Despite having different effects on third-world growers, first-world consumers appear to be reacting similarly to fair trade products as they did to organic foods. The problem is that when a new movement like this goes mainstream, a lot of shortcuts are taken by big food corporations who recognize that they must find a way to put “fair trade” on their labels or else face possible alienation from a growing wave of consumers. This is what happened when the organic food movement became mainstream. Now, you see the term “organic” appear on foods like Lay’s Potato Chips, or other products that we know use chemical processes to create their food, yet still held enough power over the FDA to ensure that their products were certified as organic. This is the danger with fair trade products – we must ensure that as it continues to grow in popularity amongst consumers that the Fair Trade Association sticks to its goals of helping the original producers and not just creating a mainstream movement from which they can profit.
