Fair Trade: A Just World Starts with You | Benjamin Conard | TEDxSUNYGeneseo

I want everyone to take a moment and think about the things they consume every day. Now raise your hand and keep it raised if you have had one of the following today: a cup of coffee. Keep them like this. A cup of tea. A banana. something with sugar or if you're using cotton, all good, you can hand sew now. I want you to raise your hand again if and only if you know exactly where or in what country your coffee, tea, sugar, banana or cotton wine, of course, we have one, so I think it's

fair

to say that we are all pretty active participants in the global economy because products like the ones I mentioned come from thousands of miles away around the

world

, but I think it's also

fair

to say that we are quite disconnected from the products we buy every day and this wouldn't be so bad if the following didn't was true.

Two billion people in the

world

live on less than $2 a day, two-thirds of the world's cocoa comes from West African farmers earning less than 50 cents a day. One point eight million children work on cocoa plantations along the Ivory Coast. They've probably never tried chocolate. Labor laws in the developing world are weak or not enforced, and that's really what's driving these problems. There's a saying: you never want to know how two things, sausages and laws, are made, but you better start. Add to this list the coffee you had for breakfast this morning, the banana you ate yesterday and the cotton shirt you are wearing right now because products like these too often come from large plantations and sweatshops where workers are avoided.

I know this is all pretty depressing and not very fun to talk about and that's probably why we don't even think about it. Usually, but the good news is that there is something we can do about it, there is something we can all do about child labor and there is something we can all do to fight global poverty and it all

starts

with you choosing to buy products with certain labels that you can support. business practices that share similar values ​​with you when choosing Fair

trade

products young people support companies that respect workers' rights guarantee fair wages and good working conditions prohibit child and slave labor and even promote environmental sustainability through production of these products now let's talk about options for a moment As a student studying business, I am fascinated by supply and demand.

I know it's stimulating. People often say that large corporations are responsible for the products we see on our shelves to some extent, but in reality consumers rule the world. They do not dare to put on their shelves a product that a customer would not buy and for this reason consumers demand what is supplied, consumers demand what is made available to sell, ultimately consumers demand what is produced and with that being said, we have the power and with power comes. Responsibility If consumers can demand what is produced, why can't we demand how it is produced? I think we can.

I believe that we as consumers have the power to be responsible but I also believe that we have the responsibility to exercise this power because as ours. Spider-Man's good friend Uncle Ben said that with great power comes great responsibility to show consumers that they have this incredible power. I want to share with you this example of the beloved KitKat on the left is a UK KitKat and the one on the right. one from the US, aside from some minor branding differences, these two chocolate bars are quite similar but are actually immensely different in the KitKat. On the left there is a small symbol in the top right corner of your package that is a Fair

trade

certification label and that is what consumers can look for.

Actually it is very simple. European consumers are so demanding for products that are traded fairly that even one of the world's largest corporations like Nestlé can change its ways. Take coffee as another example, after oil. Coffee is the second most highly traded good in the world, coffee grows exclusively in areas such as South America, Africa and parts of Asia, and is something we drink every day from a conventional cup of coffee. Farmers generally receive three cents for every $3 cup of Fairtrade coffee sold. five times that amount change is easy huge impact Fairtrade is a vehicle to support and respect workers' rights fair trade is a third-party membership and certification process that ensures a company meets strict labor, environmental and quality standards development in addition to fair trade practices Fairtrade Certification of products such as chocolate, sugar and agricultural products requires a premium that helps fund community development programs such as the provision of healthcare, clean water projects and even the construction of schools like Gloria here, a Fair Trade flower producer from Ecuador who says: I like it here.

They pay us well on time and we even have benefits for our children such as English courses and scholarships. An important distinction to make is that fair trade is not a charity. Fair trade is simply a different way of doing business and in a morally and ethically superior way. It is a way of living our values ​​because daily purchases should really be an extension of our values. So where does that leave you and me? I hope you leave this talk feeling empowered to empower yourself because when you choose Fairtrade, you choose equality and you choose respect and you empower producers worlds apart.

I would like to share with you an experience I had last fall when I took a trip to Jaipur, India, to visit a Fair Trade artisan. India, a country that suffers from many development problems, such as poor work. conditions gender inequality human trafficking and poverty yet India is full of life and color I visited a Fair Trade craft workshop where artisans use an ancient art form to print and decorate linen, it is called block printing. Block printing in India is rapidly disappearing due to the speed and cheaper ways of printing and decorating on linen, but these artisans, both men and women, work using a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation. respecting their work, respecting their talent and keeping their culture alive according to Fair Trade standards.

These artisans are paid a salary. something rare in India, they are paid a salary and that gives them a steady income and above all it gives them dignity even during the wet months in India when block printing cannot be done properly, they are paid to the artisans, one of the artisans is Even sending his two children to college, I am immersed and inspired by Fair Trade producer stories like this every day at home and at my summer job at a Fair Trade retail store and it is through this that I have learned that consumerism does not have to be a bad thing, stand up for

just

ice and join the movement thanks