So my lil appeal for a copy of the film Buyer be Fair got answered! Thanks to Claire of TransFair USA for sending me the DVD :)

Buyer Be Fair’s an informational film that shows the importance of third party certification — using fair trade and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certifications as examples.

We get touching stories from fair trade coffee co-ops — places where certification has really transformed people’s lives. We see coffee farmers working in fields that’re v. obviously shade grown and diversified. And we see how co-ops’re working to improve coffee quality by cultivating lil nurseries for that purpose.

I think the film’ll be useful in getting companies and consumers to think about why third party might be both necessary and beneficial. Plus, the film points out the importance of making sure the certification is a meaningful one.

For ex, the wood industry’s developed a whole buncha certification programs to compete with the FSC certification. The problem: These non-FSC certifications are those formed by the timber industry itself — You know, like Starbucks’ self-made CAFE practices. The NRDC sez “FSC certification remains the only credible seal of approval for good wood. Don’t be confused by forest industry substitutes.”

Now, the constructive criticism.

The film’s rather v. rah rah about fair trade certification, without engaging in any of the debates going on about keeping (or making) fair trade certification meaningful.

On the one hand, I get that this film’s supposed to act as an introduction to fair trade for viewers — so I can see why the filmmakers didn’t get into the nitty gritties of the internal debates.

On the other hand, the rah-rah-ness of the film was really too much. I mean, we’re shown kids who’re assigned to write poems about fair trade certification — and a lil girl in Garstang reads a poem portraying tearful farmers gratefully thanking fair trade. At which point I cringe, and wanna yell, “Fair trade certification is NOT a religion!”

This despite the fact that I’m a firm supporter of fair trade certification AND believe poetry should play a bigger part in our schools.

Anyway. Despite all that, I think Buyer Be Fair could be helpful to newbies.

The film came out in March — and the website clearly intended to help out people who wanted to learn more about watching the film. The trouble’s that a lot of the links still sport a “Coming Soon” promise — My suggestion would be to at least link to activist websites that can provide more info — like Oxfam, or, you know, moi :P

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