It's simple Lox. All of us in the developed world bask in a collective lifestyle that we owe to our wholly immoral exploitation of the developing world. And we know it. But we are democracies, and no political party that committed to redressing this basic wrong would ever get elected.

One big step in the right direction would be to stop paying out international aid and instead allow developing countries fair access to western markets. Living standards would plummet as our imports rose and our factories closed, and thus the gap between rich and poor would be narrowed at least a little.

Until then, buy fairtrade by all means. It's strong on the feelgood factor, but alas it's no guarantee that you're not eploiting someone.