English Corpus

Browse around your nearest Tescos, and you’re witnessing the wonderment of global market forces. You can buy just about any item at a very low price. It could be rice from Indonesia or coffee from Columbia - it’s in stock all year round. There’s never been a better era in human history to be a shopper in the west. This has come about by intricate stock control and logistics, large scale production, strong competitive forces, and perhaps most importantly, the fact that most manufactured goods are sourced, and often made, in the poorest nations.

The last reason is quite significant, and controversial. While consumers are enjoying food, drink, clothing and other items manufactured from the poorest countries at low costs, workers and business organizations in these producing countries are frequently cheated in the process, and have no true sustainable business model since they are the last stop of a very long chain of middle men who determine what they manufacture, how much, and how often. This extended chain of middle men all receive their pay too - in the end there’s not much revenue left for the actual manufacturer.

Still, there’s help for these desperate labourers and businesses. Fairtrade is a cause that looks to empower these end-producing commercial enterprises in the poorer countries of the world. It attempts to banish the middle men, and pay the end-manufacturer a just price for an item in a much more primary way. You may have discovered Fairtrade items in your nearest supermarket. Sometimes they’re a bit more dear, but by purchasing such ethical products or even ethical gifts - for example fair trade baby clothes - you will know the producer is working in a sustainable business environment that doesn’t just pay them justly through much more direct revenue streams, but it also allows them to reinvest in their business through higher profits, which actually makes a difference to these poorest parts of the planet.