Who really pays for the products we buy?

Going Bananas

This is the route that a typical banana takes to get from the banana plantation to our supermarkets ....

Step 1: Banana Farm Workers

• Long hours• Have to carry heavy loads• Work in the hot sun • Have to handle dangerous chemicals

Going Bananas

Step 2: Plantation Landowners • Have to pay the pickers • Make sure land & equipment are in good shape • Need to ensure enough bananas are grown

Going Bananas

Going Bananas

Step 3: Shipping Company

• Make sure bananas aren’t damaged on the trip • Keep big ships in good working condition • Buy fuel for large ships

Step 4: Importer

• Receive bananas from shipping company • Do paperwork for bananas to enter the country

Going Bananas

Going Bananas

Step 5: Wholesaler

• Store the bananas in a large warehouse facility • Artificially ripen the bananas so they’re ready for us to eat

Step 6: Processor

• Throws away any rotten bananas • Prepares banana bunches to go onto supermarket shelves

Going Bananas

Going Bananas

Step 7: Distributor

•Delivers bananas to supermarkets• Must put fuel into large trucks• Must maintain large trucks in good working order

Going Bananas

Step 8: Retailer (supermarket)

• Stocks bananas on shelves• Must pay employees who work in the store

Going Bananas

So, it looks something like this:Banana Farm

Workers (Honduras)

Plantation Landowners (Honduras)

Shipping Company

(USA)Importer (USA)

Wholesaler (USA)

Processor (USA)

Distributor (Canada)

Retailer (Canada)

Each time the bananas change hands, people need to be paid

Going Bananas

To make things easy, we are going to pretend that the price of this

banana is $1.00

Going Bananas

Now that you know what each person along the way does, how

much of the $1.00 price do you

think each one deserves for the work that they do? Decide as a group & write down your guesses

Going Bananas

Banana Farm Workers = ______ ¢Plantation Landowners = ______ ¢Shipping Company = ______ ¢Importer = ______ ¢Wholesaler = ______ ¢Processor = ______ ¢Distributor = ______ ¢Retailer = ______ ¢

Going Bananas

Here’s the reality .....

Going Bananas

Food for thought

How close were your answers?

Why do you think your guesses were close, or different from, the reality?

Food for thought

In which country did most of the money stay?

Why do you think most of the money ended up there?

Food for thought

Do you think this system is fair?

If you answered NO, then what is not fair about it? How can we change this system?

Where we are NOW

We have been using this system for decades to buy & sell products. The main goal of this system is for consumers to buy a lot, but pay little.

How can we focus more on money than on the people that actually make the things we buy?

Where we are NOW

Where we are GOING

At MCIC’s Generating Momentum for Our World: Go Fair Trade you will learn what fair trade is doing to bring the focus back to the farmers and improve the quality of life for millions around the world!