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Books : 50 Reasons to Buy Fair Trade
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Rating: 
- Highly informative and effective
I'll make my credentials clear from the start. I'm not a fair trade zealot, and hadn't really given much thought on the whole subject of who makes the things I buy. I was given this book as a present. I assumed before reading it that its intended audience would be people already passionate about fair-trade; and so the arguments would be pitched at a level not requiring too much thought, but might be interesting just because of their tone.
But the tone isn't zealous or fanatical. Nor is it ponderous, forcing you to work towards a set of conclusions via an argument stretched across hundreds of pages.
The structure of 50 reasons allows the reader to either start at the beginning, or just dip in where they want, and focus on specific topics or areas of interest. But as you move from one reason to another, the effect is cumulative and the arguments presented compelling.
The tone is informative and intelligent; and the mix of argument and anecdote makes it the subject easy to follow. Some of the anecdotes, some genuinely moving, make the subject a hard one though, as you would expect. We learn that in many respects the world is less a set of different countries and cultures, rather a number of inter-related supply chains. Our place in it is determined by the supply chains that affect us. And these are of course much more complex than they at first seem, and often implacably unfair and distorted. There is much that is wrong. Again and again we read about people in far off places working for virtually no return, so we can drink coffee, play football, eat bananas. There is disproportionate reward for some, and, from time to time, workers are abandoned by the chains they work in, with tragic consequences for themselves and their families.
Fair trade isn't the whole answer. But it's at least a step in the right direction. So as a result of reading this book, my family now buys fair-trade, hence the five stars.
- Highly informative and effectiveI'll make my credentials clear from the start. I'm not a fair trade zealot, and hadn't really given much thought on the whole subject of who makes the things I buy. I was given this book as a present. I assumed before reading it that its intended audience would be people already passionate about fair-trade; and so the arguments would be pitched at a level not requiring too much thought, but might be interesting just because of their tone.
But the tone isn't zealous or fanatical. Nor is it ponderous, forcing you to work towards a set of conclusions via an argument stretched across hundreds of pages.
The structure of 50 reasons allows the reader to either start at the beginning, or just dip in where they want, and focus on specific topics or areas of interest. But as you move from one reason to another, the effect is cumulative and the arguments presented compelling.
The tone is informative and intelligent; and the mix of argument and anecdote makes it the subject easy to follow. Some of the anecdotes, some genuinely moving, make the subject a hard one though, as you would expect. We learn that in many respects the world is less a set of different countries and cultures, rather a number of inter-related supply chains. Our place in it is determined by the supply chains that affect us. And these are of course much more complex than they at first seem, and often implacably unfair and distorted. There is much that is wrong. Again and again we read about people in far off places working for virtually no return, so we can drink coffee, play football, eat bananas. There is disproportionate reward for some, and, from time to time, workers are abandoned by the chains they work in, with tragic consequences for themselves and their families.
Fair trade isn't the whole answer. But it's at least a step in the right direction. So as a result of reading this book, my family now buys fair-trade, hence the five stars.
