What does a fair trade logo actually mean?
Churches that support the movement should confront the gap between its vision and its accomplishments.
Logos for (from left to right) Fairtrade America, the Small Producers’ Symbol, Fair for Life, and Fair Trade USA. Coffee beans photo by Anthia Cumming / E+ / Getty.
At a 2007 craft fair in Seattle, I found a vendor selling olive oil from the Holy Land that he called “fair trade” Peace Oil. I asked why the label on his bottles carried no service mark certifying compliance with fair trade practices.
“Too expensive!” he replied. “Anyway, who are they to decide what’s fair? We offer good jobs!”
I wondered if he was volunteering for a Palestinian-led enterprise or representing an Israeli business that employed workers uprooted to expand Jewish settlements. The church hosting this craft fair was well known for its Palestinian advocacy, so the vendor sold lots of oil that weekend, none of it to me.
