Fair Trade and the consumer interest: a personal account

Abject poverty and rampant consumerism are twin ills of global capitalism. This short paper serves to encourage discussion on the role of Fair Trade in healing those ills. After describing the benefits of Fair Trade for producers, a paradox concerning the joys and blights of contemporary consumption is presented. Drawing on an autoethnographic method, the author indicates how Fair Trade resolves this paradox in the consumer interest.