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IntroductionWelcome to the second issue of I FairTrade, the newsletter of Fair Trade for aGreater Orlando Coalition. In this issueyou will find an article on the differencesbetween Fair Trade and Free Trade, as

well as our regular "That's Fair" column,which in this issue spotlights the WinterPark store of Ten Thousand Villages. Aswe move into 2008, we also have somemajor developments that we are pleasedto announce. First, the FTGOC websitehas been given a complete "make over".

At the new webite you will find up-to-date information about FTGOC and itsactivities, you can read up on the latestFair Trade news items from aroundFlorida, and you can peruse the "Buy"section, which includes a constantlyupdated list of businesses selling Fair

Trade products locally and online.Second, planning for the third annualWorld Fair Trade Day in Orlando is infull swing! We are looking forward to thisevent, which will be held at DrunkenMonkey Coffee Bar (near the intersectionof Colonial and Bumby) on May 10th. We

need volunteers: so if you would like tohelp make this event a big success, pleasecontact us. We need you! And lastly, inDecember FTGOC began dialogue withmembers of the Orlando City Commissiontowards establishing Fair Tradepurchasing policies for the city's

departments. We will keep you informedabout the progress of this initiative infollowing newsletters and at our website.

In the meantime, enjoy the newsletter and

support Fair Trade! And we hope to seeyou May 10th at World Fair Trade Day!

Fair Trade vs. Free Trade

Free Trade and Fair trade are both market

based economic systems. Both rely on amarket place where producers may bringproducts for sale and consumers maychoose just what they want when theywant provided they can pay for it.However, the similarities end there.Examining who organizes and benefitsfrom each rubric goes a long way towards

explaining the modes of each system.Free Trade is organized at tradeconferences and negotiations, many ofwhich are conducted in secret. That factis suggestive for reasons that should beobvious. Where these proceedings aremore or less open, they are attended by

the political elite. Presidents andambassadors who have varying degrees ofaccountability to the publics theyrepresent. These proceedings are heavily

influenced by the play of power,regardless of the intentions of theparticipants therein. States with greatmilitaries or strategic resources have greatinfluence over others. One might say

diplomacy is practiced, but notdemocracy. Other loci of Free Trade

organization and planning are the secretmeetings and judicial proceedings ofglobal organizations such as the WorldTrade Organization (WTO), InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), and the WorldBank. While these organizations havehad a great degree of secrecy from their

inception, secrecy has become even moreimportant since their meetings attract

protest crowds numbering in the

thousands. The Battle in Seattle is themost significant US example. In thesesecret meetings corporate and politicalelites decide how to dismantle tariffs,

price supports, social spending, subsidies,and other barriers to trade. What isusually unstated is how they decideNOTto dismantle these modes. While allpreach the neoliberal free trade gospel,the most radical free trade ideology, thosethat sing the loudest are often the most

hypocritical. For instance, the US and toa lesser degree Europe, still maintainmany tariffs and subsidies on steel and

agricultural products. This fact exposesthese proceedings as little more than theimposition of power, not principles.The organization of the Fair Trade rubric

is derived from completely differentsources serving different interests. FairTrade is organized by consumers andproducers working through non-profitorganizations. Non-profit and stakeholderorganizations such as Transfair and FairTrade Labeling Organizations

International (FLO) establishenvironmental, labor, and democracystandards which producers may choose tomeet to receive the Fair Trade Certifiedlabel. The certification provides theproducers with minimum price guaranteesand help with global marketing. It also

allows consumers to choose productsmade under the conditions just stated andavoid supporting slave labor, child labor,sweatshop labor, and environmental harmWhile consumers have a role in thelabeling organizations, their most crucialrole lies in the decentralized, networked

advocacy groups who promote Fair Tradeas a consumer option and work to

establish Fair Trade purchasing policies intheir popular institutions likegovernments, schools, churches, andsocial clubs. The multiplicity ofnetworked voluntary associations working

to organize Fair Trade demonstrates a farmore democratic mode of economicactivity.The resulting values of the Free Trade andFair Trade rubrics are determined by theorganization modes previously noted.

Contents

Introduction ...1Fair Trade vs. Free Trade...1That's Fair!.................................2About FTGOC....2Volunteers needed......................2Contact FTGOC.2

I Fa i r Trade Newsletter of Fair Trade for a Greater Orlando Coalition (FTGOC)

Vol. 1, Issue 2 Spring 200

8/14/2019 FTGOC newsletter Vol 1 Issue 2

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Free Trade, organized by the Corporate

and Political elite, values ever increasingprofits. The profit seeking compulsionwill suffer no borders and so must expandworld wide, often with the assistance ofstate violence, either threatened orrealized. Free Trade also valuesoligarchic political-economic decision-

making. Consumers and producers dont

get votes, delegates or representatives atsecret meetings. Free Trade valuesinvestor and corporate rights. NAFTA ismostly an investors rights agreement.Unless you are willing to consider GMmoving a car from a GM factory in

Mexico to a GM factory in the US astrade, NAFTA has not and was notdesigned to increase trade. It simplyallowed the internal transfer of capital tobe conducted with more ease, and to thedetriment of workers in both the US andMexico since, under the new rules, high

paying union jobs in Michigan could beoutsourced to union busting countriessuch as Mexico. Finally, Free Tradevalues commodification.Commodification is the process of turningsomething not previously considered ineconomic terms into another product to be

bought and sold under free marketconditions. Nothing is sacred.Everything from genes to workers arecommodified and therefore subject to thedemands of the most powerful players inthe market. Traditions and rights have noplace here unless they can be put on a t-

shirt and sold.From Fair Trade flows a wholly differentset of values. Traditional knowledge andcreativity are given an opportunity toflourish in the world market. Humanrights such as the right to organize laborunions are a part of the Fair Trade rubric.

While solidarity at the loci of productionis valued, a new kind of solidarity isdeveloped by Fair Trade. Solidaritybetween the producers and the consumers.Under conditions of Free Trade,producers and consumers in the globalmarket are narrowly considered only in

terms of the ones profit and the othersprice. The Fair Trade rubric developsmutual concern for the interests of bothproducer and consumer. While theinternational union movements haveencouraged a reaching out between unionproducers in one country and unionconsumers in another, the expansion of

this global solidarity outside of unioncircles maybe a novel development inhuman affairs. Environmental protection

and sustainable development as well as

democratically organized workplaces arevalues specifically required by Fair TradeCertification. Many Fair Trade producersalso contribute to communitydevelopment. Producers are encouragedto set aside some income for education,transportation, housing, and health care.

The different values realized under Fair

Trade conditions and the democraticorganizational forms that give rise tothese values (and are desideratathemselves) are the reason Fair Tradesales, like certified organic sales, continueto rise rapidly. The embrace of these

values and the global solidarity builtoutside of the working class labormovments signifies a new era of civilizingtendencies that is both product andaccelerant.

Scott Tess

That's Fair!Since 1946, Ten Thousand Villages has

been improving lives in countries aroundthe world by selling products made bylocal artisans within a fair trade context,helping to ensure that workers and theirfamilies work and live with dignity. MaryDipboye opened the Winter Park store ofTen Thousand Villages in September

2006 (it is their second store in Florida,the other opening in Tallahassee in 2005).Selling everything from pillows to

jewelry, wall art to napkin rings, andjournals to musical instruments, TenThousand Villages is the perfectalternative for home dcor and gift ideas.Make a statement, and a d ifference! Stop

by their store at 346 N. Park Ave. inWinter Park, or visit:

http://orlando.tenthousandvillages.com

About FTGOC

Our main goal is to work with the City ofOrlando to pass a Fair Trade Resolution.This would mean that whenever the CityDepartments buy coffee, for example,

they would choose the Fair Trade

alternative. In support of this goal,FTGOC also seeks to:

1) Educate the community about the FairTrade alternative,

2) Expand the market for Fair Tradeproducts, and

3) Build a strong coalition of communitygroups supporting Fair Trade.Volunteers needed...

World Fair Trade Day is right around thecorner. Help FTGOC make this event asuccess by volunteering your time andtalents. Contact Crystal at 407-949-2809to find out how you can help.In the meantime, look for the Fair Trade

Certified label. There are numerousvendors online and in business locallyhere in Greater Orlando

that sell Fair Tradeproducts. If your localgrocery store or coffeeshop does not stock fair

trade products, let themknow why it is importantto you.

Contact FTGOC

Scott Tess (ftgoc@hotmail.com)

Brian Salmons (ftgoc@yahoo.com)

Crystal Curran(fairtradeforagreaterorlando@gmail.com )

Mailing address:

300 E. South St., #3011

Orlando, FL 32801

Websites:

www.ftgoc.org

www.myspace.com/fairtradegreaterorlando

"The reality is that no industrial country

not the United States, not Canada, notthe countries of the EEC, not the otherEuropean states, not, we all know, Japan leaves its farmers to the free market.None. Those who affirm the beneficenceof the free market for agriculture are, asregards the industrially developedcountries, speaking of something that

does not exist."- John Kenneth Galbraith,July 27, 1987.