Introducing: The Guide to Fair Trade 2013

Welcome to Blue & Green Tomorrow’s Guide to Fair Trade 2013. Dutch free speech organisation Loesje once questioned whether it would “not be more logical to label unfair products”. But for now, our focus is on the positive.

The guide looks at farmers’ markets and the benefits of buying locally (page 26), and includes polarising answers to the question, “What’s so fair about fair trade?”

Nick Slawicz’s analysis of the fair trade movement on page 6 analyses the origins, practices and future of an industry that now accounts for billions of pounds in sales every year. Meanwhile, Ben Willers’ stunning infographic makes for welcome viewing for readers in the UK, Ireland and Switzerland, particularly.

As always, we’re encouraged by the positive results from our reader survey. This time around, we asked readers, “Do you try to buy fair trade products over non-fair trade products?”

Nearly a third (28%) said they do; while 37% said they try as often as possible. Fourteen per cent said they buy fair trade products occasionally, bringing the total to 78% of Blue & Green Tomorrow readers who buy fair trade products at least some of the time.

Click here to download The Guide to Fair Trade 2013 (12MB file).

On the go? Download the mobile version (4MB file).

We published seven reports last year in our Guide to… series, covering ethical shopping, sustainable banking, sustainable investment, sustainable tourism, limitless clean energy and responsible media, as well as a second sustainable investment issue that was published as part of National Ethical Investment Week. Our three previous reports in 2013 have covered sustainable tourism, sustainable investment, ownership and ethical financial advisers.