Do governments support Fair Trade?

Do governments support Fair Trade?

Sam Bills (Manager) gives expert video advice on: Are there Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Fair Trade products?; Do governments support Fair Trade? and more...

On the whole, governments have not necessarily gotten as behind fair trade as they could. One of the exciting developments in fair trade in Europe, and now increasingly in the U.S, is the idea of fair trade towns. It is local government who are getting behind fair trade, who commit to certain standards of support for fair trade, like serving fair trade coffee and fair trade goods in their snack room or at committee meetings, and by forming a kind of steering committee to ensure that the town is remaining committed to fair trade, and hosting educational events about fair trade. There is this distinction that is being given out now by TransFair; there are two fair trade towns now, one of them is in Pennsylvania, the other one is in Vermont; it shows the local amount of support. In some ways fair trade isn't about waiting for policy to change on a national level; it's about both the individual and then beyond that the local community making a difference by changing its purchasing decisions. It is exciting to see that. While national governments may not be the quickest in getting on board with fair trade, there are these local municipal governments that are supporting fair trade and even becoming fair trade towns.