Ethical sourcing, both through fair trade and ethical trade, is increasingly entering the mainstream of food retailing. Large supermarkets have come under pressure to improve the returns to small producers and conditions of employment within their supply chains. But how effective is ethical sourcing? Can it genuinely address the problems facing workers and producers in the global food system? Is it a new form of northern protectionism or can southern initiatives be developed to create a more sustainable approach to ethical sourcing? How can the rights and participation of workers and small producers be enhanced, given the power and dominance of large supermarkets within the global food chain? What role can civil society and multistakeholder initiatives play in ensuring the effectiveness of ethical sourcing?

This book brings together a range of academics and practitioners working on issues of ethical sourcing in the global food system. It critically explores the opportunities and challenges in the ethical sourcing of food by combining analysis and case studies that examine a range of approaches. It explores whether ethical sourcing is a cosmetic northern initiative, or can genuinely help to improve the conditions of small producers and workers in the current global food system.

About the author(s)

Stephanie Barrientos is a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK and Catherine Dolan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Northeastern University, USA.

Contents

Transformation of Global Food: Opportunities and Challenges for Fair and Ethical Trade * The Development of Alternative and Fair Trade: Moving into the Mainstream * Organic and Fair Trade Movements in Global Food Networks * Corporate Social Responsibility from a Supermarket Perspective: Approach of the Co-operative Group * Ethical Trade: What Does It Mean for Women Workers in African Horticulture? * Central American Banana Production: Women Workers and Chiquita's Ethical Sourcing from Plantations * The Gangmaster System in the UK: Perspective of a Trade Unionist * Participatory Social Auditing: Developing a Worker-focused Approach * Oxfam's Coffee Campaign: An NGO Perspective * Small Producers: Constraints and Challenges in the Global Food System * Concluding Reflections on the Future of Ethical Sourcing *