Back in August, I talked a bit about a new initiative called Domestic Fair Trade, created to change the way farming is done and the way farm produce is sold and marketed in the US and Canada.

The first meeting happened in Aug. 2005, and by Dec. 2005, the new Domestic Fair Trade Working Group had a set of guiding principles (PDF), and started putting some plans in motion.

And the group’s been busy! The cover article for the latest issue of Social Policy (subscription required), titled “Domestic Fair Trade: For Health, Justice & Sustainability,” was co-written by Erbin Crowell, head of Equal Exchange‘s Domestic Fair Trade Program, and Michael Sligh, Just Foods Director at RAFI-USA (Rural Advancement Foundation International in North Carolina).

In the article, Erbin and Michael point to recent campaigns by farm labor organizations, such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, that have exposed injustices on “factory farms” in Florida and other parts of the country. In a world where “just 10 corporations account for over 50% of the revenue generated globally by food retailing,” the challenges that small farmers face are vast and numerous.

I talked with JJ Richardson, who works with Michael at RAFI-USA, about steps the Domestic Fair Trade group’s been taking. “We’re working from transitioning from a working group to a coalition,” JJ said. This takes time, of course, because “full transparency and equal participation and input from all stakeholders” is of vital concern.

Basically, the working group’s working to develp a set of standards — which’ll come together after “multiple rounds of comments, drafts, and international vetting.” The group will also have to decide and formalize the structure of Domestic Fair Trade, setting rules, like requirements of membership, bylaws, etc.

The core questions are what the standards will be, and how high the bar will be set. After seeing the difficulty of maintaining a high bar on standards in other movements, the Domestic Fair Trade group’s somewhat cautious. “Like organic standards, fair trade is one of those things that have faced challenges that we’re hoping to learn from,” says JJ. The Domestic Fair Trade group wants to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls of other movements. “There’s more of a desire to do it right than to do it quickly,” says JJ.

Equal Exchange’s already on the ball; the first domestic fair trade product, dried cranberries, should be available soon, followed by tamari-roasted organic almonds from a co-op of Calif. growers, and salted pecans from Georgia co-op called Southern Alternatives in the next month or two.

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