Q1: unFairTrade? Resources for your research

Logo from a 2007 web page. Do FairTrade still refer to '3rd World'?

CITIZENSHIP GCSE ISSUE: Global Community

CASE STUDY USED TO EXPLORE THIS ISSUE: The apparent unfairness of global trade, the impact of campaign group FairTrade, and what can be done locally (including personally!) and nationally to influence this issue.

This post contains hyperlinks to useful resources, videos you can play directly from this blog, a summary of the controlled test, ideas for action plans, a few points on considering sources (as you need to for question 3), and, at the very bottom, a guide to the controlled test including tips and the markscheme for each question. As there is so much multimedia content, you need to click on 'read more' below to see the full post, as otherwise this content would slow the blog from loading in your browser.

There is a further post with resources specifically on the case study of Ghana, and how its farmers make more from their cocoa through Divine Chocolate and Fairtrade's higher prices for their crops.

THE CONTROLLED TEST:

• This counts for 60% of your Citizenship GCSE, so a strong effort on this is vital for a good final grade!
• You have a total 3 hours to write this
• Writing time for this will be spread over chunks of 4 lessons...
• ...You tackle each of the 4 questions over a separate lesson
• Each question is split into two
• You can find the question paper, and tips on what sort of things to write about in each, in the Citizenship/KS4/Yr10/ControlledTest folder on the Y (curriculum share) drive. You can also read this below.

THE 4 PARTS TO THE CONTROLLED TEST:

1. YOUR RESEARCH - FINDING OUT ABOUT THE ISSUE: Set out what the issue is, explaining why this important locally and nationally, and explore this further through independent research and by reflecting on class work. You should attach evidence of such research/lesson work. (35mins to answer)
2. TWO INTERVIEWS + ANALYSIS OF THESE: Communicate with two people in positions of power or influence about the issue to find out what they think (you need evidence of this, eg: a written response; video or audio recording; a transcript). Try to think of questions for the guest speakers invited into school - use your research + any of the resources below. Then discuss why their responses might be different. (55mins to answer)
3. PLAN + THEN IMPLEMENT AN ACTION PLAN: Create an action plan to affect your issue through action - how can you raise awareness of FairTrade and perhaps persuade more people individually or as communities/businesses to select more FairTrade products? You will work in a group to carry out your plan, which you need to evidence - including your individual contribution. (55mins to answer)
4. REFLECT ON + ASSESS HOW YOUR ACTION CONTRIBUTED, + HOW THIS LEARNING PROCESS HAS AFFECTED YOUR VIEW: Think about how you can evidence any impact your action has had. You might feel the impact has been minimal; if so, discuss why this might be. Have you changed any views or anyone/any organisation/community's behaviour? For the second part assess how this action has affected your view. (35mins to answer)

Some Useful FairTrade Resources
FairTrade.org.uk - their website is full of facts, figures, videos and other resources
Facts + figures - jump straight here for some key stats!
World FairTrade Organisation - the global website
Ilkley FairTrade Group - Did you know Ilkley has been a FairTrade Town since 2006? Find out here which shops, churches, cafes, schools and businesses actively support FairTrade, and see what events are scheduled in support of FairTrade. Karen Palframan, Chair of Ilkley FairTrade Group, will be one of our guest speakers, so consider what questions you could ask her.
Ilkley Gazette articles - the link is for a March 2012 story about walkers fundraising for Fairtrade, but you could try searching the newspaper's website!

Are female consumers Traidcraft's main customers?

Wikipedia entry - You wouldn't want to rely only on Wikipedia, but it can still be useful to build your knowledge.
Traidcraft - they describe themselves as 'Established in 1979 as a Christian response to poverty, we are the UK's leading fair trade organisation. We run development programmes in some of the poorest countries in the world, and campaign in the UK and internationally to bring about trade justice.' If contacting them for question 3 you could explore the connected issue of Western religious groups' influence in and on LEDCs, and how missionary and charity work are sometimes combined.
TraidcraftShop.org.uk - you can see here what a range of goods are sourced by Traidcraft. You may even get some interesting ideas for gifts, or spot fairtrade goods you could help promote as part of your action plan. The creator of this blog, Mr Burrowes, can remember his RE teacher many years ago constantly pushing her students to buy goods from the Traidcraft catalogue!
BBC article on FairTrade coffee + impact on Ethiopia.
CBBC guide to FairTrade.
The Guardian articles - You can find all the articles published in the paper here. Be aware of the source though, as every source is potentially biased: this is a 'left-wing' newspaper, which means it will agree that global trade is unfair. If you looked up articles in right-wing papers such as the Mail, Express, Times or Telegraph they might be more critical as they tend to believe that global trade is fair and that 'free markets' are a good thing.
Is FairTrade failing Dominica's banana workers? -  An article like this is a good example of why it is useful to try broadsheet/quality newspapers (as the Guardian, Times, Telegraph and Independent are known). You get facts and figures about how much workers get per day, plus the scale of FairTrade imports to the UK, and conflicting views on whether the FairTrade concept can always succeed in improving conditions in LEDCs. The article mentions a UK supermarket price war and how that might be undermining FairTrade's ability to help.
Articles like this could help you come up with questions for our guest speakers - or other people of influence you (politely!) contact. Here's a snippet:

Look for articles in your local press too!

Trade union groups in the Dominican Republic say Fairtrade standards do not do enough to help migrant workers. 'There is no doubt that they are improving international trade but it isn't helping migrant workers to earn a fair salary,' says Luciano Robles, from the Trade Union Autonomous Federation (CASC). 'International standards need to be adapted to local situations.'
The Fairtrade Foundation says calls for using the Fairtrade premium to subsidise migrant workers' wages may undermine the responsibility of farm owners and employers to tackle the 'living wage' issue. It points the blame, in part, at the continual use of bananas in price wars between supermarkets, saying it has devalued the fruit in the eyes of the consumer and left producers with low returns, even in the Fairtrade sector, which has to remain competitive against conventional alternatives.
Campaigners are hoping the new supermarket watchdog, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, will help stop supermarkets pressurising their suppliers. 'Supermarkets are the most powerful actors along supply chains and make vast profits however the unsustainably low prices they pay to suppliers can leave the workers who plant, harvest and pack our food in poverty,' says Banana Link campaigner Anna Cooper.

If you were analysing the source here, you might note that a trade union has been quoted; in a right-wing newspaper this would be less likely, and you would almost certainly see criticism of trade unions. Whether left-wing or right-wing, all UK newspapers carry some bias.
Right-wing think-tank condemns FairTrade as ineffective! - The Institute for Economic Affairs argues that 'free markets' bring about the best solutions, and have set out their objections to FairTrade; their web page also includes this link to the response from FairTrade to their criticisms. This clear disagreement is useful to look at when preparing for Section 2.
Marks and Spencer - supermarkets like to use the positive publicity and branding they can get from association with FairTrade, and this is just one example.

These are just a few useful links - I'm sure you can find many more yourselves!

SOME USEFUL VIDEOS
Lets start with one we've watched in class, detailing how two groups brought together small farmers in a larger organisation, and how this has enabled banana producers in the Dominican Republic to provide services that their government can't always afford, especially in rural areas: roads, toilet facilities and clean water, schools, medicine and medical care.


Badass bananas! Here's an inventive video to publicise a fundraising effort in the Republic of Ireland - could your action plan be based around producing an inventive video?


Canadian students' gangsta rap... These students created their own rap and accompanying music video to help influence their community, a university.


Student-made ad. This student created a FairTrade ad as part of their degree course; could you create an ad which could be promoted virally through social networks?


The FairTrade step! Maybe dance is more your bag? This could be a fun focus for an event...


FairTrade animation! This would be a challenging idea, but perhaps some of you are budding animators...


Sainsburys' impact on St Lucia - the 1st UK supermarket to covert 100% to FairTrade bananas (in 2006) here show what impact this has. Of course, when discussing sources, as you do for question 3, you might consider here what benefits Sainsburys get in terms of positive marketing (here they are getting free publicity!) and brand image, and whether all their food is so ethically sourced.


A simple but informative video - you could create something like this! Using photos with facts/figures from research and a well-informed voiceover this video traces the journey of a banana from its source to Western supermarkets (figures are quoted in Euros as this was produced by a Southern Irish educator).


If you've any great resources you'd like to share, just add a comment with the URL (website address) below!

Here's the useful outline of the 4 controlled test questions plus tips and the mark scheme:
Guidance on Writing CA
Use this when preparing for your controlled test!!!