Jewish Guide to Fairtrade: Consumption

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the corners of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Adonai your God. [JPS translation]

Ben Zoma used to say: What labors the first person had to carry out before he obtained bread to eat! He ploughed, he sowed, he reaped, he bound [the sheaves], he threshed and winnowed and selected the ears, he ground [them], and sifted [the flour], he kneaded and baked, and then at last he ate. But I get up, and find all these things done for me. And how many labors the first person had to carry out before he obtained a garment to wear! He had to shear, wash [the wool], comb it, spin it and weave it, and then at last he obtained a garment to wear; whereas I get up and find all these things done for me. All kinds of craftsmen come early to the door of my house, and I rise in the morning and find all these before me. [Soncino translation] [The standard text reads אומות, which translates as “craftsmen”. Alternate texts read אומנויות, nations, and Rashi explains this is because a single nation cannot provide every person’s need. What one country lacks, the other provides]

One may not buy from a thief the goods he has stolen, and to do so is a great transgression because it strengthens the hands of those who violate the law and causes the thief to continue to steal, for if the thief would find no buyer he would not steal, as it says, “He who shares with a thief is his own enemy.” (Proverbs 2:24) [AJWS translation]