Buying into Fair Trade: Culture, Morality, and Consumption

5. How to Appear Altruistic

>> 95 5 How to Appear Altruistic By 2007, the Independents Coffee Cooperative was up and running. It had a stylish logo, a strong fund-raising presence within the nonprofit community, and even an advertising campaign that promoted its fair trade and socially conscious cafés. The positive attention it was receiving as well as its emphasis on ethical shopping frustrated Todd Carmichael , a prominent local coffee-shop competitor, who was quoted in a local newspaper: Some are like, “Buy my coffee because I don’t slap my wife.” Dude, come on. . . . Of course you don’t slap your wife. Of course I do fair trade. Of course I belong to an alliance. Of course I try to offset my carbon footprint . Because I’m a human being, you know? On a larger level, it’s the way everyone should behave. It comes with the territory.1 At the time, Carmichael was not selling any fair-trade coffee, but he was running a very successful coffee business that was trying to help 96 > 97 helping the most people in the best possible way. But, unfortunately, there is a big disjuncture between the competition for status within the fair-trade marketplace and the actual, material benefits received by fair trade producers. The psychologist Steven Pinker makes a similar point when explaining whether Americans would view Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, or Norman Borlaug as the most admirable person: For most people, it’s an easy question. Mother Teresa, famous for ministering to the poor in Calcutta, has been beatified by the Vatican, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and ranked in an American poll as the most admired person of the 20th century. Bill Gates, infamous for giving us the Microsoft dancing paper clip and the blue screen of death, has been decapitated in effigy in “I Hate Gates” Web sites and hit with a pie in the face. As for Norman Borlaug . . . who the heck is Norman Borlaug?6 The answer is not as black and white as it initially appears to most. Norman Borlaug, considered the father of the “green revolution,” used agricultural science “to reduce world hunger . . . [and he] has been credited with saving a billion lives, more than anyone else in history.” Gates, in a stereotypical geeky fashion, crunched numbers to find out where his money could do the most good in the world. His foundation has helped alleviate suffering associated with malaria, diarrhea, and parasites throughout the developing world. Mother Teresa “extolled the virtue of suffering and ran her well-financed missions accordingly: their sick patrons were offered plenty of prayer but harsh conditions, few analgesics and dangerously primitive medical care.” Pinker’s point is that moral reputations often differ greatly from actual accomplishments. “Our heads can be turned by an aura of sanctity, distracting us from a more objective reckoning of the actions that make people suffer or flourish. It seems we may all be vulnerable to moral illusions.” During my research, I found that consumers play many games in order to maintain their personal identity and social status as conscientious consumers. Many know how to look socially conscious when giving a gift or interacting with friends and families. But few advocate or talk about social responsibility in more public spheres (see chapter 4).7 Most shoppers are comforted by the thought that their purchases 98 > 99 express their moral identities through shopping, I decided to present a few quick-and-dirty strategies to help shoppers meet this goal. In the vein of popular “How to” books, I describe three steps shoppers must follow to win the competition for altruistic status. This competition is about appearance; it is not really about doing the most good. The strategies presented here are all based on techniques utilized by conscientious consumers and promoters who seek out fair-trade products . The first step is relatively easy to take: boycott a prominent market leader. During my interviews, Walmart received more negative attention than any other company. Most aspiring conscientious consumers are hardwired to boycott this store. They found it easy to stigmatize Walmart’s price-sensitive marketing strategies, which have little interest in issues like ethics or social responsibility. The second step is a bit more difficult: lead a moral crusade against a fair-, sweat-, or greenwashing company. For the conscientious consumers I met, this meant criticizing Starbucks. Starbucks built its reputation, at least in part, by positioning itself as a good global citizen. Seeing through the false promises of a fairwashing company...