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Are you a consum'actor?
Did you know that for every cup of coffee that is not fair-trade certified served in restaurants, less than 2% of the price you pay goes back to the producer?
The salary of a coffee producer in Africa is less than $1,000 per year, while CEOs of some multinational food distributors take home more than $5 million every year.
Coffee is only one example of commercial inequity between the northern and southern countries. Many small-operation farmers and workers are still exploited and work in unacceptable conditions. As consum'actors, we can lend our support to these producers. Most importantly, it is our responsibility to share our wealth by making fair and equitable choices. Every action counts!
Chosing fair-trade certified products
Choose certified fair-trade products like coffee, tea, chocolate, shea butter, bananas, cotton, sugar, rice and spices, which will permit our neighbours to the south to earn a reasonable salary and work in humane conditions. Fair-trade operations do not exploit children—another great reason to buy these products.
Each time you shop, look for fair-trade logos, such as TransFair Canada or FLO, Ecocert or Bioéquitable so you'll know that a certifying body regularly verifies that certification criteria are being met. Several fair-trade products can already be found in grocery stores, you just have to keep an eye out!
Did you know?
Visit the Équiterre Web site to learn more about the benefits of fair trade and the Transfair Canada Web site to learn more about fair trade certification.
Did you know?
Desjardins Group has been involved for several years by supporting a large number of initiatives that help Change the world, one step at a time. Here are some examples of what they have been doing:
- Développement international Desjardins (DID), a component of Desjardins which supports the creation, growth and reinforcement of financial cooperatives in developing countries, offers a pre-exportation financing service for fair-trade coffee producers.
- All the coffee machines on the Desjardins campus in Lévis, as well as those of the Fédération des caisses Desjardins in Montréal distribute only fair-trade coffee. Other Desjardins components in Montréal might adopt this practice soon.
- Each year, in an effort to make them more aware of responsible consumer practices, Fédération employees can take part in a contest to win a fair-trade Christmas hamper.
