what makes fair-trade fair?

Answer 1

Consumers can spend their money however they wish without violating the tenets of a free-market economy or capitalism. Thus, if I want to spend my money on goods sold by a company who pays and treats their employees or suppliers well, it is within my rights to do so. This is only fair.

Morally speaking, fair-trade is fair because it gives a fair wage to everyone involved in the manufacture or production of a good, including those at the bottom of the line (the suppliers) rather than just those at the top (the CEO). This is fair because the CEO wouldn't be able to make the money he does if it weren't for the supplier's hard work.

Edit: I would have to agree with the above answerer who stated that apparently quite a few of the respondants here have no clue whatsoever what fair-trade is. It is an attempt to spread the distribution of profits from the sale of goods more fairly from top to bottom, with specific attention being paid to providing equitable compensation to farmers and producers in foreign countries who supply the goods (e.g. coffee growers). Fair-trade is not an attempt on behalf of politicians to place legal restrictions on businesses; it is instead a method of redistributing wealth more fairly while working WITHIN the framework of the free market. As a result, the producer, the company, and the customer all stand to benefit. The producer benefits from the increased pay, which allows him to reinvest and improve his production methods. The company benefits from the improved reputation as an ethical company, which it can show to its best advantage through educational publicity campaigns. And the customer benefits both in purchasing a potentially superior product and in knowing that he has not figuratively raped some third world farmer to get it.

Answer 2

The fact that the producers are paid a much higher price for their goods than they would get from other buyers.

Some how I don't think the earlier answerers have a clue what you are talking about when you say fair-trade

Answer 3

After Turner rushed for 220 yards and 2 TDs no way is that a fair trade.

Answer 4

Nothing, because there is no such thing as 'fair trade'.
What politicians call 'fair trade' is really 'Politician controlled trade' - not one fair thing about it. Just a bunch of power hungry elitist jerks making rules that other people have to follow.
.

Answer 5

Nothing, as a Canadian I feel we get it in the END (if you know what I mean when it comes to the ...FREE TRADE AGREEMENT.
I think that there is NOTHING fair about.

IE... We trade our wood to the states, we buy our wood from the store(whitch by the way...imported from the States) at 1/3 to 1/2 more then what they pay.? How is that fair. And thats just ONE example. Second we send our Canadian made MINI van to the states. the price we pay is sooo much higher then them...
Not FAIR,AT ALL!

Answer 6

Fair trade is an organized social movement which promotes equitable standards for international labour, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related to the production of Fairtrade labelled and unlabelled goods, which may range from handcrafts to agricultural commodities. The movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries.

Fair trade's strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalised producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. It also aims at empowering them to become stakeholders in their own organisations and actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade.

Answer 7

When both parties walk away feeling like they got the bargain and the other person was ripped off.

Answer 8

The agreement between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

Answer 9

both parties should be fair enough- that's all.