Grandmother and former nurse Linda Sones sells organic cotton baby and children’s clothing and accessories, and natural, organic baby toiletries online at SonesUK. Her suppliers are all committed to various environmental and Fairtrade initiatives.

Twenty years ago organic cotton pioneers built their own supply chains from scratch and created a new business model based on a concept of partnership. Farmers made a commitment to supply organically certified cotton and retailers bought it at a reasonable price. Because the crop had to have organic field certification to qualify for the final label on the garment, a link between the farmer and consumer was established.

Farmers who converted to organic cotton are now seeing benefits in terms of their health, the environment and, for the first time, enjoying a closer relationship with retailers. But this relationship is now facing challenges as mainstream retailers start placing huge orders. Whilst this can bring opportunities to expand and benefit farmers, it will depend on whether big companies continue to use the ethical and equitable trading practices set up by pioneers who are mainly relatively small businesses. For example, a well known high street retailer recently had a huge marketing campaign based on their tee shirts being made from Fairtrade cotton. But this did not extend to the garment manufacturing. So, as a case in point, we see that it is very easy to put a ‘spin’ on things with clever marketing and things are not always what they seem.

Production of cotton is a crucial part of the economy of many third world countries, with millions of people dependent on it for their livelihood. Fifty years ago ‘white gold’ was seen as the great hope for developing countries. But these dreams have faltered, with cotton farmers barely able to make a living and in debt to pesticide suppliers. Chemically intensive cotton production and monoculture has contaminated soil and water resources and reduced fertility of the soil. Effects on the environment and workers health has been devastating. Not enough is known about the chronic effects of being continually exposed to pesticides, but it has been suggested that deaths as a result are vastly underestimated because very few workers have access to medical diagnosis and treatment.

Only over the last twenty years have the social, environmental and health impacts of cotton begun to be considered. This is because of the complexities of the supply chain for conventionally grown cotton which makes it difficult for consumers to be aware of the beginnings of the chain. Fibres are blended and are not traceable to their point of origin. In the case of organic cotton the fibre needs to be separate from conventional cotton fibre and cannot therefore enter the same supply chain. With conventional cotton there is such a long chain of buyers and manufacturers. Clothing retailers shop around for the cheapest fabric and the growers at the end of the chain are squeezed to the maximum so that the price of their product falls. They see the only way forward as increasing their yield with increased use of chemicals. Eventually pests develop resistance and the yield decreases. American and European subsidies push the price down even further and this way third world countries are kept poor and in debt to the Agrochemical giants who maintain a healthy profit.

Benefits of organic cotton to the environment and growers are well documented, but what is not so often recognized is the fairer supply chain. Pioneering cotton companies have also undertaken to share the daunting risks. Agriculture is subject to forces beyond our control in terms of adverse weather and climate. There is no safety net for third world cotton farmers and banks that see them as high risk charge exorbitant interest rates for loans and overdrafts. Pre-financing by arranging input advances during the growing is a central aspect of a fair trading model.

With the high street giants seeing the marketing potential of organic cotton come new challenges to be faced. Will these giants continue with the trading standards set up by the organic cotton pioneers or will they expect to continue with the practices that they have previously imposed on their suppliers, such as making them wait 90 days for payment? It is imperative that they set up new ways of working and do not rely on their size and power to impose unfair conditions. It is also important that they continue to uphold the pre-finance support, listen to what farmers say and understand and develop the principles of the organic agricultural model. It is critical to fair and ethical practice that we continue to have clarity throughout the supply chain.

Photo credit: Jonne1985

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Ethical shopping is a subject much discussed at present, but what does it actually mean to consumers? Wikipedia defines it as buying things which have caused no harm or exploitation to humans, animals or the natural environment. Our newspapers are full of tales of factory farming, climate change, sweatshops and child labour and it has been suggested that any purchase involves moral choices. Realistically, buying is a necessary part of modern life. The nitty gritty is deciding whether we will exercise our conscience over what we buy or if we are not too bothered as long as we have whatever object it is that we desire. After all a number of mainstream retailers have been implicated in scandals about child labour and sweatshop working but we continue to buy from them. In an ideal world of course we wouldn’t even be talking about ethical shopping because it would be the norm.

Until fairly recently ethical shopping was a niche market but it is becoming more mainstream as people become more aware of environmental and ethical issues. Numbers of people buying organic or Fairtrade continues to rise as it becomes more accessable and receives a higher level of support from retailers but it is still a small part of the overall market.

There is a huge buzz of interest about sustainability or development which meets present needs but does not compromise future generations. George Monbiot in an article for The Telegraph says “There is an inherent conflict between the aspirational lifestyle journalism that makes readers feel better about themselves and sells country kitchens, and the central demand of environmentalism – that we should consume less”. So being an ethical shopper is not about continuing to take several holidays a year by air and buying things that are surplus to requirements. Perhaps the root of the problem is our rampant consumer culture which is reinforced by the media continually. Take a look at the Sunday glossies. They are selling the lifestyles that we aspire to: travel, fashion, beautiful homes.

Some say that we can’t afford to be ethical shoppers with the credit crunch but can we afford not to be? The “race to the bottom” is an expression used to describe the practice of international retailers employing developing world contractors, who cut corners to keep margins down and profits up for western paymasters. We need to be ecologically aware, supporting conservation and adopting proactive attitudes towards recycling, energy saving and carbon reduction. Promoting the welfare of animals and rights of human beings to live and work in conditions of decency.

It is my belief that all retailers should all be working towards providing more assurance to the consumer that their clothes are produced cleanly, responsibly and ethically. Unfortunately, indifference, yours, mine, theirs, to the issues is very real, I am not taking the moral high ground here. I am as guilty as the next person. Perhaps we should start out by having a system of labeling on clothing denoting that it has been produced responsibly enabling consumers to make more informed choices.

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Miles Owen is one of the directors of Ecotopia. We told you a little bit about them and their facebook forest recently. In this guest post by Miles, he looks at the documentary “Black Gold” and discusses the importance of buying Fairtrade coffee.

Many people start the day with a few cups of coffee, or if you’re like our very energetic team at Ecotopia – a few pots of coffee. But have you ever thought where it comes from? If you haven’t checked out “Black Gold,” the acclaimed documentary that takes a look at the multi-billion dollar coffee industry and the poor farmers who cultivate the beans, then you should! You probably will never set foot in a large supermarket to buy your coffee again.

The film follows Tadesse Meskela, the General Manager of the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union, as he visits coffee-growing regions in Sidamo and Oromia, as well as a coffee processing center, a coffee auction house, and his union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa. He also travels to England and the US in an effort to promote Ethiopian coffee by eliminating the numerous middlemen.

With great frankness, Meskela uses “Black Gold” as a stage to describe the chronic situation Ethiopian coffee farmers face. When the price of coffee hit a 30-year low at the start of the Millenium, farmers struggled to feed their children and send them to school. Some quit farming. Others began growing a more profitable line – a local narcotic banned in the US and Europe. With their families malnourished and being forced to travel long distances to accept foreign aid, some farmers saw no alternative but to bring their families to government feeding centres.

So why do they call it black gold?

Coffee is traded as a commodity—just like oil or gold—and is second only to oil in commodity value. Because of the production surplus brought about by sun-grown coffee, the price of coffee has been chronically depressed on the world market, making it difficult for farmers to make a good living from year to year.

The price of coffee is rising, but little has changed in these communities. In Ethiopia, country that depends on coffee for about 40 percent of its export revenue, farmers make as little as 2.5p for every cup of coffee sold in Europe. Meanwhile, multinational coffee corporations collectively rake in as much as £160 billion each year, according to the film.

So why buy Fairtrade?

Fair trade organisations work directly with cooperatives of small farmers to eliminate much of the middleman costs and provide the growers with a stable price that ensures a reasonable standard of living. For instance, in 2004 the UK Fairtrade market guaranteed participating coffee growers a minimum of 126 cents per pound for arabica coffee beans, compared to a world market price of 52 cents per pound. Many fair trade organisations also encourage their growers to employ sustainable farming practices (such as organic and shade-grown).

Photo credit: jsbarrie

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