From the Frying Pan...
It was great to come home to a bottle of wine on Friday night and the fact that it was Fairtrade did indeed make it all the tastier! I needed a treat after all the rice and bananas. What came to be the topic of conversation, however, was an issue that is more than a little controversial. I occassionally (and to my shame) smoke when I have a drink. So on Friday night a comment was passed about the cigarettes not being FT. And it occurred to me that that was one of the points that Yahya Msangi spoke about when he came to visit.
He was saying that the conditions in tobacco farms can be really atrocious, that if we visited one it would break our hearts (I paraphrase), but it's not an area anyone wants to touch because of the views in developed countries on smoking. Tobacco, however, is a huge export for quite a few developing countries and while the producers are living on close to nothing, stressing day to day about how they're going to feed their families, cigarette companies are some of the biggest funders of American presidential elections - there's HUGE money there.
It's a seriously divisive topic. Tobacco is not something that anyone wants to see people buying - I know I battle constantly with the fact that I smoke sometimes and I know how sick they can make me after a night out. I don't condone in the least the selling of cigarettes.
Yet I cannot ignore the fact that people are growing their crops - which are perfectly legal - and they are struggling to keep their families fed and healthy, so much so that they panic when a child falls ill because they know they have no money to pay for a doctor, nevermind medicines.
This is something I know too little about at this stage to comment on decisively, but I'd love to hear your views on it. Let me know what you think.
He was saying that the conditions in tobacco farms can be really atrocious, that if we visited one it would break our hearts (I paraphrase), but it's not an area anyone wants to touch because of the views in developed countries on smoking. Tobacco, however, is a huge export for quite a few developing countries and while the producers are living on close to nothing, stressing day to day about how they're going to feed their families, cigarette companies are some of the biggest funders of American presidential elections - there's HUGE money there.
It's a seriously divisive topic. Tobacco is not something that anyone wants to see people buying - I know I battle constantly with the fact that I smoke sometimes and I know how sick they can make me after a night out. I don't condone in the least the selling of cigarettes.
Yet I cannot ignore the fact that people are growing their crops - which are perfectly legal - and they are struggling to keep their families fed and healthy, so much so that they panic when a child falls ill because they know they have no money to pay for a doctor, nevermind medicines.
This is something I know too little about at this stage to comment on decisively, but I'd love to hear your views on it. Let me know what you think.
posted by Eilis at
9:23 PM
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7 Comments:
Like you said eilis, this is such a controversial topic, but unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world where tobacco and indeed other drugs are not a part of peoples day to day lives and so while i am not a smoker myself, and certainly dont condone the use of drugs (unless for genuine medicinal use) i believe that people have the right to choose, and so i would rather see these tobacco farms do well if only for the sake of those families who depend on them for survival. Its just so sad that that is the case in this day and age...
Go Fairtrade woman-Fairplay more like! I didnt realise how little fairtrade food is available. Its a great idea to have Stock it cards. Keep up the good work there!
Hi there Eilís.
I think here is one of the cruxes that affects anyone who is working for a fairer world. At what point do we decide not to get involved?
For example, in much of my work in humanitarian crises in conflict areas many agencies are accused of indirectly helping the warring parties by supporting places like hospitals, providing food and shelter.
These are the normal responsibility of the authorities of an area, and the accusation is that by providing these services we free up the money for the combatants to buy weapons and so prolong the war. So what to do? In reality, the parties will NOT provide these services and will still buy guns,and the only people to suffer are the communities. Therefore the humanitarian imperative tells us we MUST intervene, but only on behalf of the communities affected.
Fairtrade is about another war - the war on poverty. As long as there is a demand for tobacco here, I fell ethically we should and must fight for fairer working conditions for the tobacco farmers. And for the long term as the West seeks to cut out tobacco use on health grounds there is a moral imperative that an alternative form of income for those farmers who will be left without work when demand for their product wanes is also provided somehow.
And how do we do that? Convert the tobacco farms to other products might be one way, and if the farm is already practicing fairer labour policies it is likely to keep that up in a new venture.
It is all about multi-level approaches. We work directly with the communities affected by war or poverty to help them in a very real and direct manner. At the same time we lobby governments and those with power to change the global situation for the better: for example the campaign on EPAs to get fairer trade agreements for developing countries and finally by getting public support for change - as you are doing so well with this blog and your mission these two weeks.
I would say your big problem might be to get at least one brand of cigarettes branded Fairtrade by the end of the year. That way, you can ethically enjoy a ciggy with your vino next year in the firm knowledge that the workers who produced it got a fair deal. Then you are merely left with the worry about whether the matches are Fairtrade or not :)
Keep it up!
Hi, Elis.
If you'd like to lift your spirits and learn about how tobacco farmers can escape such poor conditions by becoming entrepreneurs in their own community, check out the non-profit YouTube channel created by TechnoServe.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BelieveBeginBecome
Maybe the FairTrade organisation -- and even you, Eilis -- could load some videos on this YouTube channel.
TechnoServe is a nonprofit international development organization that helps entrepreneurial men and women in poor rural areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth for their families, their communities and their countries.
TechnoServ has recently launched "Believe Begin Become," a business plan competition run. "Believe Begin Become" - currently being run in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania - is designed to give enterprising men and women the training and resources they need to launch or expand businesses, while fostering a broader culture of entrepreneurship within a country.
"Believe Begin Become" is based on a similar program in Latin America, where TechnoServe currently runs business plan competitions in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Chile and Ecuador.
---
http://www.technoserve.org
TechnoServe helps entrepreneurial men and women in the developing world to build businesses that provide jobs, income and economic opportunity. Since its founding in 1968, the U.S.-based nonprofit has helped to create or expand more than 2,000 businesses, benefiting millions of people in more than 30 countries. TechnoServe has been recognized as one of the world's "Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs" by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2007, Charity Navigator also once again awarded its highest Four Star ranking to TechnoServe.
Hey Fairtrade Wonder-Woman.
Fair play. What a great idea!! And no better person. Sorry I can't look at the videos, am in a little internet cafe in Damascus, Syria with an arabic keypad on this ancient relic posing as a PC!! As a random piece of info - today I learned that cotton is one of Syria's biggest exports... can't imagine it's FT certified though!
Regarding tobacco - can't say I had ever thought of the FT tobacco issue before, so thanks for highlighting that!
Before I left for my travels I asked my tennis club to swap over to FT. I said I would look after the sourcing etc.. so off I went, looking for a wholesaler in Ireland to sell my tennis club FT nuts, cereal bars, bananas, dried fruit, wine and coffee and tea of course!!!
It wasn't so easy. Most wholesalers responded with 'what?' 'fairtrade what?'. I was amazed. It's one thing the supermarkets not stocking many FT products but the supermarkets have to buy via some sort of wholesaler either in Ireland or the UK most likely.
Musgraves is one of the larger food wholesalers in Ireland and do you know.... the only FT product they can supply is coffee!!! So instead of my tennis club (Mount Pleasant in Ranelagh, thanks guys) - being able to stock, at least for FT fortnight, lots and lots of FT products - all we could get our hands on was coffee, tea and sugar!
So come on Musgraves, get with the programme!!
Sorry, for the rather long and rambling note, great work Eilis!!
Michelle
Hi Eilís
Another sign that good things are happening. This morning the town of Newbridge in my own County Kildare has been awarded Fairtrade Town status. I heard this on the local radio station, and tried texting in to link to your marathon effort, urging the shops in Newbridge to have a large enough range of goods to live on. Not sure if they broadcast it, as I had to leave to come to work, but hopefully...
All the best
a very important question. I've been thinking about it (on and off) for a couple of days. I have a libertarian streak so am in favour of cigarettes, and much else, being sold legitametely. So bring on the fair trade fags for a combustible debate.
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