A lot of fair trade stores relieve profiles in the newspapers. But we came across a unique one in the Scranton, Pennsylvania's The Times Tribune.This store is co-owned by a very idealistic 15 year old. Amanda Fox, along with her mother Kathy, sell fair trade products from their store Fanciful Fox. Amanda says her social consciousness began to develop from a missions trip to Central America.Her interest in fair trade took a little longer to materialize. It began when she was 11 years old and decided she would become a vegetarian. That decision, according to Amanda, more or less came to her in a dream.“I know how weird that sounds and how much of a ditzy hippie I might sound like,” Amanda said. “But, I woke up one morning and I kind of had one of those light bulb moments where I was...
We like to plug these whenever we see them. A fair trade sale is taking place in Minnesota to help people of Paraguay. A village in Paraguay wants to have sinks to wash in. So money raised from this sale in Winona, Minnesota will go to the village, and the Peace Corps volunteers stationed there, to help install sanitation and water.Also, the fair trade sale sells the goods of craft makers from throughout the world. Goods sold at sales like these help to make sure these people get a decent wage for their work.The Winona Daily News's Dustin Kass reports on the conditions of the Paraguay village.Winona Daily News November 4thMany of Tonya Turben’s neighbors walk half an hour for water, just to fill up a basket that the women can use to wash their family’s laundry, dishes or hands.Most of...
Here is a great idea to spread awareness of fair trade.A group in Wisconsin will ad something to trick or treating this year. The children will also be handing out candy, but it's fair trade candy.It's called "Reverse Trick or Treating". Sara Boyd a writer for the Green Bay Press Gazette tells us about the organisation with the great idea. A Better Footprint is a local fair trade organization that aims to educate others in the benefits of organic, eco-friendly or ethically sourced goods. Fair trade is a movement that advocates paying fair price as well as meeting social and environmental standards in the production of a wide variety of goods."It really is an awareness campaign," she said. "With a lot of our food, a lot of people never think of where it comes from."Most of the world's...
from All Africa Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)By Teresa RobinsSevilleFair trade has grown in leaps and bounds since the mid-1990s but retailers such as El Corte Ingles, the department store chain with the most sales in Europe, are still not giving consumers the choice to buy these products.In 1996 the Spanish parliament introduced an initiative to encourage fair trade products, with regional governments introducing similar resolutions across Spain. The government became a consumer of fair trade products and encouraged local businesses and private and public organisations to follow suit.Some interest groups have also worked to promote and regulate fair trade. Of these, InterMon Oxfam is a major importer of fair trade goods and has committed itself to promoting African goods, sold...
from the Herald Mail By CRYSTAL SCHELLEBOONSBORO - Sally Poole will never meet the women who make the necklaces and other handmade jewelry she's selling on their behalf through BeadforLife.To Poole, who lives in Boonsboro, it doesn't matter that those women live a world away in East Africa."I think we need to care for each other around the world," Poole said.Poole will sell the beads from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, as part of the Fall Fest at Mount Lena United Methodist Church. The event will feature food and crafts. All of the money collected from the sale of the jewelry will be sent to BeadforLife to benefit Ugandan bead makers.Since BeadforLife was founded in Colorado in 2004, it has been helping women of Uganda find a market for the paper beads they've been creating for...
from Suburban Chicago News Fair trade business people try to create a business that benefits the world, artisan and themselves. This story profiles one such businesswomen in Chicago's north suburbs. - KaleBy Rena Fulka sun-times news groupColleen Laino spends her weekends outdoors peddling baskets, jewelry and reusable totes crafted by artisans in Third World countries.Though she started the Thoughtful World Shop as an online business, Laino sells her wares at farmers markets in Frankfort and Tinley Park to raise awareness about the growing fair trade movement.After five weeks of rubbing elbows with the public, the Frankfort stay-at-home mom was boasting a small following in the south suburbs."The last weekend in July was the best weekend I ever had in the business," said Laino, who was...
from NE Business Here is a good profile on a fair trade business. This explores some of the challenges in keeping a workforce when you struggle with diseases like AIDS or malaria.by Andrew Mernin,IMAGINE running a business where almost 50% of your employees are infected with a potentially killer disease and the average life expectancy of your workforce is just 31.Imagine standing by as key employees become severely ill or die on a regular basis, leaving your company and community in a constant state of disarray.These are just some of the trials and tribulations faced by businesses in the Aids-ravaged, poverty-stricken Southern African state of Swaziland.However a North East fair-trade company is hoping to change things as it prepares its long-term strategy to help the country, which sits...
from the Melbourne Herald Sun This follows the story of a consumer group in Australia accusing OXFAM's fair trade label as misleading. OXFAM is now defending it's fair trade certification. - KaleFree market think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), has complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that Oxfam has been misleading consumers about the brands helping farmers in developing nations.The IPA today released a letter it received from the ACCC.The letter said the ACCC had conveyed its view to Oxfam that some of its statements contained "absolute claims'', which could be at risk of breaching the Trade Practices Act if the Fairtrade certification process was not 100 per cent reliable.But the letter said the ACCC would not take any action against...
from the Racine Journal Times An organization called the Racine Dominicans are opening a fair trade store this fall. - KaleBy Michael BurkeRACINE — The Racine Dominicans this fall will open the HOPES Center, a Downtown operation that will be part ministry, part fair-trade store and part coffee shop.The sisters called it "a place for healing and opportunity."The components include A Cup of Hope, a coffee shop at 507 Sixth St., and Just Trade at 505 Sixth St., a store that will sell fair-trade products. The HOPES center will be located at 504 Seventh St."The focus of the center is really around poverty," Sister Ann Pratt, the center’s director, said Friday. "Economic poverty, ecological poverty — those things go hand in hand."And spiritual poverty, that sense of longing that people...
from the San Francisco Chonicle Now there is a fair trade scheme that follows the Tupperware model. This one helps women in Uganda. - KaleMeredith May, Chronicle Staff WriterAfter work one Thursday, a group of women friends gathered for Chardonnay and goat cheese at a posh home in Los Altos.A veritable pirate's booty of colorful beaded jewelry was piled on the dining room table, where the women spent most of the evening trying on bracelets and necklaces.Welcome to the Tupperware party of the new millennium. In the Bay Area and across the nation, women are gathering in homes and churches to buy colorful beads made by women from an Ugandan village.The women of Kampala make the beads out of magazine paper. BeadforLife, the Colorado nonprofit behind the movement, imports and sells the...
All Africa Usually story's on fair trade stores only profile the store itself. This one talks of the artisans who supply the store. - KaleInter Press Service (Johannesburg)By Stephanie NieuwoudtCape TownEntering the Monkeybiz shop, one is confronted with hundreds of brightly coloured beaded animals, dolls, place mats and pictures. You find yourself smiling involuntarily."Just look at the beautiful work. How can you resist it?" asked Emma Johnson, an American tourist who visited the shop twice in one week. "I am buying a lot of dolls to take home as Christmas gifts."Another tourist, Beatrice LaCroix from Canada, said she was impressed with the fact that Monkeybiz helped poor people: "I read about this project some time ago. When I arrived in Cape Town, I made a point of finding out where...
from journal Live, UK This is a look into the future for fair trade. With prices going up and the climate changing, will fair trade still be able to help? - Kaleby Jane Hall, The JournalAs the credit crunch bites and we become more conscious about how we spend our money, what does the future hold for prime food brands like Fairtrade? Jane Hall finds out.IMAGINE having to permanently forego your morning wake-up shot of Peruvian coffee or soothing cup of Assam tea.Worse still, muse on what it would be like to never again enjoy the pleasure of eating a banana, drinking pineapple juice or adding an exotic twist to your fruit salad with slices of mango and papaya.Contemplate what life would be like with no more lemons, limes, grapefruit or lychees. No more demerara sugar, cashews or raisins....
from the Galveston Daily News This article is a good primer on the basics of fair trade. Explaining what makes an item "Fair Trade Certified" - KaleBy Leigh Jones Today’s consumers are toting their consciences with them on shopping trips, a trend that has encouraged the growth of the fair trade market.Shoppers want to know that the products they buy aren’t produced in sweat shops and that the farmers get a fair price for their crops.But with retail outlets thousands of miles from the coffee plantations and rice fields where their purchases originate, how can buyers be sure they’re shopping with a clean conscience?What Is Fair Trade?The fair trade philosophy ensures producers get a fair wage for their work and labor in healthy working conditions. It also emphasizes environmental...
from the Troy Record By: Tom Caprood WATERFORD - Visitors to the Waterford Harbor Farmers Market Sunday were greeted by the addition of a new Ballston Spa vendor in honor of the market's focus on the many benefits of fair trade.Mango Tree Imports at 2124 Route 50 in Ballston Spa was represented by the shop's owner, Kim Anderson, who was on hand to sell some of her store's wares, as well as answer any questions about the Fair Trade Federation that people had."Fair trade is basically an attempt at poverty alleviation in the developing world through sustainable business practices rather than just through charity," said Anderson, who noted that her shop was one of roughly 300 nationwide members of the Fair Trade Federation.Anderson explained that her shop offers items from over 55 countries...
from The Lake Elmo Leader by Andy BlenkushA woman named Sonny grows basil in the St. Croix River Valley. Miguel farms coffee in Peru. At Freeset Bags in India, women seeking freedom from the streets of Calcutta’s red light district can find work at Freeset to earn wages in a safe environment.These people share a common denominator – they seek a fair price for their work.Fair Trade is not a buzzword. It is an international movement gaining momentum across the globe, nation, state and St. Croix River Valley. Fair Trade networks strive for equality within international trading. It seeks to give farmers and artisans who struggle in today’s economics humane working conditions, educational resources and livable wages that allow them to compete in various markets worldwide.River Market...
from the Blackpool GazetteBy Lisa EttridgeIT may look as though Beacon Hill has gone wild – but in fact these furry friends have been teaching pupils about world poverty.The Bispham school was chosen to host the national launch of a new online game which aims to tests the international knowledge of students.To mark the launch, International Development Minister Gillian Merron paid a flying visit to see the game in action and to speak of her recent experiences in Malawi and Zambia.The interactive quiz game, called Race Against Global Poverty, is aimed towards young people between 11 and 16 and has been developed by the Department For International Development as a way to make learning about the world more fun.Beacon Hill was chosen as the launch school for their ongoing work on...
from the Lake County News Sun
Ten Thousand Villages recognized by Forbes magazine
June 28, 2008
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By JUDY MASTERSON JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM
GRAYSLAKE -- One of the most ethical companies in the world is doing business here.
Ten Thousand Villages, which sells handmade gifts, jewelry and home decor crafted by Third World artisans, was recognized earlier this month for its fair trade and sustainable economic and environmental practices by Forbes magazine and the Ethisphere Institute.
The shop at 960 Harris Road, Grayslake, is one of 150 nonprofit Ten Thousand Villages retail stores across the United States. Founded 62 years ago by the Mennonites, the company establishes long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack economic opportunity. It practices...
from The Lantern, OSU Theresa AttallaSometimes people just want to be acknowledged for their work.This is the simple goal of Global Gallery, located 682 N. High St. in the Short North. Established in 1991 by four local area churches, Global Gallery has taken it upon itself to spread the message of fair trade by selling products and educating the community about the importance of fair trade and the cultures it represents."The mission of Global Gallery has been an important driving force in my life," said Connie De Jong, arts scholars coordinator at Ohio State and executive director of Global Gallery.De Jong began as a volunteer worker and fought to keep it open when at one point it was going to close. Now, there are four locations in the Columbus area: Short North, Easton, Yellow Springs...
from the Journal Liveby Jane Hall, The JournalTWO North East restaurants are showing that a commitment to Fairtrade and support for local producers can be a recipe for success.Owners of modern Northumbrian restaurant Grainger Rooms and popular Fairtrade eatery The Open Kitchen, Chris Slaughter and Chris Jewitt, have joined forces to show that dining out does not need to be an ethical minefield.The two Newcastle-based businesses, which already stock a high amount of goods sourced from producers in the third world as well as from within this region, will be among the first restaurants in the North East to stock new to the market Fairtrade Merlot Reserve and Sauvignon Blanc by Chilean company Lautaro.Owner and head chef of Grainger Rooms, Chris Slaughter, said: “Supporting Fairtrade...
from The Guernsey PressBy Thom OgierFAIRTRADE’S popularity grew globally by almost half last year and Guernsey’s Mondomundi shop owner thinks he knows why.Phil Soulsby, 42, said the 47% sales boom was not just down to retail buying but it was also thanks to employers who had started opting to supply their staff with more ethical products.‘More workplaces are deciding to offer their staff the option of Fairtrade tea and coffee and some have begun to stock Fairtrade and nothing else,’ he said.He said companies in Guernsey were very aware of the need to act with respect for their global responsibilities.‘Managers over here have done a great job of putting Fairtrade on the menu,’ he said.Mr Soulsby, or Fairtrade Phil, as he is often called, said he had noticed that sales...
from the Guardian Ethical fashion pioneers may have to compete with the profit-obsessed high street but they still believe they are on the wave of the future, writes Matilda LeeThe best kept secret of any department store or fashion boutique is its troupe of soothsayers: the (mainly) women whose job it is - thanks to their skill, experience and sheer gut instinct - to figure out what consumers want to wear. As stores' creative directors or fashion buyers, they are trusted with million pound hunches to suss out the next "must haves" - be it by designer, cut, colour or hemline.Buyers not only decide what is on offer, they also are responsible for who will make the product, where it will be made, and how fast it must reach the shops. Their decisions impact upon the lives and livelihoods of...
from Suffolk Life Newspapers By:Michelle Gabrielle CentamoreWhen Edward Quinn, an employee of Stony Brook University's Department of Theatre Arts, decided to accompany Equal Exchange on a trip to the Dominican Republic to purchase coffee, he was determined to learn first-hand about fair trade and how it benefits the farmers in developing countries, as well as consumers. Equal Exchange is a worker-owned cooperative established in Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1986 dedicated to fair trade with small-scale coffee farmers in the developing world. The organization offers organic and gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa and chocolate bars produced by democratically run farmer co-ops in Latin America, Africa and Asia. By accompanying Equal Exchange on their trip, Quinn said he hoped that through...
from CNET News Posted by Stefanie Olsen SAN MATEO, Calif.--Catering to a rising tide of socially-conscious shoppers, eBay this summer plans to help publicly launch WorldofGood.com, a marketplace for buying fair-trade products, according to Robert Chatwani, eBay's general manager of the project.eBay, in partnership with a separate fair-trade company World of Good Inc., has already built a community site for people interested in goods that are made of recycled materials or produced by fairly treated workers, for example. But the two organizations plan to open a shopping site that will cater to these "social change consumers," Chatwani said here Tuesday at the Dow Jones Environment Conference.That segment of shopper spends as much as $45 billion on green products annually, he...
from The Stockton RecordBy Keith ReidRecord Staff WriterSTOCKTON - While her Waterloo School students are on vacation this summer, middle school teacher Stephanie Phillips will be preparing a special lesson plan for next year's classes - only she will be doing it in Brazil.Phillips won a grant in a nationwide contest, sponsored in part by Sam's Club, to visit Brazil for a week this summer to learn how coffee bean farmers in the South American country live and work.The trip will provide Phillips, and 10 other teachers from across the country, with a glimpse of how food products that are Fair Trade Certified can help environmental and economic conditions for farmers around the globe, trip organizers say.Phillips said she has long taught students in her social sciences classes about farming...
from Greater Milwaukee TodayMilwaukee becomes the first Fair Trade City in the United StatesBy LEAH DOBKINMilwaukee is known for its beer and brats, but many aren’t aware it is also an international leader in fair trade.In fact, last June the city council passed a resolution designating Milwaukee as the first and only Fair Trade City in the United States, resulting in a beehive of activities to promote fair trade in our fair city.Fair trade promotes livable wages, safe working conditions and long-term economic and environmental sustainability for farmers and artisans in developing countries. Green and organic products are hot, but so are fair trade products. Demand for fair trade in the U.S. is growing at a rate of approximately 40 percent annually, totaling $2.6 billion in sales in...
from the Charleston City PaperBY ERIC BLAIR Food shopping has never been more political than it is now. Beyond the clutter of brands vying for consumers' attention in any grocery store aisle, deep social movements are at play, and marketers are keen to exploit their ideas to slap an additional 30 cents on a price tag. Eat organic. Buy local. Help children in Africa get access to clean drinking water. Support Lowcountry shrimp. The consumer is more powerful than ever, and at times, also more confused.A few years ago, the concept of buying fair trade goods caught on. To be considered fair trade, a product has to meet the labor and environmental standards set by one of several international organizations. While the fair trade sales are still rapidly increasing, the public's concern has...
from the Daytona Beach News JournalImagine being able to help fight poverty by shopping. Members of the Fair Trade Federation have taken that idea and turned it into a network of businesses that offers products from sources that directly benefit workers in impoverished nations.On May 10, people in 70 countries will mark World Fair Trade Day to highlight the importance and advantages of fair trade. The event will include an attempt to break the record for the world's biggest coffee break, a feat designed mainly to bring more attention to the cause.Participating locally will be the Gifts With Humanity, a fair trade store at 2808 Hibiscus Drive (Units 4 and 5) in Edgewater."When 50 percent of the world's populations live on less than $2 a day, it really doesn't take that much to make a...
from IPS NewsBy David CroninBRUSSELS, Apr 17 (IPS) - From its humble beginnings in the 1950s, the fair trade movement has gone from selling coffee at left-wing political meetings to having whole sections devoted to its fruit and chocolate products in European supermarkets. The last five years have been especially buoyant; after witnessing annual growth rates of up to 40 percent, the sale of fair trade products hit 2 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars) in 2007.Yet the expansion has not been trouble-free.In 2005, Nestlé brought out a brand of coffee called Partners, bearing the widely recognised fair trade logo. One of the world's most boycotted companies, the Swiss multinational has long been accused of aggressively marketing its baby milk products in a way that has discouraged mothers in...
from Canada comDon CayoVancouver SunVANCOUVER -- You'd think that when a farm's productivity soars, so would the farmer's income.Yet, while that's often the case in a rich society like ours, it usually isn't in a poor one.There, as long as farmers produce the same old local staples -- things like rice, maize, millet or cassava, which rarely trade internationally -- it doesn't matter much how many more mouths they feed. As yields go up, prices go down, and the farmers are no better off. It's only if or when they get into export crops that their incomes increase.So, while Asia's Green Revolution freed up huge numbers of workers to move to the city and power its modern-day Industrial Revolution, the resulting new wealth is most unevenly distributed. And many, many farm families remain mired...
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