TheChocolateLifeLIVE | Who Decides What’s Fair?

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Episode Overview

This episode explores, in my view, one of the fundamental questions at the heart of four previous episodes (links below) of TheChocolateLifeLIVE:

Who Gets to Decide What’s Fair?

The question is fundamental, in my opinion, in any discussion of fairness when it comes to designing and implementing programs to improve the lives and livelihoods of farmers. As with previous episodes in this series, I posted on LinkedIn asking people to comment on the proposition. You can read those comments in advance and add to them before the live stream.

Clay Gordon on LinkedIn: #thechocolatelifelive #fair #fairtade #livingincome #slavery #childlabor…
The Friday, July 14th episode of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE will explore the topic: Who Decides What’s Fair? We see the use of the word “fair” in the context of…

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Language Matters

Ask yourself – are the words “Fair,” “Ethical,” and “Equitable” synonyms that can be used interchangeably without affecting the meaning of a sentence?

The definition for Ethical Behavior I tend toward is: “Behaving ethically leads to (among other things) not exploiting a power imbalance to take [unfair] advantage of others.” I think this definition is both fair and equitable. Do you agree?

A definition for Fair: “Marked by justice, honesty, and freedom from bias.”

A definition for Equitable: “Having or exhibiting equity: dealing fairly and equally with all concerned.”

How biases can – subtly in plain sight – be encoded in everyday language.

Why am I referencing the above video in a discussion about fairness? I have often talked and written about how the language we use informs beliefs (often unconsciously), and how beliefs inform actions.

Homework in advance of this episode: What unconscious value judgments might we be making when we use the phrases “Global North” and “Global South?”

¡Spoiler Alert!

‼️
I am going to present an argument that so-called “Fair” trade programs are, in fact, barely disguised socially acceptable neocolonial economic imperialism. And, as such, are more barriers to meaningful change than they are paths to systemic solutions.

History of Fair Trade
60 YEARS OF FAIR TRADE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FAIR TRADE MOVEMENTFair Trade todayFair Trade today is a truly global movement. Over a million small-scale producers and workers are organized in as many as 3,000 grassroots organisations and their umbrella structures in over 70 countries in the South.…
History of fair trade - Wikipedia
TheChocolateLifeLIVE | Proposed: IS Tony’s Chocolonely a Force for Good in the World?
Episode 121 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Fri, July 7th.
Who gets to decide what a living wage for farmers is? (Spoiler Alert: If your answer is anything but, “Farmers!” you don’t know the true meaning of fair.)
TheChocolateLifeLIVE | Cocoa and Climate Change: Cause? Solution?
Episode 120 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Tue, July 4th. Coming up in the next episode — Resolved: Tony’s Chocolonely is a Force for Good in the World.
If cocoa is going to help slow down and counteract the effects of climate change, who decides how that will be done?
TheChocolateLifeLIVE | Improving Cocoa Quality – How & Why?
Episode 118 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Tue, June 27th.
Quality – who gets to define what Quality is?
TheChocolateLifeLIVE | Just One Change ...
Episode 115 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 MST/13:00 EDT on Tue, June 13th.
About Us
We offer a wide range of fair trade & organic coffee, chocolate, tea, cocoa and snacks direct from small-scale farmers and direct to your door.
What can we learn about what it means to be Fairly Traded from this company? How can we know anything about the actual impact this company is having?
Annual Report Collection — Equal Exchange Resource Center
2020 Eco-System Report English
Equal Exchange - Wikipedia
One thing that Wikipedia pages can be good for is the table of External Links at the bottom. There is some interesting context you can get here.
Home | Equal Profit | Geneva Switzerland
Beyond Fair. Equal. Equal Profit means that profit is distributed in a way that is proportional to the effort that each actor puts into the global supply chain. The principle is simple: the more you contribute, the more you deserve to earn.
This certification program was mentioned in one of the comments on LinkedInO
Beyond Fair Trade – Banyan Alliance
Beyond fair trade An innovative approach For a tangible and measurable impact Banyan Alliance was created to respond to the many imbalances and challenges facing the cocoa sector, including low quality beans, poverty amongst farmers, lack of transparency, child labour, and environmental impact. Bany…
Food insecurity and outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - Agriculture & Food Security
The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the implementation of lockdowns and social distancing regulations to curb the spread of infections. Consequently, the lockdowns impeded the movement of smallholder farmers, agricultural inputs, and food products thereby disrupting the food supply chains in SSA. Theref…
This document was cited in one of the comments on LinkedIn.

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#fair #fairtrade
#ethical #equal #equality #equitable
#WhoDecides
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