Open and shut case?

[fivemack]

Tesco. Pineapples. 44 pence.

Next shelf up: Fairly traded pineapples. £1.74

The case for the prosecution rests

Comments

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

This journal entry is ambiguous :-)

I read it as saying, "Tesco is screwing the pineapple farmers who aren't protected by Fairtrade". But it could also be read as, "Tesco is screwing people who are stupid enough to buy Fairtrade". Personally, I believe that 44p is a fraudulently low price.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

But don't forget that the growers in Ivory Coast, if it's in as bad shape as the news seems to suggest, have very little slack to tide them through a boycott of their produce, either. Yes, the price probably does result from some people early in the distribution chain behaving improperly (perhaps exercising monopoly power); but still, one of the people who gets hurt in such a boycott is the original producer and all his employees, who is the one that the boycott is supposed to help (at least in the long run).

I'm not arguing here against buying the Fairtrade pineapples, at that price difference or any other. I might do so myself. I just feel it's important to remember *all* the people in the distribution chain you're boycotting, and make the decision taking into account (as best you can) the effects everywhere along that chain.

This could be an argument for buying the cheap pineapples and taking the effort to make a donation that gets back to the worst-exploited people in that chain, for example.