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Fair Trade Foods

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the fair trade movement as an institutionalized social movement attempting to correct the ethical and environmental concerns with globalized agro-food supply chains. Using institutional political economy and virtue ethics, the authors discuss the successes of consumers in creating mechanisms for recognizing ethically produced products in retail outlets and in creating institutions to support virtue-oriented social action. The structure of global governance and capitalist production logics in global production networks are discussed as key sources of ethical ambiguity in the production of food and drink. Significant tensions and limitations in obtaining ethically produced products include the mainstreaming of the fair trade movement, the proliferation of ethical labeling and their adoption by conventional producers and retailers, and the structure of global governance as lacking accountability and failing to uphold social justice across the Global North/South divide.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Nefratiri Weeks

  2. Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Laura T. Raynolds

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  1. Nefratiri Weeks
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  2. Laura T. Raynolds
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Correspondence to Nefratiri Weeks .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Committee, Institut Paul Bocuse, Rockport, MA, USA

    Herbert L. Meiselman

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Weeks, N., Raynolds, L.T. (2019). Fair Trade Foods. In: Meiselman, H. (eds) Handbook of Eating and Drinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_90-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_90-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

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