TransFair USA Eyes a Brand Makeover...Why?

As I continue to investigate the workings of Fair Trade some interesting facts are coming to light. This explains the mumbled comments, and reluctance to say much or the sighs of perseverance I've encounter with those caught up in industries relying on these certifications.

Matt at Just Coffee Cooperatives writes:

"This situation has been developing slowly over many years, so we should ask: “why is it finally coming to a head now?” The answer to this seems to lie in the rise of the IMO “Fair for Life” certification that many committed FT roasters (and growers) are turning to as an alternative to the FLO/Transfair system. To put it plainly-- the IMO certification is reportedly cheaper, based on auditing as opposed to marketing, and less cumbersome than FLO/TFUSA's version. And more, by using the term “Certified Fair Trade” in its language, the IMO program is liberating a term that has been monopolized legally in the US by TFUSA for years. In the past, the more committed “fair traders” had nowhere to go outside the TFUSA model for third-party certification-- they were the only game in town. There now appears to be a better alternative and that development must make TFUSA very nervous."

Read the full article by Just Coffee Cooperative at:
http://www.justcoffee.coop/node/11481

Fair trade certification delayed is fair trade denied.

The more I search the more complex things become. Here's a great article on Fair Trade and the shifting tides of change that occur as organizations slip with regard to their values. It may take a little time but eventually we notice...

From the Huffington Post:

The Organic Consumers Association has launched the Fair World Project to promote fair trade in commerce, especially in organic production systems in developing countries as well as at home, and to protect the term "fair trade" from dilution and misuse for mere PR purposes. This new organization fills the critical need for a watchdog of misleading fair trade claims, and a cheerleader for dedicated fair trade mission-driven companies. The Fair World Project will focus on promoting projects that connect the environmental and health benefits of organic agriculture with the social benefits derived from fair trade.

The article below is featured both on the Fair World Project website as well as in the inaugural publication of "For a Better World." The website provides a space and forum where consumers and activists can discuss issues within the Fair Trade movement, ask tough questions and share information. Please check it out here.

Going Fair Trade: The Challenges of Setting Up Sustainable and Fair Supply Chains and Getting Them Certified

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-bronner/going-fair-trade_b_712227.html#

Context and Complexity

"Imagination is far more important than knowledge."

"The formulation of a problem is far more important than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, to look at old problems from a new angle marks the real advances in science." - Albert Einstein

I was thinking that all this talk and attention about sustainability is great but ultimately the aesthetics of consumption is the issue. How to help the consumers of the world develop an identity outside of things? with millions still in poverty and the grossly wealthy lifestyle idealized?
These are the social processes identified as lifestyle consumption, expressive consumption, aesthetic consumption that require the solutions. Creating solutions as alternatives for these processes will turn sustainability into a real and worthy goal, not allow it remain where it is now as a Utopian ideology.

read more:
Design, Lifestyles and Sustainability.
by Peter Dobers and Lars Strannegard

Conference on Climate Change, Unchanged

As the old year fades into the archives things remain unchanged despite many hopes to the contrary. I refer not only to US politics, economics, health care, and trade policies but the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change.

Here's a unique perspective from Indonesian activist and journalist Fitrian Ardiansyah:
The Jakarta Post: New Year, new climate (re)solutions.