Useful extras
January 25, 2008
Buy Fair Trade
Challenge Yourself for: 24 Hours
Shopping at your local grocery store, you may have seen the “Fair Trade Certified” label on foods like chocolate, tea, coffee, sugar, wine, and fruit. But what exactly does it mean?
Essentially, the Fair Trade certification process ensures that farmers in developing countries get a fair price for their crops, as well as good working conditions. In addition, it ensures environmental sustainability and preserves agricultural traditions by keeping farming profitable for small-scale traders and family farmers.
The next time you go to the store, keep an eye out for the “Fair Trade Certified” label. Whenever possible, support Fair Trade by choosing these products above others.
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I only buy my coffee from starbucks which is claimed to be only fair trade beans
I love to buy Fair trade products. When looking at products, and I see one company has the Fair Trade emblem on the package, I will buy that companies product, regardless of the price. So many child slaves and uneducated farmers are being used in day to day harvesting of items such as coffee and cocoa beans. I did a report for my speech class about this, and I was astonished to find that big American companies don’t use free trade, and willingly or not, they use slave labor. Imagine a 12 year old kid or 10 year old kid being forced to climb up a cocoa tree with a machete and having to chop the pods for 12 to 14 hours a day, no matter what the temperature, or weather, or night or day. Companies who use the Fair Trade emblem guarantees they do not use slaves, and they do educate their farmers to provide a better product, they are even paid accordingly to their local standards. I strongly believe all people should boycott products that do not have the free trade emblem and only buy those that do. It’s a small step in the right direction to ensure human rights and equality for all humans of this wonderful planet. (taken from my previous comment about reading labels).
I have bought fair trade dried cranberries from our local World Hunger Farm and fair trade hot cocoa mix from our youth group at church. Both were excellent products.
I’m going to only purchase Fair Trade at Starbucks.
My college-age son turned me on to fair-trade whole coffee beans…love it!
We bought some coffee that was fair trade certified … I think hubby-to-be liked it better than what we normally buy. (I don’t drink coffee.)