Fairtrade vs Local
With the growing concerns around global warming, people around the world are focusing their food shopping on buying local products in order to reduce food miles. This seems to be a no brainer. Why buy food that needs to flown from the other side of the world, when you can buy something grown locally?
There is one significant side effect of this. The Fairtrade movement was born out of the desire to give Third World farmers and producers a fair deal for the produce they provide. It is a way for people in richer nations to help those in poorer areas just by adjusting their shopping patterns. The focus on local products means that people are now less likely to buy Fairtrade products from Third World nations.
There is little doubt that this is going to be a significant problem for Third World nations as they struggle to trade their way out of poverty.
So the question is, do we shop in a way that may help save lives in the future or in a way that will help save lives today?
There is no easy answer for the ethical shopper and it will become an ever increasing dilemma for many of us.
Comments
Interesting point there.
Interesting point there.
There are two sides to the story, but, the two sides are not close.
Start by saving the world, like duh! Maybe if there's anything left of the world we could begin to entertain the luxury of reducing inequalities.
All of this assumes that we are killing the world in the first place. But, on that point it is well worth erring on the side of caution.
So my vote on this one is keep it "local"
When you put it like that,
When you put it like that, there is no argument!
I am just wondering if there is a way to satisfy both sides? Probably not.
One keeps reading that the
One keeps reading that the third world is most likely to suffer from global warming. Another reason to try and solve global warming first.
But the third world is
But the third world is suffering right now. So we should not just ignore that and let them continue to suffer.