What Does “Fair Trade Certified” Actually Mean?

The first time I was introduced to the concept of fair trade I was in the 9th grade. My class had just begun a unit on ethics and we were discussing how many of our favorite foods are produced unethically. Our teacher tasked us with trying to find a chocolate bar from a local grocery store that was produced with fair trade. I couldn’t complete this assignment because I couldn’t locate anything that said: “fair trade certified.” Many of my peers had the same dilemma as there didn’t seem to be any products with this certification. This is when I started to learn what fair trade is and why it is important.

There are many stories as to how the fair trade movement started. The earliest history dates back to 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler began a small business importing needlecrafts from low-income women in South America. This essentially laid the foundation for the first fair trade organization, the Mennonite Central Committee. Soon after, SERV International came to further the development of fair trade suppliers around the world. However, we didn’t see the first fair trademark until 1988, when a Dutch NGO collaborated with a priest working with smallholder coffee farms to create this label. The label would certify that the product would be traded or sold respecting fair trade conditions.

So, why is fair trade important and what are the conditions for it to have this label?

Fair trade essentially means that the product owners are dedicated to improving working conditions and quality of life for workers. Take cocoa for example, in the 1990s, 90% of the chocolate industry was produced on poorly managed and unfair farms. Many of the owners had no idea where the product was being sent, how much it was worth, and what to pay the workers. It led to a labor shortage which increased child and slave labor.

Fair trade shifted the narrative of organizations to focus on the people producing the products. Many organizations, in particular cocoa businesses, banned the use of GMOs and other agro-chemicals. This was to protect the earth as many of the chemicals contribute to the depletion of soil nutrients, erosion, and contaminate groundwater. In addition, workers began to get compensated for their work, and farmers received higher prices for the products. This eventually led to less child labor, and eventually to more oversight inspections to make sure that farms met established child labor laws.

The next time you go out to buy chocolate like I did in 9th grade, consider thinking about the content written on the package. Where is it made? Does it have the “fair trade certified” label?? I would recommend Alter Eco Foods for truffle chocolate lovers, Theo chocolate for the crazy flavors, and Evolved for major dark chocolate lovers. They taste the same as Hershey’s or Godiva but use sustainable, ethical practices.