Fairtrade Fortnight... Community Trade with the Body Shop

We are right in the middle of Fairtrade Fortnight right now - did you know? It runs from 22nd Feb to 7th March. I have to admit, that I never really knew a lot about the whole "fairtrade" concept, apart from the fact that farmers are given a better price for their produce by "cutting out the middleman", and hence have a better life as a result. 

I was therefore pleased to be given a more enlightened view on the concept by the Body Shop on Friday, who invited me to an event with a few other lovely bloggers, and gave us the chance to meet Christina, a member of their dedicated Cmmunity Trade Team, and Nick and Gaston, who are both providers of Community Trade oils (sesame seed oil and brazil nut oil) to The Body Shop. 

 Above - Christina, one of the Body Shop's dedicated community trade team tells us about the community trade scheme.

One of The Body Shop's central values is to support Community Trade, a programme which has grown in strength and numbers since it was founded by TBS in 1987, and now involves  25,000 farmers worldwide. 

Now, if you are anything like me, ie sometimes prone to cynicism, you might have become a little sceptical about fairtrade, community trade etc, because you might have heard about some less than scrupulous practices going on behind the scenes, such as the environment suffering as a result of overfarming by famers trying to earn more etc. I was therefore pleased when I discovered on The Body Shop international values report that all Community Trade suppliers sign up to a Code Of Conduct, which essentially outlines that;
-No-one should be forced to work.
-Workers should be able to join and form trade unions.
-Working conditions should be safe and healthy.
-Child labour should not be used.
-People should not work excessive hours.
-Workers should earn enough to live on.
-Workers should be treated equally, regardless of who they are and what they believe.
-Where possible, workers should be provided with regular employment.
-Workers should not be verbally, physically or sexually abused or disciplined.

All suppliers are also independantly audited every 24 months to make sure these standards are upheld.

The upshot of all this for the Body Shop is that they now source Community Trade ingredients from 23 countries, and that 65% of all products in store contain one or more Community Trade ingredients. In addition they also have 10 "accessories" for example, hemp bags, foot massagers etc, which are produced by Community Trade. 

During the event we were also given more of an insight into the impact Community Trade actually ha on the traders involved. In short, successful CT programmes can have positive effects on communities and not just individuals. 

 Above - Nick tells us about the impact of fair trade in Nicaragua.

We heard from Nick, a Londoner who has lived in Nicaragua for some time, and has had an 18 year relationship with the Body Shop as part of the Community Trade prodramme as a sesame seed oil supplier. The community co-operative he represented has risen from 79 to 283 members during that time, and as a result of fairer trading practices now have better equipment, a bank, a model farm (where new farming methods and harvesting methods can be tested), and a child hostel/school, amongst other things. The sesame seed oil they produce is now an ingredient in over 60 products sold by TBS. 

Above - Gaston tells us about the supply of Brazil Nut oil

We also heard from Gaston, who represented the co-operative who supply brazil nut oil to the store. Gaston emphasised the importance of environmental protection and responsible harvesting. The brazil nut will only grow in certain areas where a certain species of bee is present to pollinate the seeds, which eventually grow into "pods" full of brazil nuts.

Therefore it is important that these areas of rainforest are managed responsibly and not "cleared" in search of wood - the brazil nut tree is actually a very tall tree, which would provide a lot of wood, and hence needs to be protected and used responsibly.

Both Nick and Gaston, pointed out that the trade relationship which exists between them and TBS, is a mutually beneficial or "horizontal" one... i.e. they are not "charity cases", but are doing a fair job for a fair price and feel that they are both reaping benefits - the community traders benefit from better pay, and lifestyle, while TBS, and its consumers benefit from high quality ingredients.

What do you think about the Community Trade concept - are you more inclined to purchase a product or pay extra if you know it has been sourced responsibly?