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Lesson 6 - Fair Trade Works!

Objectives

To help students understand the need for the Fair Trade Federation and similar other organizations, and how they help artists and artisans receive a just price for the wares they produce.

To put the Fair Trade Federation into a context with other organizations that work in various ways to promote worker rights and a just wage system.

Vocabulary

Cooperative: An enterprise owned by and operated for the benefit of its members who use its services. For example, the members of a weaving cooperative by banding together are able to buy the supplies more cheaply that they need in order to do their work and they are able to sell their products at a better price than if selling individually.

Fair Trade Federation (FTF): an association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. It promotes and screens US wholesalers, retailers and a number of producers as complying with Fair Trade principles.

Labor Unions: Associations of workers formed to advance their members working conditions, wages, and benefits. Labor unions in many countries represent workers in many kinds of trades, industrial work, crafts, professions and service work. In the USA, the national organization affiliating most unions is called the AFL-CIO. Its counterpart in Canada is the Canadian Labor Congress.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's): Private organizations that sustain many kinds of humanitarian and developmental efforts in both the richer and poorer nations. Funds to undertake these efforts many come from private individuals and foundations.

Learning Activities

1. Discuss with students how the Fair Trade Federation helps promote a just wage and healthy environment for artisan producers.
2. If there is one or more Fair Trade stores in your community, it may be possible to visit it as a class. If it is not possible to go as a group, perhaps one or several students could go to the store with parents and report on what they saw for sale there. Or perhaps a store owner could visit the class and bring some Fair Trade items. If no Fair Trade stores exist where you live, try looking at some of the websites listed on the Links page.
3. Ask students to investigate other dimensions of Fair Trade, including the sale of coffee and chocolate, by looking for them in super markets and cooperative or organic food stores.
4. Ask students to think of the names of organizations that help people gain other kinds of rights. The NAACP is one such organization. It works to achieve racial equality. Try to name others.
5. Ask what other organizations in addition to FTF, help people to earn a living wage and have healthy working conditions. Some answers include: Labor unions, cooperatives and NGO's. Millions of people belong to unions and cooperatives in the USA and in other countries. Unions especially help promote factory worker on the job safety. NGO's promote health care initiatives, sustainable agriculture and many other kinds of projects.
6. Encourage students to think of the names of some labor unions. Do their parents or friends belong to a union? Can they think of the names of NGO's? Oxfam is one very well known NGO.

Assessment

Students should be able to articulate

• the mission of Fair Trade movement
• the different ways that Fair Trade stores help artisan producers
• what an NGO is and to name some of them

Further Exploration

See the Links page for downloadable student activity books about Fair Trade Chocolate.

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