What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade is a method of doing business with justice and morality.
It helps small-scale farmers and artisans participate in the global
marketplace without being exploited, and gives consumers product choices
that are in line with their values.
Fair Trade’s principles include:
- Fairness — helping level the playing field between producers from
poor, remote regions of the world and big corporations from wealthy
countries
- Opposing cruel working conditions
- Promoting democratic principles
- Protecting children
- Supporting women’s rights
- Good stewardship of resources and the environment
Fair Trade requires:
- Guaranteeing farmers and artisans a fair price based on their cost
of production, cost of living and the quality of their product
- Supporting development by paying an additional “social premium” that gets invested into community projects
- Working with democratically-run organizations that give members a
voice, the power to negotiate better prices, and the ability to ride out
hard times
- Providing up-front payment or affordable credit, which lets the
farmers and artisans invest in equipment or materials to improve their
production
- Following labor regulations so that children are not forced to work at the expense of going to school
- Adhering to strict regulations that protect natural resources for future generations
Fair Trade is more than just business: it proves that compassion and
integrity in world trade are possible. It highlights the need for
change in the rules of conventional trade and shows how a successful
business can put people first.
Fair Trade promotes development.
The farmer and artisan associations who are involved in Fair Trade
reinvest a share of the proceeds into their communities through projects
such as:
- Building wells and clean water systems
- Constructing roads
- Investing in health clinics
- Expanding schools
- Offering affordable credit to their members
Buy Fair Trade today!
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