York becomes first university in Canada to sell fair-trade clothing
Hamid Adem
Contributor
After announcing last year that they would introduce fair-trade clothing—clothes made by paid workers with certified wages, and not made in sweatshops or produced by child labourers—at the on-campus bookstore, York has pulled through.
As of November 2, The York bookstore has become the first university bookstore in Canada to carry fair-trade T-shirts and, according to bookstore director Steven Glassman, the shirts will
be provided by Guelph-based company Wearfair. The products will use fairly-traded organic cotton as material.
“The process goes back a few years,” explains Glassman. “The vendor had to secure a source of fair-trade cotton and workers.”
When asked about York’s influence on this launch, he says York researchers had a direct hand in helping accomplish this project.
“They are quite involved with the agricultural workers and manufactures back in India, so we have firsthand knowledge of the procedures and practices that are going along with the making and manufacturing of these T-shirts.”
Though there are benefits of dealing with fair-trade items—such as sustainable environmental practices and ensuring most products come from small farmer cooperatives that ensure a more direct trade relationship with foreign markets—the concern of getting consumers used to these products still remains.
“The biggest problem we foresee is to get Canadians to buy [fair-trade products],” says Glassman. “One of the complications is that it may become a specialized market and won’t be expected on a broad market, which is not what we want.”
And as for the costs?
Glassman says the price of the fair-trade T-shirts against normal clothing that is available in the store “will be comparable.”
