Expertise
This section will address the use of scientific methods, arguments and proofs used by the important actors of the controversy, in their debate over coffee grown on plantations.
We will explore the scientific issues of:
- What scientific data are FLO and Fair Trade USA referring to in order to develop the standards on which their concept of fair trade is build upon?
- What scientific data is Equal Exchange using to debate the legitimacy of these standards?
- How is fair trade coffee articulated by Brazilian actors and on what grounds are certain points-of-views presented?
- By what means are US based actors, most notably Fair Trade USA and Equal Exchange, including the life of the Ipanema Coffee growers in their debate of the controversy?
It was noted that while FLO and Fair Trade USA have somewhat similar core principles; FLO) Social development, economic development, environmental development and forced labour and child labour; and Fair Trade USA) Empowerment, economic development, social responsibility and environmental stewardship, their referencing to theoretical sources is a bit different.
Publicly accessible FLO documents explicitly refer to specific theory in describing their notion of key terms such as empowerment, sustainability, environmental development. Theoretical referencers in Fair Trade USA's development are not to be find in any documents published on their website. Whilst using many of the same key terms as FLO, the exacts notion of these terms thus remain more illusive than FLO.
We will explore the scientific issues of:
- What scientific data are FLO and Fair Trade USA referring to in order to develop the standards on which their concept of fair trade is build upon?
- What scientific data is Equal Exchange using to debate the legitimacy of these standards?
- How is fair trade coffee articulated by Brazilian actors and on what grounds are certain points-of-views presented?
- By what means are US based actors, most notably Fair Trade USA and Equal Exchange, including the life of the Ipanema Coffee growers in their debate of the controversy?
It was noted that while FLO and Fair Trade USA have somewhat similar core principles; FLO) Social development, economic development, environmental development and forced labour and child labour; and Fair Trade USA) Empowerment, economic development, social responsibility and environmental stewardship, their referencing to theoretical sources is a bit different.
Publicly accessible FLO documents explicitly refer to specific theory in describing their notion of key terms such as empowerment, sustainability, environmental development. Theoretical referencers in Fair Trade USA's development are not to be find in any documents published on their website. Whilst using many of the same key terms as FLO, the exacts notion of these terms thus remain more illusive than FLO.