Fair Trade Quiz Answers

All the questions for the fair trade quiz come from articles in the December 2005 edition of Perspectives: "Fair Trade & Our Buying Choices."

1) Today's fair trade industry traces its roots back about 40 years. Who is credited with launching the movement?
- church groups
- labor unions
- African farmers' cooperatives
- European corporations looking for a "niche" market

(Answer � Church groups in Europe were looking for a way to support refugees and other poor communities. See the in-depth article on "The Fair Trade Movement.")

2) Which country sells the most fair trade products?
- Great Britain
- United States
- Canada
- Netherlands

(Answer � The United States led the world, selling $253 million worth of fair trade goods in 2004, with Great Britain close behind. Interestingly, tiny Switzerland came in third at $160 million, and sold nearly twice as much as the next closest country, France. The Netherlands sold $41 million worth, but Canada? Only $21 million. Time to pick up the pace, eh? See the pie chart at the end of the in-depth article "Fair Trade's Future" for more.)

3) According to Oxfam, by what percent would Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America have to increase their share of world exports in order to lift 128 million people out of poverty?
- 50 percent
- 20 percent
- 10 percent
- 1 percent

(Answer � One percent would do it. See the in-depth article on "Global Trade" to find out why raising exports by just one percent is so difficult for so many countries.)

4) Many governments pay subsidies to their farmers to encourage the production of certain crops, which in turn allows them to sell their crops at artificially low prices around the world, undercutting farmers who don't receive the same support from their governments. How much did the U.S. government pay out in agricultural commodities subsidies in 2004?
- about $10 billion
- about $1 billion
- about $100 million
- nothing, the U.S. is committed to the principle of "free markets"

(Answer � About $10 billion, down from $20 billion in the year 2000. Japan and the E.U. have also been criticized by many developing countries for their subsidies. Australia's trade minister recently pointed out�as have many others�that a typical cow in the European Union receives a government subsidy of $2.20 a day�more than what 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people live on every day. See the Environmental Working Group citation in Ellen Roggemann's testimonial, "My Journey," for more stats on U.S. government subsidies.)

5) While many small companies are beginning to distribute fair trade chocolate to supermarkets, neighborhood groceries, and health food stores, the big guns�Mars, Hershey, and Nestle�still refuse to sell it, says Global Exchange. How much does the average cocoa farming worker earn?
- $2,600-$3,100 per year
- $805-$1050 per year
- $330-$600 per year
- $30-$108 per year

(Answer � $30-$108 per year. See the viewpoint article from Global Exchange for more on the chocolate industry and how you can get involved.)

6) The proper technique for harvesting rice from a Thai paddy (according to Ellen Roggemann) is:
- hold, husk, hoist
- yank, cut, toss
- grab, wrap, cut
- wrap, slap, slice

(Answer � Actually, it's grab, wrap, cut. And in case you were wondering, breaking rice stalks make a crisp "chit, chit, chit" sound. See Ellen's "My Journey" article for more on the lasting linkages she made during those long hours in the rice paddy.)

Back to Perspectives: Fair Trade & Our Buying Choices