Why Fair Matters with Anna Canning of Fair World Project

Apr 7

Listen to this episode from Evolve CPG - Better Products, Brands, & Leaders on Spotify. Fair trade is far more complicated than simply paying more for a product. It touches on all aspects of the supply chain and intersects with a range of issues.

Fair trade is far more complicated than simply paying more for a product. It touches on all aspects of the supply chain and intersects with a range of issues.

Anna Canning is the campaign manager of Fair World Project, a non-profit that advocates for fair trade policies and helps bring related topics into the public conversation. In this episode, we dive into the rigged economic system and how it benefits large corporations with profit-first mentalities and disadvantages those who are working to make a fairer world. We also touch on why fair trade matters and what brands can do to get the needle moving. While the issue of fair trade is complicated, our conversation with Anna inspires a great deal of hope in the fact that a more just system is certainly possible.

Key Points From This Episode:

The issues that intersect with fair trade are a lot more complex than we realize.
The type of work that Fair World Project does; advocacy, research, connecting conversations.
Insights into how Anna got into fair trade and the first position she held in the space.
How Anna came to work at Fair World Project, an organization that aligns with her values.
What Anna wishes brands and designers in the fair trade space knew.
Brands can start where they are at if they want to chip away at making a fairer system.
The power of coffee and how it introduces many consumers to the idea of fair trade.
Some of the most common questions and misconceptions in the fair trade space.
Fair World Project’s decision to transition to a podcast after stopping its magazine.
Details of season one of For A Better World and what the aims of the show are.
The vision for the podcast going forward and the themes they hope to explore.
There is a disproportionate risk that different people in the supply chain assume.
Why it is not fair to put the responsibility on the consumer choice.
Some of the campaigning work Fair World Project does around proposed bills and policy.
Find out what’s on the horizon for Fair World Project.

Tweetables:

“Coffee is so amazing. It's sensorily really complex and it’s so tied up with history and culture. Really anything you want to talk about and explore, you can do it through the lens of coffee.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:03:36]

“I think of fair trade as coming out of the small-scale farmer movements, the Latin American coffee co-operatives, and really this push for changing how trade is done.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:13:45]

“My hope is that we are able to tell this story in a way that juxtaposes the real destruction of business as usual in our food system with this amazing work that’s already being done.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:24:09]

“There’s already models for this world that we want to have; we just need to deal with the impediments to letting it thrive.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:24:25]

“Fair trade is much more complex than paying a fair price for a thing.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:29:44]

“The system is really set up in a way that putting it all on consumer choice just isn’t fair.” — @AnnaCanning_ [0:43:45]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Anna Canning on Twitter

Anna Canning on LinkedIn

Fair World Project

Peace Coffee

For a Better World Podcast

Ryan Zinn

Alter Eco

Modern Species

Center for Science in the Public Interest