Fair Trade
We love to talk about fair trade, so let’s get started!
What is fair trade?
Fair trade is a trading partnership based on reciprocal benefits and mutual respect between producer or artisan and seller. Fair trade partnerships ensure that prices paid to producers truly and justly reflect their work, that workers have the right to organize, that national health, safety, and wage laws are enforced and that products are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural resources. Fair trade offers better prices, improved terms of trade, and the business skills necessary to produce high-quality products that can compete in the global marketplace. Through this model of respectful trade, farmers and workers can improve their lives and plan for their futures. Today, fair trade benefits more than 1.2 million farming families in 70 developing countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Fair trade is respect and empowerment.
Why should I buy fair trade?
Fair trade is a tangible and powerful way to reduce poverty through everyday shopping. At NYCFTC, we explain fair trade purchasing as “voting with your dollar.” When you buy fair trade, you are empowering the artisan or producer and showing the global market that you respect the life at the other end of the supply chain AND you want companies and businesses to do the same. New Yorkers have major consumer pull and our city is an enormous and bustling market. The more you buy fair trade products or ask your retailers to carry fair trade, the clearer the message is: NYC wants ethical/sustainable products and business practices. Companies and businesses look at the bottom line. If you are not buying their product; they notice. If you hold back a purchase until those companies start practicing fair trade; you will see change and a positive impact. If you start buying more fair trade products; companies will want to adopt such practices.
How do I know that a product is fair trade?
The easiest step in identifying a fair trade product is the label. Click on the links to see the identifying fair trade label and to read more information.
Fair trade certifying bodies:
IMO – Fair for life and Fair life
Fair trade membership associations:
If you don’t see a fair trade label on a product, do your own due diligence and research the company to see if they meet your value standards. It seems like a lot of work but we should take a few minutes to ask the following.
Where is this product coming from?
How was it produced?
Who produced it?
If the company is responsive and responsible, continue supporting their efforts and hold them accountable for maintaining fair trade practices and environmental stewardship. If a company lacks information on their practices start writing emails and requesting transparency. We have amazing power as consumers. Companies NEED us and we should only support businesses that align with our values of fair trade and mutual respect. Exercise your FAIR TRADE buying power!
Thank you Fair Trade Resources Network and Fair Trade USA for help with these answers.
Thank you so much for your amazing work .
Am writting these on behalf of a community based agency called tumainimaishani which simply means giving hope in life.
We are primarily focused in the production of various african handcrafts,made from local available raw materials such as soapstone,hyancith plant,paper beads,banana fibres and recycled wires.
Our producer community mainly consists of widows,vulnerable women,youths,teenage mothers and out of school girls all who have learned the art of curving,joining beads and making cards so that they can be self sustainable.
We are currently supporting 100 artisans directly and 700 others indirectly through the sale of our finished crafts ,who live under poverty ,in the slums of nyalenda,obunga,and manyatta in kisumu and its hiden sectors.
What i wish to engage you in is to help us market our products international, since we normally depend on the local market.Please am very much intrested to hear how best you can help us.
Thank you
Geoffrey Tamaro
Best regards