If you’ve been to Incahoots lately, you’ve probably noticed an expanding assortment of hats, scarves, bags, personal accessories, and jewelry. (Just to clarify, it’s the assortment that’s expanding, not the items. Although many of them do stretch or unfold in some manner.) You may also have noticed that many of these items sport a tag that denotes them as being Fair Trade.
“What exactly is Fair Trade?” you may ask. “And why is it important to me and my little corner of the planet?”
Well, Fair Trade is a system that exists to give a chance to small farmers, artisans and workers around the world, so they can also benefit from globalization. This philosophy provides a platform that enables these disadvantaged people to rise above poverty and improve their standard of living.
While globalization has opened the doors for different countries to communicate, share ideas and engage in trade that should ultimately develop the world, in many situations it has also opened the door to exploitation. Many third world countries do not have the resources to compete equally with developed nations. In many cases, the powerful corporations in these nations set up a factory, a plantation or a mine under the pretense that they will pay the workers a salary (which is better than no salary), pay taxes, and improve the local economy. What often ends up happening is that people are overworked and are not compensated for all the sacrifices they make (their health, their family, their dignity).
It is no one’s fault that this system started, since people were just following the economic theories they knew. However, we are at a point where we realize that this is an unethical way of doing business. That is why people from both developed and developing nations have created the system of Fair Trade. It aims to empower the artisans, farmers and miners with education, access to credit, information about the markets, and communications tools so they can compete in the globalized economy. In the end, Fair Traders hope to create a system where the artisans and farmers become independent and self-sustainable. That is why Fair Trade exists: to create justice, to empower people, to break the poverty cycle, and ultimately so everyone can produce and buy products that are healthy for the people and the planet.
Fair Trade is anti-slavery and anti-child labor. It supports the conservation of the environment by using locally sourced materials, it respects and appreciates the hard work of people, it empowers women and minorities, and it provides a living wage for producers.
By supporting Fair Trade products, you are taking a step towards making the world a better place.
To learn more about Fair Trade and one of the nice companies that is supporting this movement, check out Handmade Expressions at:
www.handmadeexpressions.net
