As long as I can remember,
and that is a long time, the United States of America has been the unofficial
“911” of the world. Global disasters,
whether brought about by human hands, or the displeasure of Mother Nature, the
American government and its people were ready, willing and able to help. It wasn’t until the 1980s that I personally
took notice that when it came to America itself, we seemed to be failing the
911 calls from our own farmers.
The first Farm Aid Concert
was held on September 22, 1985; organized by Willie Nelson, John “Cougar”
Mellencamp and Neil Young. The focus of
the concert was to raise money for American farmers who were being threatened
by foreclosure due to mortgage debts.
Now while Congress did pass, in 1987, the Agricultural Credit Act, to
keep foreclosures at bay, the question remains, why, why was the farming
industry in such dire straits?
Simply put, the cause is
“dumping”, but an article, Global Trade can Make or Break Farmers, by Jennifer
Fahy (Communications Director for Farm Aid) explains it in more detail. Quote, “Agricultural dumping — the practice
of exporting commodities at prices below the cost of production….encourages
overproduction, trapping family farmers in a never-ending need for higher
yields… forcing…farmers off the land, while damaging rural economies, public
health and our environment.”
Jump forward to the 2000s –
2010s and the newest term to hit the food industry, “Fair Trade”; sounds
similar to the term “barter”, no? No,
fair trade is, as defined by Fair Trade Certified aka Fair Trade USA, “a choice
to support responsible companies, empower farmers, workers, and fishermen, and
protect the environment. In other words, it’s a world-changing way of doing
business.” Formerly this applied to
poorer countries, or what are referred to as “third world countries”; but
recently the practice is being applied to American food industries, namely
farmers.
Should you, as a consumer,
make a conscious effort to purchase fair trade products? Sadly, the answer is dependent on your, or
your family’s, financial good or bad health.
Fair trade products are pricey; while a 12 ounce package of Dunkin’
Donuts (coffee beans from Latin America) costs an average of $6.99; Equal
Exchange’s 12 ounce package will cost an average of $8.99. Equal Exchange gets their coffee beans from a
small town in Brazil, called Bahia, and, now hold on a minute, isn’t Brazil in
Latin America!?! The difference is large
company growing and harvesting the beans as opposed to family farmers in a
small village. The product you decide to
purchase is now dependent on what you can comfortably afford to pay.
In my humble opinion, the
concept of fair trade is not unreasonable; we can apply it to the “small
cottage” industry San Juan County is attempting to develop. A huge corporation can make jams and
jellies, selling cheaper in bulk. At
home businesses will have similar products, made fresh, by folks you personally
know, just a bit more costly. Which
should you buy? Again, it’s dependent on
what you can comfortably afford; but I know I’d rather see a San Juan County,
Utah, USA label on a jar of jam, then “Made in China”. Again, that’s just my own opinion.
Mary Cokenour
Note:
All photographs are of products available at Nature’s Oasis, Durango, CO
References:
Fair Trade America: http://www.fairtradeamerica.org/
Fair Trade USA: https://www.fairtradecertified.org/
Fair Trade Certification
extended to USA farmers:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/19/524377647/not-just-for-foreign-foods-fair-trade-label-comes-to-u-s-farms
Fairness to USA Farmers:
http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/379554-global-trade-can-make-or-break-american-farmers
Farm Aid:
https://www.farmaid.org/
Farm Aid’s mission is to keep family
farmers on their land to guarantee an agricultural system that values family
farmers, good food, soil and water, and strong communities.
