On How to Help Poorer Nations at Your Local Supermarket
Browse around your nearest Asda, and you’re witnessing the benefits of global market forces. You can purchase almost any product at super-low costs. It might be bananas from Cambodia or cornflower oil from Peru – it’s available throughout the year. This is by far the greatest time in the history of humanity to be a consumer! This has happened from just in time stock control, large scale production, strong competitive forces, and perhaps most significantly, the fact that most goods are sourced, and frequently manufactured, in the poorest countries.
The last point is rather important, and contentious. While consumers are enjoying clothing, food, drink and other items made from the poorest countries at low costs, workers and business organisations in these producing nations are frequently exploited, and have no real sustainable business model as they are the last stop of a very long line of middle men who determine what they make, how much, and how often. This long chain of middle-men all get their share too – in the end there’s not a lot of revenue left for the actual producer.
Nevertheless, there’s help for these impoverished labourers and companies. Fairtrade is a cause which attempts to empower such end-producing business organisations in the poorer countries of the planet. It looks to cut out these middle-men, and pay the end-producer a just price for an item in a much more primary way. You might have seen Fairtrade items in your nearest supermarket. Sometimes they’re a bit more dear, but by purchasing such ethical products – for instance fair trade handbags – you will be pleased to acknowledge the manufacturer is operating in a sustainable way that doesn’t just pay them fairly through a much more direct revenue flow, but it also allows them to reinvest in their business through higher profits, which really contributes in a positive way toward these poorer areas of the world.
