Tag Archives: Fair Trade USA

285. The mainstreaming paradox

2012-06-28 Comments Off on 285. The mainstreaming paradox

Fair Trade USA has dramatically expanded the reach and aggregate impact of Fair Trade by aligning certification requirements more closely with conventional market logic and conventional sourcing practices. In the process, it has reduced the average impact of Fair Trade at the individual level. This is the mainstreaming paradox, and a source of discontent among […]

284. Two, three, many Fair Trades

2012-06-27 Comments Off on 284. Two, three, many Fair Trades

The manager of a Fair Trade coffee cooperative in Central America told me recently that Fair Trade USA’s decision to make estates and independent smallholder farmers eligible for Fair Trade Certification is creating another version of Fair Trade — one that has very little to do with his idea of what Fair Trade is all […]

282. CRS, FT4All and pilots

2012-06-11 Comments Off on 282. CRS, FT4All and pilots

This blog has been dominated in recent days by discussion of our involvement with one Fair Trade for All pilot project in Colombia.  But the FT4All pilot is just one of countless new ideas CRS field-tests each year in its work around the world.

280. CRS is piloting FT4All. Not endorsing it.

2012-06-04 Comments Off on 280. CRS is piloting FT4All. Not endorsing it.

Last week we announced here that we are getting involved in a Fair Trade for All pilot project with independent smallholder farmers in Nariño, Colombia.  Since then the suggestion has been made, both online and off, that our involvement in the project constitutes an endorsement of the overarching vision behind FT4All.  Today we set the […]

279. Sizing up Nariño for the FT4All pilot

2012-05-31 Comments Off on 279. Sizing up Nariño for the FT4All pilot

On Tuesday, I announced here our involvement in an FT4All innovation pilot with independent smallholder farmers in Nariño, Colombia.  Yesterday, I explained here how our involvement came to pass.  Today, I discuss why Nariño might be the best imaginable place in the world for this pilot.  And why it might be the worst.

278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

2012-05-30 Comments Off on 278. How CRS came to be involved in FT4All in Colombia

Yesterday we announced here that we are getting involved in an FT4All pilot project with independent smallholder farmers in Colombia.  Today we explain how it came to pass.

275. The FT4All Pilots: How to measure success

2012-05-23 Comments Off on 275. The FT4All Pilots: How to measure success

In yesterday’s post, I suggested that measuring the success of FTUSA’s FT4All coffee innovation pilots could be a complicated affair.  The best imaginable scenario, in my mind, is an impact assessment process that is transparent, system-wide, longitudinal and conducted by an independent third party with no skin in the game.  Hitting all four of those […]

274. The FT4All pilots: What does success look like?

2012-05-22 Comments Off on 274. The FT4All pilots: What does success look like?

Fair Trade USA is rolling out Fair Trade for All pilots with coffee estates and independent smallholder farmers all around the world.  If these pilots succeed, we expect to see more and more of them.  But what does success look like, and how will we measure it? I have had several good discussions of this […]

273. Fair Trade discussion on Canadian public radio

2012-05-21 Comments Off on 273. Fair Trade discussion on Canadian public radio

Got 25 minutes to spare?  Listen to this excellent discussion on CBC’s The Current between FTUSA CEO Paul Rice and Fairtrade Canada Communications Director Michael Zelmer on the changes in the Fair Trade system.  Haven’t got the time?  Here are some of the highlights.

272. The FT4All debate: It’s getting personal

Comments Off on 272. The FT4All debate: It’s getting personal

Last September, Fair Trade USA issued two controversial announcements: one about its decision to withdraw from Fairtrade International, the global Fair Trade Certifier formerly known as FLO, and another launching its Fair Trade for All initiative, which rewrites the rules of Fair Trade and opens the U.S. Fair Trade market to coffee estates. In the […]