As a group newly engaging in actively promoting Fair Trade you may wonder where you can find information and other useful resources.

This is a list of useful websites and other places which may help and encourage churches in their quest to establish and maintain fair trade as part of the culture of their congregation.

Worship Resources

Traidcraft in the UK have been marketing fair trade products for over 35 years. As a Christian group they are a good source of liturgies and ideas. www.traidcraft.co.uk

Christian World Service in New Zealand has produced worship resources for Fair Trade Fortnight for a number of years. These can be accessed at their website www.cws.org.nz. Select ‘Resources’, click on ‘Church’ and follow the alphabetical list down to ‘Trade’. There also some useful links

Books and Videos

Let Justice Flow (United Reformed Church of the UK) is a resource book on social justice for people of all ages. Although set in the British context there are some useful ideas for groups in the world trade section. Access online: https://urc.org.uk/images/Discipleship/Children2015/SJustice_2015_FINAL.pdf

Baptist World Aid Australia. Resources on issues of social justice including slavery and fair trade. https://baptistworldaid.org.au/resource-category/bible-studies/

An excellent introduction to Fairtrade video less than 4 minutes and ideal for Sunday worship.

https://youtu.be/PLKTGWH398Q

Useful Fair Trade related organisations

Fair Trade Association (FTA) www.fta.org.au

The FTA is the peak agency driving the growth of the Fair Trade Movement in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. It is a member driven not-for-profit organisation that:

increases awareness, understanding and support of Fair Trade;supports the development of a strong and sustainable Fair Trade movement;links producers in South East Asia and the Pacific with Fair Trade markets.

Information on becoming a Fair Trade Faith Group

The Fair Trade Association Faith Groups programme aims to encourage and support churches to become communities where the fair trade culture exists. Guidelines for Faith Groups and an application form are available at www.fta.org.au Follow links: ‘Get involved’ ‘Fair Trade Communities’ ‘Fair Trade Faith Groups.’

Fairtrade Australia

Fairtrade is a product certification mark. A business can use the Fairtrade Mark on products which have been certified as meeting international Fairtrade standards. Look for this mark on Tea, coffee, chocolate and some other items in supermarkets.

A lot of information about the Mark and producer groups is on the website: www.fairtrade.com.au. Go to ‘Get involved’, then ‘In Your Community’ for some excellent promotional materials.

Ethical Electronics and Fashion Guides seek to empower us to purchase from companies that treat the workers ethically. Go to www.behindthebarcode.org.au for helpful information and how to access the guides in print and electronic versions.

Shop Ethical Book, App and Web. Assist you in making informed purchasing decisions in supermarkets and beyond. Sign up for regular updates. www.shopethical.org.au

STOP THE TRAFFIK is a global movement of individuals, communities and organisations fighting to prevent human trafficking around the world. They unite people around the world through their global campaigns. They believe they are stronger and can create greater change when we work together. The website has a link to Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, 2018 www.stopthetraffik.com.au

Worth reading on Fair Trade

The Journal of Fair Trade is a new international journal launched by the Fair Trade Society to reclaim the best practices and values that contribute to mutuality and fairness in trade. https://www.joft.org.uk

‘What She Makes’ A comprehensive report by Oxfam Australia on the supply chain of clothes sold in Australia https://whatshemakes.oxfam.org.au/resources/ Video at: https://youtu.be/WfVWt3Z1d3g

‘Blood, sweat and T-shirts’ This is the third of a three-part series where three young Brits are exposed to sweatshops of Asia.

https://youtu.be/8l-xXElC7iw

Fair Trade: A Christian Ethical Perspective by the Revd Richard Tucker

This paper looks at the Christian ethical credentials of fair trade and asks how far it is valid as an expression of Christian mission. https://rethinkingmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/fairtrade.pdf

This is an interesting link to papers discussing fair trade and public theology in the UK

http://williamtemplefoundation.org.uk/does-the-fair-trade-movement-still-need-the-churches/

To help counter the fair trade nay-sayers Patrick Say, of the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK has written a blog on the seven things people get wrong about Fairtrade. The context is UK but it applies here. https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/Media-Centre/Blog/2019/February/7-things-people-get-wrong-about-Fairtrade

Fiction? Faction?

Corban Addison http://corbanaddison.com has written several novels, described as ‘faction’, on justice themes such as human trafficking and under age prostitution in Africa and Asia.

A Harvest of Thorns (2017) relates to a building fire in Bangladesh similar to the Rana Plaza collapse of 2013. Unlike most novels it has discussion questions in the back.

Produced by the Rev John Martin, retired Uniting Church Minister and volunteer with the Fair Trade Association revj@aapt.net.au Email John for a soft copy with links.

Updated 23.5.19

On Tuesday 2nd April, 2019 the Treasurer of the Federal Parliament of Australia, Josh Frydenberg handed down the annual Budget of the Government. By the time our Fair Trade Faith Conference meets in May / June the Australian people will have voted on whether to retain the present Government or voted for a change. The Budget was quite obviously an election sweetener with lots of goodies for lots of people.

Absent from the mainstream reporting is reference to the amount of Foreign Aid in the Budget. Australia’s Foreign Aid will drop to 0.21% of Gross National Income, the lowest it has ever been and far below many countries who are less wealthy than Australia.

Many Australians, including a sizeable proportion of Christians are outraged by this.

For analysis from a Christian perspective see comments by:

John Hickey, CEO of Baptist World Aid:

https://baptistworldaid.org.au/2019/04/04/budget-2019/

From Micah Challenge

http://www.micahaustralia.org/what_happened_to_aid_in_the_budget

What can we do? We can write to our Federal Members of Parliament. We can join the many campaigns and protests. All this is important.

Sadly, however our Government knows the feeling of much of the electorate. Many of our fellow Australians are indifferent to our Foreign Aid budget. Some are openly hostile baying that we have enough problems in this country without sending money overseas.

Although we can make our voices heard sadly electoral opportunism is more important in the mind of a government threatened with defeat. To be fair I have not heard much reaction from the opposition about this either.

What I can do?

I can give money to tax deductable overseas projects. Claiming tax deductibility means I can give more and Mr Frydenbderg and the government is giving a bit as well.

Where I have real power is the way I purchase products. Fair trade certified products will ensure that those who produced the goods received a fair wage, worked in healthy and safe conditions in an environmentally sustainable way. And the workers’ communities benefitted as well.

The Conference will be a platform to share and explore how we can expand our understanding and increase motivation for action in fair trade and ethical shopping.

Imagine you are in Church on a Sunday morning, as the sermon gets going. You are settling your mind. If the preacher is interesting and agrees with you, you will listen. If the topic is not so fascinating you drift away, thinking of what you will do tomorrow or why someone in your line of vision doesn’t dress better for church.

Suddenly the preacher is asking the congregation a question, not just rhetorical, but expecting a response from everyone. That’s as unheard of as clapping the sermon.

What’s the question? That’s easy. Stand up everyone who thinks fair trade is a good idea. Of course it’s a good idea. I’ve heard about that before and it’s being repeated now. “Fair wages, good working conditions. Environmental sustainability.” Yes, of course. I expect my grandkids to be treated well in their after school jobs. Some employers would rip them off if they could get away with it. Yes. I’ll stand up. Looks like just about everyone is on their feet if they are able.

Another question? Does this congregation use fair trade tea and coffee at morning tea after church? I don’t know. Whoever buys it probably gets what’s cheapest and most convenient. Some might say they don’t like a particular brand and I know the morning tea people try to please.

Another question. Stay standing if you buy fair trade tea and coffee for use at home when you think about it or when it’s on special or when you find it on the shelf in the supermarket but not otherwise.

A fourth question. Stay standing if you intentionally purchase only fair trade tea and coffee and chocolate, even if it means going to a different supermarket if your regular one doesn’t stock it. And that you intentionally seek ethically sourced clothing?

Not many standing now?

In 2013 the meeting of the Uniting Church Synod of NSW.ACT agreed to a resolution that all churches and church agencies use fair trade products and actively promote fair trade amongst its members*. The resolution was carried by consensus which means that every person in the meeting of several hundred agreed to the proposal.

As far as I can ascertain nothing much happened following that meeting.

Research indicates that although many Australians think buying fair trade and ethically sourced products are a good idea, far fewer put that intention into practice.

In the May 30, 2014 issue of ‘SmartCompany’, Broede Carmody reported on research conducted by McCrindle on behalf of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand. They ‘found eight in 10 shoppers would be more likely to purchase a product that supports someone in need over one that did not have a charitable aspect—as long as the price and quality between the two were similar.’ Further the study also found ‘Seven in 10 Australians also said ethical products were good value for money.’

The Fair Trade Faith Conference will be full of ideas and strategies to help us, as they say, ‘put our money where our mouth is.’

*FAIR TRADE

77/13S

Resolved That the Synod (i) adopt the following ‘Goals for a Fairtrade Congregation’ (a) use Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which you have responsibility (i.e., after church, elders and church council meetings, etc.);

(b) ensure that other products which are used regularly in church gatherings are Fairtrade or ethically sourced;

(c) promote Fairtrade in the local community through activities which are locally designed; and

(d) encourage each congregation to adopt the same policy (support and promote Fairtrade as a concept; encourage the use and sale of Fairtrade products), and to display literature/notices advertising the fact that Fairtrade products are used and served there

(i) adopt the following ‘Goals for a Fairtrade Synod’

(a) That the Synod (i) support and promote Fairtrade as a concept;

(ii) encourage the use and sale of Fairtrade products across the Synod; and

(iii) serve only Fairtrade products (such as coffee and tea) at meetings it is responsible for;

(b) set a goal that Fairtrade tea, coffee and other products, if possible, will be used and/or sold by more than 50% of the congregations in the Synod by the next full meeting of Synod;

(c) develop a media campaign to generate popular support for the use of Fairtrade − make reference to the Fairtrade status of the Synod on its website, in promotional materials and literature, and encourage congregations to do likewise; and

(d) revitalise the NSW UCA Fair Trade Network, to operate as a Fairtrade steering group to take responsibility for monitoring that goals continue to be met and are developed over a period of time.

Accessed at: https://nswact.uca.org.au/about-us/secretariat/synod-minutes/#

And what does that have to do with ANYTHING???

The key speaker for FTFC 2019 is Rev. John Bell who is one of three resource workers (the others are Jo Love and Graham Maule) who make up the Wild Goose Resource Group originating from the Iona Community on the small Scottish Island of Iona, well known for its retreat facilities and its abbey. Many have recognised Iona as a 'thin place' where God seems more tangible, or more accessible perhaps.

But what do Wild Geese do? On their website https://www.wildgoose.scot/about/ we learn that :

"The Wild Goose Resource Group/ WGRG is about liturgy and worship, music, prayer, politics, diversity, devotion, participation, perception, curiosity and creativity, with a particular emphasis towards the training of the laity.

It exists to enable and equip congregations and clergy in the shaping and creation of new forms of relevant, participative worship… and a few other nefarious activities.

Based in Glasgow, the WGRG is a semi-autonomous project of the Iona Community.

The Resource Workers are active throughout Britain and abroad, in local congregations, churches, schools, colleges, universities, at festivals, denominational conferences, training events and with voluntary organisations concerned with both social & international justice and creative possibility.

The resources (songs, scripts and liturgies and more) generated by the WGRG, as independent authors, have been used and broadcast world-wide, and to date, have appeared in published form in Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Friesian, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Scots Gaelic, Swedish and Welsh language translations. Their work in allying the worship of the church to the life of the world has been awarded honours by academic and religious organisations on both sides of the Atlantic."

So what can we expect at this year's conference? John has a long history of speaking on social justice issues and their connection with Christianity. He is an inspiring speaker and well versed in Fair Trade.

Whilst workshops and discussion times are likely to be centred around modern day slavery issues, how to start and promote Fair Trade in your own church/group, based on others' experience, and faith-based resource modules for Christian millennials, John Bell's key theme is yet to be revealed!

With his long and accomplished resume, (Check out some of his previous roles here) I think we are in for a treat!

Mignonne Murray, along with her husband Grant operate Tribes and Nations, https://tribesandnations.com.au a fair trade enterprise based at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.

Motivated by their Christian faith and a concern for the poor experienced while working as missionaries in Tanzania, Grant and Mignonne established Tribes and Nations in 2005 as a ‘just alternative’ to unfair trade.

It will be a joy to have Mignonne and Grant with their passion for the Gospel and for communicating the fair trade message to young people at the Conference.

Here is a summary of the workshop they will be presenting on Saturday 1st June, 2019:

#GrowGood(TM) - a higher calling for everyday living

In this day and age where the calling to be a preacher, teacher, missionary or evangelist is often spoken about, what about us mums and dads, bricklayers, office worker, supermarket workers, interior designers, business-people, those of us in the workforce, whats our calling before our heavenly Father?

#GrowGood(TM) is Tribes and Nations new venture in seeking to share the higher calling in daily life. It is based on Isaiah 58, which has been our guiding light over the years, with God drawing me, Mignonne, to reflect on practices that give everyday life, a deeper meaning.,

It involves #pray – we tent with God each day

#livefair – we love our neighbour each day

#rest - we breakout each day

At this conference, we will run a workshop on these God given practices that enrich and give greater satisfaction to daily living.

The pods are interactive, so bring your ideas, thoughts and creative ways.

Lets enjoy the collaboration. All welcome.

Read more about Mignonne and Grant’ story at their website. https://tribesandnations.com.au While there you can explore and order the fair trade products they have for sale.

What does the Bible say about factories?

Nothing. Factories didn’t exist in Biblical days. And apart from exotic goods, international trade as we know it was non-existent. What, then does the Bible have to say about the way workers in factories should be treated?

Lovingly created in the image of God.

A basic Biblical principle is ‘love’. Love of God. Love of neighbour, all in response to God’s great love for us. It is out of this love for the whole world that God sent Jesus amongst us. (John 3:16,17; Mark 12:28-31, 1 John 4:7-21))

Another principle is that we are all created in the image of God, male and female we are created, in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26,27)

Thus it is imperative that every person on this planet, male or female, be regarded as created in God’s image and loved by God. I am always struck by St Augustine’s aphorism ‘God loves each of us as if there were only one of us’ The least we can do in response is to love each person as God loves him or her.

Whether in the factory of modern times or the worker’s cottage of earlier days these principles apply and are reflected in the Bible.

For example, Deuteronomy 24:14,15

14 You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy labourers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. 15 You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.

James 5:1-6

5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts on a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

1 Timothy 5:17,18

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching; 18 for the scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain’, and, ‘The labourer deserves to be paid.’

(All NRSV translation)

Finally, what about Quarry Bank Mill at Styall, Cheshire, England today?

It is a much visited National Trust property which displays the horrors of its origins and includes a display on the cotton industry in general. Imagine our pleasure when in 2014 Noelene and I saw the board pictured above, sponsored by Marks & Spencer as part of the story of cotton.

Manufacturers and Retailers Cut Costs -

After World War Two, manufacturers and retailers discovered that countries such as Bangladesh and India did not have laws which governed pay and conditions. Factories went ‘off-shore’ to avoid paying higher wages and providing good working environments.

The nineteenth century working conditions moved to Asia, Africa and Pacific Islands, where in many places they still apply.

Disaster

On 24th April, 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, a clothing factory, collapsed killing 1,134 workers and injuring approximately 2,500 others. Although some businesses on the ground floor of the building had closed because of the cracks that had appeared in the building’s walls those responsible for the garment workers insisted that they go to work … with disastrous results. Many of the clothing items to emerge from that building were destined for the shelves of shops and boutiques in Australia.

Reaction

Global reaction was shock and horror. But soon the world media moved on to the next disaster and Rana Plaza risked being forgotten. However, many people asked how could it be that beautiful garments attractively presented and highly priced could have such horror behind them. Rana Plaza was only the tip of the iceberg. Some were prompted to action.

For example each year in April, the anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, Baptist World Aid in Australia produce their Ethical Fashion Report. This can be accessed at www.behindthebarcode.org.au Their annual Ethical Fashion Guide is based on this report.

In a similar vein Shop Ethical research the supply lines of various products. See www.shopethical.org.au They have a book, app or website.

In October, 2017 Oxfam Australia produced ‘What She Makes’ a major report on the conditions and wages of workers in countries like Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and China. See https://whatshemakes.oxfam.org.au/resources/

For those who like fiction A Harvest of Thorns by Corban Addison, published by Quercus in 2017 is a fictional story set amidst the reality of the global unjust garment trade. The starting point is a disastrous fire in a garment factory. Unlike most novels this book includes a section of discussion questions aimed at exploring the reader’s response to the injustices in the fashion industry supply chain.

On 28th November, 2018 the Senate passed Australia’s first Modern Slavery Act. The effect of this is that large companies will have to report on what progress they are making in eradicating slavery from their supply chains. Factories will come under closer scrutiny.

Why should Christians be interested in all this?

Former British MP Michael Portello presents a TV programme where he travels around Britain by rail using his 150 year old Bradshaw’s Railway Guide. He investigates what has changed in those years and what has stayed the same. In one episode he visited the village of Cromford in Derbyshire where in 1771 Richard Ackwright established the world’s first water powered cotton mill. The age of the factory had arrived. The worker’s cottage as focus of industry was going.

Quarry Bank Mill, at Styall, Cheshire

Water gave way to steam power which meant that these factories were no longer confined to running streams. Often set in glorious countryside, such as the National Trust owned Quarry Bank Mill at Styall in Cheshire, these mills employed thousands of people. Many of these were young children, ‘apprentices’ working in atrocious conditions for extraordinarily long hours six days per week. These were the ‘dark satanic mills’ of William Blake’s poem, ‘Jerusalem’.

Women workers at Vickers Armstrong Factory

Photo Credit: archiveforchange.org

During the latter part of the 19th century conditions in England improved, slowly. It was only after his death that it was revealed that Charles Dickens had worked as a child in Warrens Blacking Factory in London. That experience, which apart from frustrating the young genius’ opportunity for a formal education, seared itself into Dickens being. Using all his literary skill and motivated by his own childhood, Dickens wrote against working conditions of his day.

Gradually the laws changed. Children went to school rather than the factory. Working hours, conditions and pay improved in Britain and elsewhere in the Western world.

What lay ahead for the factories where our clothes were manufactured?

Prayer for the Conference in the Context of the Church Calendar

Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June, 2019

The dates of the 2nd Fair Trade Faith Conference and Noelene Martin Memorial Lecture were chosen to fit in with John Bell’s visit to this part of the globe.

The day before the Conference commences, Thursday 30th May, 2019 is Ascension Day and the commencement of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The Saturday of the Conference is International Children’s Day. Three weeks earlier, Saturday 11th May, 2019 will have been World Fair Trade Day.

Prayer

Loving and Eternal God, we thank you for the placing of this Conference in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We thank you that the fair trade movement is spread across all denominations of your Church. We pray that our concern for others expressed through fair trade might be a way of drawing together people from various expressions of Faith as we all seek to worship and serve you the One God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We pray for children.

Lord Jesus, once a child, you showed a special concern for children, inviting them to come to you, threatening a millstone round the neck and into the well for anyone who thwarts the wellbeing of a child.

We thank you for childhood. For the fun and joy experienced by many children, for the learning and growth, the exuberance and wonder of discovery.

We thank you that you instructed serious narrow minded adults to become like children.

Yet, even today, many children are forced to work in deplorable and dangerous conditions. Victims of the greed of respectable-looking corporations, children toil, out of sight, hidden on farms and in jungles.

Lord, forgive us, for many a chocolate bar has been won at the expense of young children who will never taste the product of their exertions.

As we pray for child labourers around the world, motive and inspire us to take creative action in our churches and groups to free these little people. AMEN

Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1924, 1959)

Principle 9

The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He (sic) shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.

The child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age; he shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental or moral development

Back of the bread is the flour,

And back of the flour is the mill, And back of the mill is the wind and the rain, And the Father's will.

So goes the old table grace which explains that the will of God is behind all the work and effort that goes into the production of a loaf of bread. Unexpressed but implied is the work of planting the seed to grow the wheat, the grinding of the grain to make the flour and the mixing and baking resulting in the bread we eat.

It is a reminder that behind every product we purchase and use there lies the labour of people: growing, transporting and manufacturing at various stages the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the myriad other products we take for granted.

Just as this old grace urges us not to take something as simple as a loaf of bread for granted, the fair trade movement encourages us to take heed of all that goes into the goods and service we take for granted and to ensure fair wages, good working conditions and environmental sustainability in everything.

Can this be anything other than the Father’s will?

Christmas Day has passed once more and we have celebrated the birth of Christ Jesus, some with great mounds of gifts and laden tables of calorific yet delicious food, others in a more humble way. The new year - 2019 - looms and what do we hope for the year ahead? A more peaceful, fairer world would be close to the top of many people's wish lists. In supporting and promoting Fair Trade in our own lives and communities and through our church communities we can make a difference to many tens of thousands of lives, using trade not charity to sustain the impact of our actions.

To kick off the new year, we have opened registrations for the 2019 Fair Trade Faith Conference. You can now go to the registration page, click on "Register" and choose the type of registration that best suits you. Then, if you live away from the Blue Mountains, secure some nearby accommodation.

With Rev. John Bell of the Iona Community, Scotland, coming to be the keynote speaker, it will be a wonderful and inspiring time. We hope that those who come will go away having learnt something and with a heart inspired to do more about Fair Trade back in their faith groups.

Here is a prayer to start the 2019 Fair Trade journey:

(Acknowledgement www.fairtrade.org.uk)

God of love and justice,

we give thanks for the gifts planted in all of us. We remember the power we embody when we share these gifts: the compassion and understanding,the fire, and the vigour.

We honour your Word living within us, inspiring people to protest at greed, to work for justice,

to passionately share theirresources and cherish all life.

Yours is the outspoken love, Yours is the outrageous hope, Yours is the extravagant mercy. So to you be the honour and the power and the glory,

Amen.

Our keen conference founder, John Martin has become a Youtuber! Well, not quite. But he did appear in this interview with Robert Martin of City Bible Forum, Melbourne. Well worth a watch.

Both Robert and John would e really happy for you to share this video if it helps to share information about the what and the why of Fair Trade

.And if you'd like to chat with John in person, come along to our next Conference!