We don't buy Fairtrade coffee, but the quality problem seems to be an old one. For example -
A simple example illustrates this point. A farmer has two bags of coffee to sell and there is a Fair Trade buyer for only one bag. The farmer knows bag A would be worth $1.70 per pound on the open market because the quality is high and bag B would be worth only $1.20 because the quality is lower. Which should he sell as Fair Trade coffee for the guaranteed price of $1.40?
3 comments:
Nice video. The argument is a variant of the old one about "affirmative action": if you hire on the basis of anything other than talent, then your organisation goes downhill, and the minorities you are trying to help get a bad name because they are exposed as less effective in post. I really like the idea of "fair trade literature". That makes the point very neatly.
My son claims he has a compassionate reason for refusing to buy fair trade. Supporting uneconomic practices leads farmers to invest in stuff they are not very good at, and the crash when the subsidy is removed is larger the more they invest. Once you've (badly) planted all that extra coffee, you're stuck with it come what may.
Ground nut scheme anyone!
Sam - it applies all over the place too. A topical example is people who are paid the same whatever the quality of their epidemiology model. It's a vast issue and the fair trade idea brings it out well.
Wiggia - yes, this kind of thing had a long pedigree.
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