This was the first event I had attended that had been properly socially reported. I even twittered a little myself (@rachelmsmith). And it certainly was effective at getting a buzz going, as people, especially those who were using these tools had to think what am I taking from this? What am I extracting?

Mike Gidney of the Fair Trade Foundation spoke on the nature of certification – on the benefits, but he was also refreshingly honest when speaking of the potential downfalls – that it can be cumbersome and expensive and potentially exclude the very poorest from the opportunity fair trade might bring for them. With this in mind, could the demand for tracing the supply chain exclude some of the poorest because of a lack of access to technology, or even pen and paper?

I was very impressed with the fair tracing project – the idea of a 2-way supply chain has really stuck with me as people start to question where their money goes. It’s a question I’m going to start asking myself more often.