Fairtrade Fortnight is now well underway. There are lots of promotional events and adverts and opportunities to buy Fairtrade bananas at a 20% reduction abound.

But not everyone is convinced that Fairtrade is such a good idea. See for instance this report by the Adam Smith Institute (covered by the Guardian and others) entitled 'Unfair Trade' which claims:

	"It only offers a very small number of farmers a higher fixed price for their goods. Given the way markets work, these higher prices come at the expense of many other farmers, who – unable to qualify for Fairtrade certification – are left even worse off.

Giles Fraser, in today's paper (Is Fairtrade the same as fair?) argues that the church should engage with some of the arguments put foward by the Adam Smith Institute and that many churchgoers are missing the big picture.

An article in yesterday's Independent really put things into perspective for me. Entitled 'The story of the blues: Tracking the journey of the £9 pair of jeans', the writer (we'll call him Fred) travels to Bangladesh to find out where a £9 pair of jeans really come from. The findings are quite disturbing. It sounds as if the Western companies are making an effort to trade ethically, but not always succeeding:

	The buyers – the brands' representatives in Bangladesh – make regular inspections of the factory, the women said. But "they always inform the owners first. Before they come, the managers come through the factory with megaphones. We are told to prepare the factory, to clean up. And they instruct us what to say about working hours and holidays and conditions. We have to lie about holidays especially."