Fair do’s
The Fairtrade stall in Newton Abbot closed down before Christmas, it has been reported. Apparently the students who were running it couldn’t make enough to pay for the stall in the market. It’s a shame that the town which is vieing for Fairtrade status couldn’t support a small market stall.
As far as I know there are three designated fairtrade areas in Devon: Plymouth, Exeter and Teignnmouth - if I’m wrong, let me know. But the failure in Newton Abbot is the failure of the market (quite literally) to support fairer aspects of trading.
The Fairtrade movement as a whole has been criticised for subverting market issues - at its most subtle this argument runs along the lines of if there is an obvious provision for ‘fairer traded’ produce, then the rest of the market doesn’t have to step in line. I would say, if there was no obvious and growing need for more fairly traded produce then the movement wouldn’t exist.
I wonder how many people in that market town of Newton Abbot even care about how much of their produce is produced locally. The notion of fairtrade should touch every Devon consumer.
January 6th, 2006
