Fair
Trade is a system of exchange that honors producers, communities,
consumers, and the environment. It is a model for the global economy
rooted in people to people connections, justice, and sustainability.
The following links are provided to help you learn more about Fair
Trade.
We bring you fair trade handcrafts and
foods from around the world. We strive to promote living wages, women's
rights and eco-friendly production through our partnerships with
small-scale artisan and farmer groups. No child exploitation is used to
make our products.
Aid to Artisans, a non-profit
organization, is also a global community of people. We offer
practical assistance worldwide to artisans who work with us as
partners to foster artistic traditions and cultural vitality, to
improve livelihoods and to keep communities healthy, strong and
growing. We work with our artisan-partners to develop products
with the appeal to compete successfully in new markets around the
world and to improve their business skills so that the changes we
achieve as partners are enduring.
Our goal is simple: a world community of entrepreneur-craftspeople who
have the ability to improve their own lives, the lives of their
families, the communities in which they make their homes, and their
livelihoods.
Coop America is a nonprofit
consumer education organization for environmentally wise purchasing and
investing, located in Washington, DC, with over 52,000 members
throughout the country.
Equal Exchange, founded in
1986, is the oldest and largest for-profit Fair Trade company in the
US. We offer organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate
bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America,
Africa and Asia.
Fair Trade is an innovative, market-based
approach to sustainable development. Fair Trade helps family farmers in
developing countries to gain direct access to international markets, as
well as to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the
global marketplace. By learning how to market their own harvests, Fair
Trade farmers are able to bootstrap their own businesses and receive a
fair price for their products. This leads to higher family living
standards, thriving communities and more sustainable farming practices.
Fair Trade empowers farming families to take care of themselves -
without developing dependency on foreign aid. [more]
The Fair Trade
Federation (FTF) is an association of fair trade wholesalers,
retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing
fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically
disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide.
FTF directly links low-income producers with consumer markets and
educates consumers about the importance of purchasing fairly
traded products which support living wages and safe and healthy
conditions for workers in the developing world.
Fair trade provides a perfect
opportunity for us as Christians to translate our beliefs and
convictions about peace and justice into concrete, reconciling
actions.
We
are just two people, Jeff and Beth Rogers, with the occasional help of
a few volunteers, chief among them our daughter Jenna, son David,
the three other families who live on our property with us, and the host
of people we are fortunate enough to call our friends. Jeff also
works as a potter and sometimes carpenter, and Beth also works
with young people in our local elementry school. Besides our love
for art we also love to garden, take care of animals and receive
visitors to Faith / Works Global Gallery. more
Welcome to IFAT - the global
network of Fair Trade Organizations. Our mission is to improve the
livelihoods and well being of disadvantaged producers by linking and
promoting Fair Trade Organizations, and speaking out for greater
justice in world trade.
Oxfam America is
dedicated to creating lasting solutions to hunger, poverty, and social
injustice through long-term partnerships with impoverished communities
around the world. Oxfam's web site contains information on the Fair
Trade Coffee Campaign, including profiles on coffee-growing
cooperatives and information for activists.
