Fair Trade: I Want a World Where....

I want a world where people recognize their true power - where they understand that EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. they buy something, they are casting a vote for the world their children and the next generations have to live in.

And that starts with a world where we care more about fair trade and the PEOPLE involved in making, growing & harvesting, than price, and where we - the prospective buyers - have the power to glimpse into every step of the production and transport process for the goods we choose.

Your daily cup of tea. Does the person picking it, 6 days a week for 10 hours solid, for decades, have access to health care of any kind? Do they earn enough for their children to eat well, everyday? Do the injuries they sustain after decades of back breaking work give them pain?

I want a world where we ask the right questions about the products we buy.

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Photo by Danurwendho Adyakusuma on Unsplash

The both exciting, and sad, news is that the technology is already easily available and, in fact, so cheap (basically free) that it's already being used by a tiny ethnic Karen owned organic coffee business here in Northern Thailand. Pa'Ka Coffee

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You can scan the QR code on their product before you buy it to see exactly where the beans were grown, who harvested them and when, and learn more about the community which is sustained by your purchase.

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I'm INCREDIBLY EXCITED that a tiny ethnic community is already making this work, so much so that their coffee is in hot demand and no longer cheap. I'm excited because it was one smart guy who helped this community start down this trail, and who is changing the world for a whole ethnic community.

But I want a world where this is the norm!

When I scan the QR on my new Zinc health supplement, I want to know more about the conditions of where that zinc is mined, about what happens to the chemical wastes which come from its purification, how it's processed and what the environmental give backs are from the company who profits from my purchase;
When I choose my Himalayan salt, I want to learn about the Pakistani children who mined it and find out if they have the chance for education;
When I buy shoes, I want to know which sweatshop they came from, in which country, and how much those people earn;
When I buy a computer, I want to know the safety record of the factory, and how many people may have become injured or died to give me my "great deal";
When I buy a dress, I want to know more about the toxic fabric dressings used and whether the Thai piece worker really only was paid 37 thb (just over $1) to stitch the garment I paid $69 for;
When I buy mono-cropped GMO vegan grain products, I want to know more about the health conditions of the field workers and just what their cancer rates look like compared to those of the field workers from an organic farm.

You may say, I'm a dreamer, and I'm not the only one...

I'm posting this weekend rant on the Hive blockchain - the same technology that enables the simple immutable recording of the GPS coordinates, the pictures of the harvest, the soil test results. As a great man once said, "We have the technology!"

I want a world where we USE what we have, for the betterment of one another.

There are days we forget our power - whether we're standing in line at a supermarket queuing to contribute to the exploitation of others, or whether we're simply playing on a blockchain that frankly has the power to subvert commercial exploitation.

My little Thai business, Pure Thai Natural Co Ltd has begun the process towards using this simple QR technology to give people a glimpse into where their products come from. We're a ways off actually having the QR codes functioning our packs, but we have begun collecting and coordinating the raw data to make this journey too and working through where and how to store this data. Because we recognize just wanting isn't enough, and we're prepared to be part of the change that we want to see in the world.