Fair Trade Farm Employees

About 80% of cut flowers sold in the United States are grown internationally in Latin America, South America, and Africa. Over 300,000 women are employed by flower producers all over the world. More often than not, they are exploited to keep costs low for American and European consumers. These women are often subjected to sexual abuse, human rights violations, exposure to toxic agrochemicals, and extremely dangerous working conditions. In many cases they are not paid for overtime hours, and are lucky to be paid fairly for regular hours worked. Fair Trade changes all of that!

At One World Flowers, we call Fair Trade a “complete sustainability” program. This is because it goes far beyond environmental sustainability to also include the people and communities that are impacted by floral farms. Fair Trade Certification means farms that grow flowers are given a fair price for their produce, workers enjoy safe working conditions, fair living wages are paid to workers, and environmentally friendly growing practices are used. It is a commitment made by each company in the supply chain to maintain higher standards in our business practices, even if it costs a little more. In short, everyone can benefit from Fair Trade – from the worker in the field, to the company that owns the farm, the environment, and even you! By caring for the people first, Fair Trade ensures that the local environment and the local economy are also protected and built up. The three areas of sustainability ion the Fair Trade program are detailed below.

Social Justice
Fair Trade guarantees that the human rights of floral workers will be protected and upheld at all times. Workers are organized democratically and empowered to report any abuses that may occur after a Farm is certified to an in-country agent. If a report is ever received, a farm is immediately put into a suspended status until the issue can be resolved. Beyond that, the program also provides a long list of social benefits that improve the quality of life for farm employees and their families:

• Fair Trade Premium
  Importers pay a 10% Fair Trade premium on all purchases from the farms. Workers organize democratically to vote on how to use these funds to improve their quality of life, end poverty, and invest in the local community. On the farms that One World Flowers works with, the premium has been used to fund scholarships for continuing education, provide employees with microloans, for emergency healthcare needs, to build an on-site daycare, and for computer classes for employees.

“For every Fair Trade Certified flower that we sell, a child is able to study here in Ecuador. There are so many children that cannot afford to go to school. For this reason, it’s very important to buy Fair Trade flowers, because our children are our future.” ~ Mariana Esquinato, Vice President of the Workers Committee, Hoja Verde Farm

• Empowering Women
  Discrimination and sexual harassment are prohibited on Fair Trade Certified farms. Leadership positions must equally represent women, giving women unprecedented access to empowerment in developing nations. New mothers receive 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, and upon return, are given breaks and a quiet place to breastfeed. This is a stark contrast to non-Fair Trade farms where pregnant workers often lose their unborn children to miscarriage because of ultra-high levels of toxicity in their systems from being forced to work in freshly sprayed fields.
   
• Healthcare
  Fair Trade Certified farms must provide on-site doctors and regular check-ups for their workers. They also must pay social security for each of their workers. Great care is taken to protect workers if agrochemicals must ever be used. Workers are required to wear complete protective gear to work near chemicals, and reentry times into the greenhouses are strictly followed.

Environmental Protection
A 2009 case study from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization found that over 120 chemicals are used in Ethiopia’s floriculture industry, 15 of which the World Health Organization classifies as carcinogenic. This number is not much higher than what is found in other major floral-producing countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, and Kenya, where local governments often turn a blind eye to the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides that have long been banned in the United States because of their devastating effects on the local ecosystem. When a farm becomes Fair Trade Certified™, a full list of 100 chemicals is immediately banned from use. In addition to the banned chemical list, Fair Trade protects the environment by helping farms develop all-natural growing practices. Farms are encouraged to work toward fully organic growing practices over time.

•  Integrated Pest Management
  Consumers demand flawless flowers, so pest management is crucial on flower farms. Fair Trade farms are taught how to manage pests naturally instead of using chemicals. Examples of this can include preventative measures, spraying plants with natural pheromones that deter bugs, and introducing harmless species of insects, like spiders, to reduce the population of harmful pests.
   
• Natural Pesticides
  The fair trade farms that One World Flowers works with use cayenne pepper and chamomile extract as natural pesticides in lieu of chemicals.

Buying a Fair Trade flower guarantees you a better quality flower. The Fair Trade flowers have no strong chemicals that damage the health of workers and customers who buy the flowers.”~ Luz Chancusig, Post Harvest Representative and Secretary of the Joint Body, Jardines Piaveri Farm

• Ecosystem Integration
  Some Fair Trade Certified™ farms have developed creative and natural ways of integrating with their surrounding ecosystems. One example is farm that have built man-made fish ponds in the middle of flower fields to catch rainwater and farm runoff. Algae species that are grown in the ponds break down any chemical compounds that were used. When the fast-growing algae has done its job, it is used as a rich fertilizer for plant roots instead of chemical fertilizers. Because rainwater is also harvested by these ponds, the farms are contributing to groundwater replenishment and are also able to use it to water their plants and reduce their overall water consumption.

Economic Development
As mentioned before, to be truly sustainable Fair Trade also contributes to the local economy through profitable and healthy business. Unlike a charity that needs constant funding, Fair Trade is a business model that builds up people, communities, and the local environment through sustainable capitalism. Fair Trade farms are paid a fair price from importers like one World Flowers, which means they can pass their profitability on to their employees in many ways:

• Living Wages
  Workers on Fair Trade farms are paid a living wage, which generally means that a single mother would be able to provide food, shelter, clothing, and basic needs for herself and two children. In 2011, Ecuador’s minimum wage was raised from $218 per month to $240. In contrast, a living wage for the country is estimated at closer to $500.
   
• Providing Access to Credit
  Many Fair Trade farms have implemented micro-lending programs that provide small loans to employees who would normally have no access to credit at all. Many of these loans are used to help workers improve their homes, pay for emergencies, or start a small business. These small loans have been shown to be one of the most successful community development tools because workers use them to contribute to the local economy and raise their standard of living. Women on one flower farm took their knowledge of agriculture and started their own home farms growing vegetables to sell at a local market. Others buy chickens and sell eggs, or goats to provide milk for their families. Entrepreneurs like these are enabled by micro-loans to generate additional income for their families and their communities.

So, why buy Fair Trade flowers? It’s a complete sustainability program that takes care of the environment, people, and communities surrounding floral farms in developing nations. It addresses a full range of issues in the floral industry instead of just focusing on one, and provides a solid guarantee of all of its requirements through consistent monitoring and farm follow-up. Every purchase of Fair Trade flowers makes a difference and enables the program to continue to grow and expand, enticing other farms to change their ways and join the Fair Trade movement.  

To learn more about Fair Trade and poverty elimination through sustainable business, see the following resources:

• Oxfam International Report: Trading Away Our Rights: Women In the Global Supply Chain
• FairTrade USA, the certifying body for the United States
• FairTrade International, the parent organization for FairTrade USA
• “Out of Poverty” an excellent book about using business to eliminate poverty

Hollywood Free Clinic Rose Giveaway

Silverlake’s Hollywood Sunet Free Clinic received Fair Trade Certified roses from One World Flowers to participate in the Valentine Peace Project by giving out poems on love and peace from individuals around the world as a community themed Valentine expression.   The clinic’s mission is to provide quality health care, mental health services and required ancillary services to the homeless, poverty level and low-income residents of Silver Lake, Echo Park, East Hollywood and neighboring communities of Los Angeles. These communities are in most desperate need; the majority is at the 200% or below Federal Poverty Level. Each rose that was given away came with a poem from the Valentine’s Peace Project. Staff at the clinic celebrated the holiday by giving these out to fellow staff members, visiting patients and close neighbors from February 14-18.
 
Teresa Padua, director of the clinic said they had “loads of fun” sharing the beautiful roses and moving poems, noting people’s surprised expressions, cheering up work colleagues and individuals who might even have forgotten that it was that time of year!
 
The Valentine Peace Project works on community activities on love and positive peace in February and in September around the United Nations Peace Day and is working with ethical trade merchants to assist with the developmet of post-conflict region agricultural products as well as peace education, awareness and global community celebration.

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Dear Fair Tade Flower Customers,

Back in 2002, when our first farms obtained the Fair Trade certification, nurseries and child care centers in the farms had limited resources. Now, all of our roses that are sold with the Fair Trade logo earn an extra 10% of the selling price. This extra money is paid to the workers to invest in social projects related to education, health, small businesses, loans and many other initiatives to improve their lives.

Little by little, our workers on our farms have made investments in improving the nurseries. They now look much cozier and provide a better environment for children to grow and learn.

The Fair Trade Premium has also supported education by providing school materials and uniforms to workers and their children. Generally, this type of support is given as a reward for good grades and regular school attendance.

Our farms also support many local schools by providing furniture, school materials and building facilities. We strive to give children the best possible learning environment to ensure their educational success. In some cases these schools rely on the Fair Trade premium for basic equipment like windows and desks. This has made the scope of influence of Fair Trade in our farms much broader than only the workers and their families.

By the beginning of 2008, our workers received health benefits, but they didn’t have easy access to hospitals and doctors. Sometimes workers had to travel several hours to reach the hospital. Nowadays every farm has a doctors’ office, and specialists visit the farms on specific dates to undertake several types of preventive medicine.

The Fair Trade Premium has also helped provide loans to workers for home improvements and for starting new businesses. Interest rates are very low, and payment conditions are favorable to the worker’s situation.

We are happy to share these accomplishments with our friends all over the world who support Fair Trade and buy our roses. These are top quality roses, harvested with faith in this fair system.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

~ Ecuador Fair Trade Association

A woman collects roses at a farm in Ethiopia, Africa's second-largest flower exporter after Kenya. Photographer: Jose Cendon/Bloomberg News

Fair Trade Certified^TM flowers were first introduced to the US market in 2007 when TransFair USA (now Fair Trade USA) began licensing importers for the program. The addition of Fair Trade flowers to the US market was an incredible accomplishment for the producers and licensees who chose to participate in the program. It presented a great opportunity to grow sustainable sales in a new market and make an even bigger impact for floral workers worldwide. The Fair Trade flowers program has seen a good amount of success since its beginnings, but has not yet been able to win the wide-scale market awareness and producer participation as other products such as Fair Trade coffee, fruit, and tea.

Toxic Perfection

One industry analyst correctly observed that consumers are perfectly willing to accept an apple with a spot or two, and coffee is never seen in its raw form, but consumers demand flawless, perfect flowers.  The result of this demand is increased use of pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals to produce faultless flowers.

A 2009 case study from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization found that over 120 chemicals are used in Ethiopia’s floriculture industry, 15 of which the World Health Organization classifies as carcinogenic. This number is not much higher than what is found in other major floral-producing countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, and Kenya, where local governments often turn a blind eye to the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides that have long been banned in the United States.

Insecticide Use on a Non-FT Farm

The Fair Trade flowers program bans the use of over 100 of the most harmful agrochemicals and requires farms to learn entirely new growing practices. This is no small task to teach. The benefits of these changes cannot be overstated, but they do create a ‘barrier to entry’ for farms that consider transitioning to Fair Trade Certified^TM growing practices. This limits the reach of the program in many areas where chemical-induced production is seen as the norm.

 On the Move

In addition to wanting perfect flowers, consumers want their bouquets to last for many days. One of the unique challenges to Fair Trade flower importers is the logistics and timing of importing a highly perishable product.  Unlike coffee, tea, clothing, or even fruit, flowers must be hydrated and kept cool for their long journey into the country and even up until delivery to the final consumer.

From the perspective of a licensed importer, this can be a challenging task. Many importers bring Fair Trade flowers in to large warehousing facilities where they are hydrated, cooled, repackaged, and then shipped to a florist or final customer. This method can cut 3 to 5 days off the lifespan of those flowers in a customer’s home or office.

Other companies like One World Flowers have developed a direct-ship logistics solution to getting flowers to customers. In this case, flowers are cut and hydrated at the farm, and they arrive directly to the consumer within 48 to 72 hours later. There is a significant cost associated with direct shipping in this way, but the benefits include a much longer lifespan for the flowers and a higher quality product that hasn’t experienced as much interference as warehoused flowers.

Logistics of Flower Shipping

Despite these challenges and many others, Fair Trade flowers in the US have made a great impact and resulted in many changes on floral farms, especially in South America. The importers and producers that are committed to the program continue to see Fair Trade sales rise, even in the depths of America’s economic woes. Take a moment during Fair Trade Month to help the Fair Trade flower movement grow while brightening someone’s day at the same time.

Written by Alaina Paradise:

I agree that the statistics in this post are very well researched; however the frustration about Fair Trade’s carbon footprint might be misdirected. As the owner of a Fair Trade licensed flower business, One World Flowers, I believe you missed two key points and one other consideration that’s more based on personal beliefs/values:

1) Sustainability is NOT an environmental concept only.

Sustainability also includes people and profitability, which you can read more about in “The Triple Bottom Line” by Savitz. If companies are not making money, they cannot be sustained. Also, if people and societies are leached of HUMAN resources, no business is sustained. Fair Trade is the best possible sustainable option for consumers when buying certain products. I won’t argue this for all products, but let’s take flowers for example.

In the United States, 70 – 80% (depending on which year and report you’re looking at) of all cut flowers sold in the market are imported from other countries. These countries include Ecuador, Colombia, Holland, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and even India. The 20 – 30 % of flowers produced within the United States could very well have a lower carbon footprint than those that are imported; however, they are only available in peak growing seasons.

My first point is this: What are consumers supposed to do 80% of the time; stop buying flowers all together? No! Fair Trade offers consumers a sustainable option for purchasing flowers in off-seasons. While they might not be the most sustainable carbon option, Fair Trade makes a huge impact in decreasing environmental pollution in foreign countries. It is also SOCIALLY sustainable because it creates jobs that pay living wages and provide human rights protections to workers, raising their quality of life, providing education, stopping poverty cycles,  and putting food on the table for children of floral farm workers.

Your article stated that, “Fairtrade produce[r]s generally account for 1-20% of all sales in their product category in Europe and North America.” If the volume is so low, why attack Fair Trade? Bad form. Why not go after the companies who are doing nothing in the way of sustainability, and dominate 80+% of the market sales?

2) Carbon Reduction and Fair Trade are NOT opposed to one another.

As you said in your article above, “The principles of fair trade already discussed have touched the compassionate nerve of the nation and the supermarkets are exploiting it for all its worth. It’s a shame that with every ‘fair-trade’ item they don’t put a ‘carbon footprint’ label.” I’ll start by saying that if supermarkets were exploiting Fair Trade for all it’s worth, this world would be a much happier place for agricultural workers (over 90% of whom still work in non Fair Trade conditions), and all farms would be Fair Trade Certified.

There are many Fair Trade Certified companies who go to great lengths to offset their carbon footprint. Many donate to various Carbon Funds. Our company, One World Flowers, has office recycling programs, uses only hybrid delivery vehicles, and is powered for electricity by a wind farm in our state. We make very conscious choices to reduce our carbon footprint in various ways.

I would like to suggest that you take a less myopic view of Fair Trade as taking away from environmental sustainability, and try to view it as an integral piece of the sustainability puzzle. That brings me to my last point, which is more about personal beliefs and values.

There is much to do to improve this world we all call home. Being competitive and adversarial with one another is not going to accomplish anything, but rather tear us  both down. True sustainability and health in this planet is only found where people and the environment are both well cared for. People function in societies, societies have economies, and economies need healthy businesses to be sustainable.

If you are committed to reducing Carbon Footprints, more power to you! If you are committed to other environmental causes, please give it all you’ve got! But please don’t forget that life is human, too. Our business is wholly focused on making business sustainable for people who have been abused, who live in depleted societies sucked of their resources, with failing and struggling economies as a result. We can’t do it all, but we’d like your support in doing what we can to make the entire planet a better place to be.

BY JOHN S. NIBLOCK

Alaina Paradise is happy to go from zero to 90. That’s the number of customers her One World Flowers import and distributing company has attracted with its Fair Trade offerings in its first two years. The economic skies were cloudy when Ms. Paradise began operations in May 2008, but as she put it, “we could only go up.” Not only were times hard, but she was beginning a new company with a premium product yet to find a reliable niche in retail markets.

One World Flowers is a licensed importer of Fair Trade flowers from Ecuador and Colombia. The company sells them nationwide to supermarkets, co-op grocers, and retail florists who have customers looking for more than just green options in the floral department. “More consumers are becoming aware of the human rights issues surrounding the products they buy,” said Ms. Paradise, “and they’re learning to look for labels that take care of people as well as the environment.”

The Fair Trade label is what Ms. Paradise calls a “complete sustainability” label. It guarantees not only environmental protection, but also human rights standards. Components include controls on pesticide use, safe working conditions, and fair wages for workers. “A big part of the Fair Trade program is direct and long-term relationships between the farms and importers,” Ms. Paradise stated in a phone interview. “We work together in marketing initiatives, sales efforts and in daily operations.”

In addition to the fair wages and benefits that are paid to workers, One World Flowers pays an additional 10 percent of the purchase price into a separate fund managed by workers, who vote on how the money will be used to improve their communities. “So far our farms have built an on-site daycare center, paid for lots of scholarships for workers and their children, and started a micro-loan program,” she said.

Awareness of the benefits of Fair Trade has grown, and One World Flowers sales have grown with it. It offers retail customers a way to compete on the basis of sustainability by offering customers products that match their values. “I am a Christian and Fair Trade is my way of taking my values to the marketplace,” Ms. Paradise elaborated. “Every human being does the same thing in their own way. Those who value money will look for a good deal. Those who value fashion will buy the best brands. Those who value human rights and well-rounded sustainability will buy Fair Trade. An increasing number of customers are demanding well rounded sustainability and we sell flowers that achieve that.”

Many of her competitors have found Fair Trade to be a much harder sell than their regular green products, she said. There are limited Fair Trade varieties, the cost is higher and there is a lot of reporting involved to stay compliant. “We remain committed to making the program work,” she said. “As a result, our margins are much lower than those of the average floral importer. That’s so our Fair Trade flowers can be available to as many people as possible.” To help its retail customers communicate the benefits of Fair Trade, One World Flowers offers free point-of-sale posters and signage, customized tags for flowers, and staff materials like “Ask Me About Fair Trade” buttons and training sheets with answers to frequently asked questions. The company also provides press releases, and photos for use in newsletters or on retail web sites.

Customers got free Fair Trade roses at City Market

The City Market / Onion River Coop in Burlington, Vermont recently delighted customers with an in-store promotion of Fair Trade Certified™ Flowers. By teaming up with One World Flowers, City Market gave away 100 free Fair Trade roses to customers who came in to shop. The roses each had a custom tag on them that educated customers about the benefits of Fair Trade for flower farms in developing nations.

“The promotion helped raise awareness of the Fair Trade flowers that we carry,” said James, City Market’s Produce Manager. “It’s a great way to promote a socially sustainable product around big floral holidays.” The increased awareness of the flowers translates into higher and more consistent sales at the store. 

One World Flowers routinely supports Fair Trade flower promotional activities at retail customers’ locations to educate consumers and raise awareness of the availability and benefits of Fair Trade Flowers. For more information about special promotional activities, please contact the Marketing department at One World Flowers: (505) 489-1117.

All of this is possible through a market-based model that empowers consumers to make the conscientious choice to support Fair Trade through their purchases. This demand allows for producers to continue supplying their goods, to continue to provide benefits to their communities through the cooperatives, and to continue to develop and better the business skills needed to compete in the global marketplace.

* When a product is Fair Trade Certified it means that the producer of the product was given a fair wage. A “fair wage” is a negotiated price that allows for the sustainable production of the product in the future. If the market price falls below this agreed upon price, the producer continues to get the sustainable, fair price for his or her product. If the market price goes over the agreed upon price, the producer gets the higher market price. Producers may also receive premiums above the agreed upon price, for example, if their products are certified organic, as well.

More information from:

TransFair USA (for Advanced FAQ from Transfair USA, go HERE)

The Fairtrade Foundation

Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International

This content is reposted with permission from TransFair USA, www.transfairusa.org. The original post may be found at www.FairTradeMonth.org.

You already know that buying Fair Trade is good for farmers and good for the earth, but here’s yet another reason to feel good about your Fair Trade purchases: by making traditional small-scale agriculture in the developing world more profitable, Fair Trade helps farming families stay on their land. As big commercial companies encroach on the land that was once farmed exclusively by small family operations, it becomes extremely difficult for these families to compete.

Fair Trade helps small farmers successfully participate in the global market by facilitating direct trade relationships. Importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Additionally, Fair Trade provides farmers with the market information necessary to be savvy producers. The Fair Trade minimum price gives farmers market information, financial stability, and access to credit, all of which contribute to farmers’ market success.

With each Fair Trade product you buy, you help a family hold on to their home. What better reason do you need?

This post is reprinted from TransFair USA, www.fairtrademonth.org.

“Now listen you rich oppressors, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you… Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the Lord Almighty. “ ~ James 5:1,4

The Bible is clear that God detests injustice and oppression. This verse from the book of James speaks of unfair treatment of workers who have earned their wages through hard work but are not paid. Unfortunately, this is an injustice that is happening all over the world, even today. Agricultural workers are not paid for their hours, they are forced into unpaid overtime, or required to reach outrageous harvest quotas before getting minimum pay. In many cases, women suffer physical or sexual harassment and abuse. The environment is polluted with harsh chemicals and fertilizers, and workers are not given proper protection from these harmful agents.

In contrast, Fair Trade is a powerful and practical model to help build economic justice, promote human rights, and support responsible stewardship of the earth. Fair Trade ensures that workers are paid a living wage, which is far beyond the minimum wage in most countries. Human rights are protected and guaranteed. Workers are able to report abuses and receive remediation through an overseeing human rights organization. In addition, the most harmful agrochemicals are banned from use and replaced with integrated pest management. In the event that a chemical or pesticide must be used, workers are provided with protective gear to prevent chemical poisoning, and proper precautions are taken to close the fields until it is safe to enter.

Fair Trade is a way to do business God’s way; showing compassion and respect while enjoying products grown with love and care for people. The values and principles of Fair Trade business fit so perfectly into a Christian life. True Christianity is a committed lifestyle of identifying with Christ – not merely a Sunday morning religion. So, Christians of the true kind will strive to apply biblical values to every area of their lives and in each role that they play. One of the most overlooked but powerful roles that we all play is that of consumers.

Many of us do not realize the power we hold when we make decisions at the grocery store or when shopping for the home. We have in our wallets the power to make a difference for workers around the world. If you are a Christian seeking to apply Biblical principles of living into every area of life, it is important to reflect on the choices we are making with our money.

By purchasing Fair Trade Certified™ products, we are making a statement that we agree with the values behind the label – justice, sustainability, stewardship, and the value of human life. All of these things are pleasing to Christ and reflect His character. Fair Trade is a practical way of taking Christian beliefs to the marketplace, and a means of “putting your money where your mouth is.” Fair Trade is not a substitute to a saving relationship with Christ, nor is it the answer to all of the world’s woes, but it is one more way of reflecting Him to the world around us.

Here’s what you can do:

• Purchase Fair Trade Certified products when you shop—look for an expanding product line including coffee, tea, chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, vanilla, rice, and flowers. Fair Trade flowers and chocolates can be sold at church fundraisers for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

• Serve Fair Trade coffee, tea, and cocoa at coffee hour, congregational meetings, and events—make justice a part of fellowship.

• Give Fair Trade items as wonderful gifts.

• Host a Fair Trade House Party and include a Fair Trade products tasting.

• Share the Fair Trade story with family, friends, and coworkers— publish an article in your church newsletter.

• Celebrate Fair Trade Month every October and World Fair Trade Day every second Saturday in May—special times to promote Fair Trade.

 “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” —Micah 6:8