Group wants to make fair trade for funky drive

By Cheryl Rossi-Staff writer

A group of Commercial Drive residents hopes to designate the neighbourhood as North America's first fair trade zone.

Sean Osborne, president of the new Fair Trade Chocolate Company, and community volunteers started the campaign five weeks ago. They've been visiting businesses in the area asking them to sell or purchase at least one fair trade product. Osborne said even dentists' offices can participate by purchasing fair trade coffee for their employees.

"[This] is basically a philosophical alignment," Osborne said. "They can support the idea of a fair trade Drive without actually having to do one of those two things. And that might sound wishy-washy but for a lot of merchants this is a brand new concept. We want this to be a very inclusive project. We're not about policing merchants and telling them you're good, you're bad, that kind of stuff. It's nothing to do with that at all. What that has to do with is education and information about fair trade."

Fair trade aims to help small-scale and poor producers in developing countries improve quality of life by providing a more profitable and stable trade relationship with First World buyers. To attain fair trade certification, producers must follow social and environmental criteria including fair wages and working conditions, ethical business practices and respect for human rights.

Fair trade labeling organizations such as TransFair Canada and Fair Trade Labeling Organization give a seal of approval to products that adhere to those principles. Fair trade products include coffee and tea, chocolate, beer and wine, cosmetics and flowers.

Eventually, the group will ask city council to formally endorse the zone.

Osborne and his cohorts are asking businesses to place Fair Trade Drive stickers in their windows to show their support. He said the onus will be on the consumer to ask whether the business is selling fair trade products.

As his group learns of additional fair trade products, it will share this information with business owners.

Stephanie Missler, co-owner of Dandelion Kids, which sells kids toys, clothing and accessories, has been in business on The Drive less than five months. She and her business partner have not yet put a fair trade sticker in their window because they weren't sure if they met the criteria. She wondered if the definition of fair trade could be broadened because her business sells items that have been hand-made by local artisans. "Philosophically we would be interested," she said.

Osborne said fair trade products cost consumers a bit more, but with items like chocolate bars the difference might be only 15 cents.

Fair Trade Drive, which launched the campaign with the official opening of Ten Thousand Villages on The Drive, had an information table at the Stone Soup Festival last week.

Commercial Drive could soon become the first "Fair Trade Zone" in North America. Fair Trade is a quickly growing movement of consumers, retailers and distributors who want to make sure the original suppliers of items they buy and sell, like coffee, bananas and chocolate, are treated fairly, work in reasonable conditions, and are paid reasonable rates. The average non-fair traded chocolate bar, for instance, fetches the farmer who grew the cocoa less than a penny. When you buy a Fair Trade chocolate bar, on the other hand, you can be sure the grower, as well as the processors and packagers, work in good conditions, are paid fairly, and have some control over their work lives. The Fair Trade movement works by examining the supply chain of products that come from the third world. Where there is lack of fairness or transparency, the movement seeks to establish new trade relationships that are more fair, sustainable, and transparent. Then they attempt to make markets for the resulting fairly traded products by promoting the retailing and consuming of designated products in stores in areas like Commercial Drive. The worldwide movement has had a lot of encouraging success. The organizers of Fair Trade Drive hope as many stores on Commercial Drive as possible will join by offering at least one certified fair trade product in their store, or get involved in other ways by sponsoring events or even just showing support with a sign in their window. The first Fair Trade Zone was in Garstang, England, a small town. Since then, the concept of the "zone" has spread throughout England and now to many other countries. The Commercial Drive group is hoping to set up Commercial Drive to be the first Fair Trade Zone in North America, and the first in the world in a large urban setting. See fairtradefederation.com for information on how fair trade accreditation is won. The Commercial Drive group will be canvassing stores up and down the street, and when 51% in a block agree to sign up, that block will be designated as part of the Fair Trade Zone. With the publicity worldwide and throughout North America both in conventional media and in online websites, the organizers hope to make it very worthwhile for businesses to become involved and help establish the zone. There are now over 350 Fair Trade products being distributed to stores, including sugar, clothes, fruits, and tea, an example of which is newly introduced at Uprising Bakery. On May 1, One Thousand Villages, the new fair trade craft store on Commercial Drive will celebrate its grand opening, and on May 7, there will be a Fair Trade Drive info booth in Grandview Park during the 10th anniversary celebration of the Stone Soup Festival. Drop by and grill them with questions. The Republic heartily endorses the Fair Trade movement as well as the Fair Trade Drive effort and we recommend to all merchants that they agree to get involved, and to all Drive denizens to ask that they do. Fair Trade is a good thing plain and simple, and there's never too much of that around, is there?