Fairtrade foundation
The Johannesburg Earth Summit, 2002, highlighted the issue of poverty across the globe; there are currently 1.2 billion people living on less than a dollar a day, and over half the world's population living on less than two dollars a day. Although the Summit set global targets, it did not show any obvious route for the individual with a conscience.
Many consumers are aware that wealth is unequally distributed and that products from developing countries are often sold at prices that do not afford their producers a decent standard of living. Fairtrade aims to alleviate poverty and "humanises" the trade process - making the producer-consumer chain as short as possible so that consumers become aware of the culture, identity and conditions in which producers live.
The Fairtrade Towns initiative was set up by the Fairtrade Foundation to act as a means by which local communities could demonstrate their commitment to Fair Trade in a high profile way. The world's first Fairtrade Town, Garstang in Lanchashire, was declared in 1999, and the number of Fairtrade towns and cities has grown steadily since.
'Fairtrade' is a registered trademark, owned by the Fairtrade Foundation and its international partners. Products bearing the Fairtrade Mark are produced in accordance with strict internationally agreed criteria. Although there are a number of similar trademarks, the Fairtrade Mark has two particularly unique aspects.
The Fairtrade Foundation is a not for profit organisation and the Mark is the only independent guarantee that producers in the "third world" have received a premium on the market price.