But what does it mean to the average person? I gave this talk during Fairtrade Fortnight this year and thought I'd post it as an introduction to my thinking on the matter...
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Oscar Wilde said, “I can resist anything except temptation!”
Well, I hope you can resist the temptation to switch off for the next few minutes while I talk to you!
Monday is the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year is focussing on ‘the Big Swap,’ – so Meg has kindly agreed to swap her sermon for a Fairtrade talk!
Now in it’s 16th year, the goal of Fairtrade Fortnight is very simple: to get more people talking & buying Fairtrade. ‘The Big Swap’ is an invitation to all of us to swap our usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff. You could swap your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual cotton socks for Fairtrade cotton socks, and your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa.
But why would we want to do this? Well, I’m here today to explain a bit about Fairtrade & why it’s important.
Fairtrade is a passionate movement for change, tackling poverty and injustice through trade. Two billion people – a third of the human race – survive on less than $2 a day: that’s roughly £1.29. A day. Unfair trade rules keep them in poverty, but they still face the global challenges of food shortages and climate change.
To put a Fairtrade mark on a product it has to meet strict guidelines. Whenever you see the mark you can be sure that:
• A minimum price has been paid to Fairtrade producers
• The Fairtrade Premium, an extra investment in developing communities and businesses has also been paid
• Producers always have a democratic say in decision making - and that’s all producers, women included
• Farm workers also get rights under Fairtrade: like decent wages and being allowed to join unions
• The ‘Dirty Dozen’ of chemicals, things like DDT & PCBs, are forbidden on certified Fairtrade farms, protecting humans and the environment
It’s so much more than just a fairer price.
One of the things that excites me the most about this is the Fairtrade Premium.
On top of the agreed Fairtrade price producers also receive the Fairtrade Premium. How it’s spent is voted on democratically by farmers or workers. This is development as decided by the people who will benefit from it. After all, they’re ones best placed to make it work the hardest. Roads have been laid, school buses have been bought, and helpful new tools have been put to work all thanks to it.
A great example is the farmers at ETC Chetna Organics, a Fairtrade cotton farmers’ group in the Andhara Pradesh region of India. Sick of being ripped off when bringing their crop to be weighed, they invested their Fairtrade premium in a set of weighing scales. This shiny, stainless steel box now puts them firmly in control. It’s perfectly accessorized too, with a fetchingly accurate digital display. More importantly, it ensures they get paid a fair price for every kilo of cotton they produce.
So far, so interesting. But what has this got to do with us as Christians? Why should we get involved?
Jesus was a great advocate of the poor. For example, in Luke 6 He says:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
While in Matthew 25 he talks of feeding the hungry, watering the thirsty, befriending the stranger, then proclaims, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Today’s Gospel reading (Luke 4:1-13) is all about temptation. It is seen as a most sacred story, as it can have come from no other source than Jesus’ own lips. At some time He must have told His disciples about this most intimate experience of His soul.
While in the desert Jesus is first tempted to abuse His powers in order to satisfy Himself, then to compromise His standards, and finally to do something spectacular to prove Himself. To cover the first two, when presented with a choice between Fairtrade & other products, it’s easy to go for a cheaper alternative as it’s in our best interests: we compromise our Christian standards to keep a few extra pence in our pockets. And a lot of the time it is just a few pence! Keep your eyes open next time you’re in Tesco & compare a box of Fairtrade teabags with you usual Tetley’s or PG Tips. Or look around Sainsbury’s, where they only sell Fairtrade bananas and many of their ‘Basics’ range products, i.e. they’re cheap & cheerful, no-frills stuff, is Fairtrade. You don’t have to spend a fortune to Make it Fair, but if you can afford to only buy Heinz ketchup because it ‘Has To Be Heinz’ or HP Sauce because ‘No HP, No Happy’ you can afford to try Fairtrade products!
The third temptation is a challenge to how we react to this Fortnight, and this talk. We can do a quick, spectacular burst of Fairtrade activity to show people some good works, then fade away & fall back into our old habits. Or we can be like Zacchaeus after Jesus popped round for tea & change our ways for good – find some Fairtrade products we like, stick with them & keep swapping more long after March 7th. This is why the PCC have agreed to try to get St. Aidan's certified as a Fairtrade church: by using only Fairtrade tea & coffee after the services & at events we control; to try & bring in more Fairtrade products over time, i.e. sugar and even Communion wine(!), and by promoting & supporting this Fairtrade Fortnight.
So, please come along to our Big Brew coffee morning next Saturday & show your support. Take some flyers and display them all over Annfield Plain & beyond so loads of people come along for a Fairtrade cuppa. Fill in a ‘Make it Fair’ action card to try & get the five main players in the British tea market to go Fairtrade. See me after the service & buy a ‘Big Brew’ quiz sheet for £1 – all profits from these will be donated to Traidcraft, a local Christian organization and the UK’s leading fair trade organization. The person with the most correct answers wins a small hamper of Fairtrade goodies.
Finally, and probably most importantly, pray for those involved with fighting unfair trade, and support them by looking for the Fairtrade mark. It’s easy to feel that your buying a different box of teabags every two weeks won’t help. But if every one of the 165 billion cups of tea drank in this country every day was fairly traded, think of how much change could be achieved.
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So, to follow that up, we did get St. Aidan's certified as a Fairtrade church, and we now only use Fairtrade tea, coffee & communion wine.
Do you use Fairtrade? Do you think, as one person told me, that it "isn't fair trade because it costs me more - that's hardly fair!" or see it as a good way to make a difference to people in extreme poverty by tweaking your shopping habits? Over to you!
(If you're reading this in the wonderful USA, you can get more info on the Fairtrade movement there by visiting the Fair Trade USA website. If you're in the equally fabulous UK, got to the Fairtrade Foundation website.)
