What is Fair Trade?

"The fair price is a solution. It has given us the chance to pay a good price to our farmers. Those who are not in Fair Trade want to participate. For us it is a great opportunity. It gives us hope."Benjamin Cholotío
[http://www.scotiafairtrade.com/fair-trade-quotes-ep-20-3.html]

The quote above sums up to me what Fair Trade is or should be. An example is cotton; those framers who grow the cotton spend about 6 months growing and maintaining it. This is not simple, the cotton is usually grown in warm countries such as India and in such countries there are things known as "cotton pests" they eat the leaves and destroy the crop. In order to save the crop, which is their only means of livelihood, they have to buy Heptachlor to kill the pests. Substances such as heptachlor are illegal in many European countries but are sold in countries like India and are sold at a very high price. In some cases the pests become immune to the substance and the farmer then has to spend more money to buy the newest killer substance. This not only effects them as they do not wear protective gear but once the cotton is picked there is still a trace of the substance which is then sent all over the world. Without fair trade these framers do not get the money they work for, as the companies from Europe themselves do not show up, they have representatives who are not fair. Fair trade gives those framers a chance to get the money they deserve to feed their families and continue to work.