and preservatives, to nourish our bodies, we can have a positive influence on our thinking and our actions.

By making a commitment to exercise regularly and to deliberately set aside time daily to relax and pursue leisure activities we are valuing our bodies, treating them with reverence and respect and empowering ourselves to live fully.

I have noticed in the past week I have been so caught up in the end of financial year hysteria that I have made no time for my regular walk. As a result I’ve got to the weekend exhausted, feeling sluggish and not as ‘vital’ and open to life as I could be. I also know that when I don’t make time to exercise I don’t have my healthy release of stress and instead have resorted to coffee and chocolate to keep me going – but ironically this has contributed to me living sub-optimally. So this week I have deliberately scheduled into my diary my exercise time – I have changed some appointments so I can commit to exercise because I know I will live better! What are you going to do differently this week to live better?

Soul: our soul is essentially who we are; our spirituality and what we value in life. Most people value family and community and the importance of connectedness within family and community. I believe the most urgent issue in our lifetime will be to live sustainably; reduce our carbon footprint and tread more lightly on the earth. I believe that as individuals we can make a difference. It is very easy to perceive problems as so big and global and out of our control that we feel powerless to make any difference at all. But it is truly the decision and the action of the ‘ordinary’ person –you and me - that will eventually force change. I don’t believe that inherent change comes from extremists, or from governments. It comes from within communities - how we deliberately choose to live our lives. I noticed in The Age on Wednesday (2nd July 2008) a story about a group of locals from Daylesford who are so committed to renewable energy that they have spent years consulting with and educating their local community about it. They have highlighted how simple and clean wind farms are and how they create an energy source that is sustainable and has a low impact on the environment. As a result of their commitment to renewable energy they have created a community corporation where ownership is structured to prevent a takeover by a large corporation. (About half of the investors are local residents interested in supporting a secure clean local energy supply.
Link: http://www.hepburnwind.com.au)

'Live Better. Together We Can Make a Difference'
…because it's not a rehearsal