A term that is becoming increasingly popular is “Fair Trade”–you may have seen this plastered on chocolate, coffee, or tea labels around campus.  So what does Fair Trade actually mean?

A Fair Trade Certified good means it satisfies a set of criteria “including labour standards, sustainable farming, governance, and democratic participation.”  Since social enterprises enhance the triple bottom line, I found a distinct connection between these businesses and Fair Trade.

Social enterprises enhance the three pillars of sustainability: People, Planet, and Profit.  Fair Trade falls under the category of “people”, and “planet”.  By doing business with producers who engage in sustainable farming practices, and who are being treated with integrity, equality, and respect, the enterprise effectively enhances two out of the three tenets.

And if the company successfully maximizes profit, then it is at the same time enhancing the third tenet: profit.

I believe that social enterprises are much more effective in doing good for the society than large corporations that engage in environmentally, and socially costly activities (that later on recognize the problem they created, and attempt to rectify the situation by throwing a tiny portion of their profit at the problem.)

Large corporations throwing a tiny portion of their profits at a huge problem they caused.
(Source: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Blxl_HbIEAAdUvP.jpg)

Additional reading: This news article by Fair Trade Canada explains how UBC (Canada’s first Fair Trade Campus) is trying to become more sustainable