Fairtrade can have several variations. You can be fair not only to developing countries, but also to your farmers.
There is a new trend in my country when farmers sell milk directly to customers through fresh milk vending machines placed nearby supermarkets. Milk is fresh so customers need to boil it before consumption however it is not chemically processed, good news for people suffering from allergies. Many drink it without boiling enjoying the pure taste of milk.
Customers come with their bottles so no extra waste is produced and they buy as much milk they want, they do not need to buy huge packaging.
So far there has been 160 machines installed, there should go up to four hundred by the year end and one thousand by 2011.
Last but not least fact - farmers earn almost twice as much by selling milk directly to customers than to dairy works!
Better income for farmers, less cost for transport (farmer to dairy works and dairy works to grocery stores not needed) and less waste (customers´ own bottles).
Though it is just one product, the whole cycle is fair and sustainable. It could be seen as a drop of milk in the bucket, but it is worth it.
I love this! This is a GREAT EXAMPLE to FOLLOW!! I hope we can get them soon in Latin America too, but I wonder if milk companies will allow this to happen?
Make yourself ready for initial “war”, allow a month or two for cooling things down and then - enjoy delicious taste of fresh milk….
Good initiative!
In Latin America, corcerning this topic, our culture is totally different. At least in Brazil, it is rare having farmers making a living from milk and selling it directly to customers. Milk companies empire. What a pity! Some groups down here should be aware of this possibility…
Does the scheme run under the actual FairTrade trademark or is it a local initiative?
@ Luan, thanks. You can spread a word and you will see what happens
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@ Sylwia, no, it does not run under FairTrade. I only titled my post like that as I like this concept is fair. And it is a trade
.
Thank you!:)
@Sylwia, I don’t think it can - as far as I know the Fair Trade label is reserved for imports from south to north. That is at least what I understand from the Swedish Faritrade Labelling Organisation’s homepage.
This is an awesome thing, though!
To me it seems it can only be good for everyone, producers and consumers alike, getting rid of some unnecessary steps in the distribution. I guess someone would say that this milk is not safe enough (at least if they tried this project in Sweden), but on the other hand - if the consumers know that they must boil the milk, it can hardly e unsafe after that. When you buy a package, you trust that someone else has bold it for you, but actually you didn’t see the process.
Great idea! We’ve Irish farmers setting up egg vending machines here too. Very innovative.
Eggs in vending machines? It is creative! Good for your farmers!
I invented the Irish egg vending machine EGGSPRESS.IE
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