Shop Fair Trade

Can't find it locally produced? Shop fair trade for goods that come from too far away to find at your local farmers market or from local artisans.

Some foods just aren't grown in the US.
When they are imported here and show up in your local grocery, how do you know where they came from? Did they come from giant farms and plantations owned by multi-national corporations, or from small family farms and growers' collectives?
Were they grown with chemicals not allowed in this country? Were rainforests cut down to grow them? Are the people who plant, tend and harvest them able to feed their own children?
When you go to your local farmers market, you can ask the vendor all sorts of questions.

When you buy foods from Asia, Latin America, and Africa, look for the shop fair trade label.

Certification provides answers to some key questions:

Who grew this?
A family farmer or a workers on a collectively owned farm planted, tended and harvested your food.

How was the price set?
Farmer groups negotiate a guaranteed minimum price, as well as a higher price for certified organic products.

What kind of working conditions did the growers have?
* freedom of association
* safety protections
* a living wage
* absolutely no forced child labor

How big a share did a middleman take?
Importers purchase from fair trade producer groups as directly as possible.
Any middlemen that can be eliminated are.
Necessary transaction costs (shipping and other logistics) are considered when prices are set.

Does the money help the community?
Family farmers and farm workers decide how to spend their earnings, and often invest them into the community, for schools and scholarships, health services, and other business developments.

Are the agricultural practices sustainable?
Environmentally sustainable farming methods are required.
Harmful agrochemicals and GMOs are strictly prohibited
Practices that support clean water, biodiversity, and forest preservation are used.
These practices not only create healthy food for you, but also protect the farmers’ health and preserve valuable ecosystems for future generations.

What you can find in US stores today:
Fair trade coffee
Fair trade tea
Fair trade herbs
Fair trade cocoa and chocolate
Fair trade bananas and other fresh fruit
Fair trade sugar
Fair trade rice
Fair trade vanilla
Fair trade flowers
Fair trade honey.

Additional Fair Trade Certified products available in Europe:
cotton
wine
beer

What about handicrafts?
These are not certified to meet international standards, like agricultural products are. But many importers and stores have similar arrangements with weavers, wood-workers, and other crafts people.
To shop fair trade for these items, you have to ask more questions yourself.

If you can't find them in local stores, there are many places to shop fair trade on-line.