My Fair Trade's cheaper than yours!

Sustainable practices are the only way forward if our planet is to survive as a hospitable place for future generations.

With "Fair Trade fortnight" now upon us, those goods that attract Fair Trade certification are being heavily promoted to make us all reflect on just where our food comes from and to think about whether producers are getting a fair price.

It therefore irritates me immensely when I see on the Supermarket shelf that there is 20% off Fair Trade products to temp the consumer the buy x brand rather than y brand. We find ourselves in the midst of a bun fight over market share. Tell me then what's the difference between this kind of activity and Nestle putting 10% free extra coffee in a jar, or the ubiquitous B.O.G.O.F. (buy one get one free)? There is none, it's simply large corporations riding on the back of feel good publicity and using it to "buy" market share. Where are the ethics in that? I think that it's cynical expolitation of the lowest type.

I conclude with a reminder that the "Fair Trade" certification programme is just one of many ethical programmes, each of which do a great job in their attempts to provide a sustainable future.

Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh and the Ethical Tea partnership are all third party certifiers who guarantee that both environmental and economic sustainable practices are implemented at origin. Just because your farm doesn't form part of a co-operative doesn't mean that you automatically carry out unsustainable practices, one of the great dangers of using the emotive words "Fair Trade" and looking no further.