Please note: This posting critiques the fair trade industry at the close of 2011. As of January 2012, Fair Trade USA revised their standards and the current standards will be discussed in a future posting.) Part 4 of a multi-series blog. Read Part 1-3 here Fair Trade International and Fair Trade USA have both had a positive impact on the [...]
By: Julie Fahnestock Part 3 of a multi-series post (read part 1 and part 2) (Please note: This posting critiques the fair trade industry at the close of 2011. As of January 2012, Fair Trade USA revised their standards and the current standards will be discussed in a future posting. Click on the link at the bottom of the post to [...]
The following is a guest post by Jacob Schmalzle. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Global Exchange. — MADE IN CHINA…Or Is It? The Outsourcing Rabbit Hole As the founder of my church’s Fair Trade mission, I’ve witnessed untold billions of dollars wasted on ineffective programs to alleviate poverty. Without belittling these [...]
By: Julie Fahnestock Part 2 of a multi-series post The majority of consumers who consider themselves “ethical shoppers” are most likely to be familiar with the term, “fair trade.” An ethical consumer is also likely to know about the history of exploitation of small farmers behind the coffee, bananas, sugar and tea industries. The average, ethical consumer, however, is unlikely [...]
By: Julie Fahnestock Part 1 of a multi-post series. You’ve learned about the slavery behind food, apparel and well, almost everything you consume. You’ve decided to make some lifestyle choices and invest into more expensive, ethical products. You’ve heard fair trade ensures equitable wages for farmers. Whole Foods is down the street and you know they offer multiple fair trade products. [...]
By Lauren Brock April is Earth Month. It’s the perfect occasion to brush up on your recycling and composting, plant a tree, ride your bike, and replace your light bulbs with the spiral-shaped energy-efficient ones. Here’s some good news: You can also add stocking up on Fair Trade Certified products to that list. You might already be familiar with how [...]
By: Robin Rossmanith Having a fair trade Christmas is one of the most significant things a concerned consumer can do when it comes to respecting the earth and all its people. Fair trade is a certification given to goods and products that have been produced without doing harm to the environment or to people. Your choosing to have a fair [...]
By: Katie Radford Where do your clothes come from? Do you know who made them? More often than not, we look at the aesthetics of the clothing to tell a story about ourselves and don’t consider the story of the actual piece. For the past fifteen months, I have worked with a fashion organization called Of Rags, which is changing how [...]
Forgotten produces relevant and notable fair trade t-shirts that provide consumers with a practical means of shopping justly while empowering African farmers and textile workers, and Minneapolis teenagers through job creation and business development. I’ve had the unique opportunity to travel around the world and have found that poverty looks the same wherever you go. And yet that’s the [...]
A word to describe Atlanta is dynamic. The city has seen great movement in the last 10 years; adding an average of 500,000 people annually, more than any other metro area in the United States. Growth also means that Atlanta is becoming more diverse and young with an average age of 33 (36 is the average age for US population). [...]
