The Ethics of Consumer Goods

I went to a Rose Cafe last week where we met with the CEO of Sun Coffee Roasters and we talked about the initiatives his company has been taking to make sure that the coffee farmers are paid fairly. He also mentioned that his company advocates for building schools for the children of the farmers that the company buys their coffee from. I think what Sun Coffee is doing is a really great thing and more companies should follow their lead. A lot of our products come from overseas, and a lot of those overseas workers aren’t treated very well. There have been reported cases of child labor, unsafe working conditions, and workers getting paid very little– some pennies a day. I think that we need to realize that we are very fortunate to live in a country with good labour laws, and do our part to ensure that everyone around the world also is treated fairly and safely. There are already a lot of companies that promise that they treat their workers fairly and ensure safe working habits. The one issue with this is that their products often cost more than their competitors because of the increase in operating costs. Many people might only look at the cost of a product before they buy it, rather than think about where it came from, and depending on their circumstances, it might be hard for them to afford the more expensive, but more ethical product. This is a major problem, but if we can get more people who can afford the more ethical product to buy it, then maybe we’ll be able to raise safety standards for consumer products worldwide

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