FAIR TRADE - LEARN & SUPPORT

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Who are we willing to exploit for the sake of our morning cup of tea, or coffee? Or for our chocolate fixes? Buying Fair Trade tea means, literally, that the children of those tea farmers are able to go to school. Without Fair Trade, they don't. As for chocolate, it is the single most child slave-labor intensive product in the world. Children are stolen, and sold into slave labor, for the sake of our indulgences. Look for the Fair Trade Certified label on products.

FAIR TRADE - FROM CO-OP AMERICA
Here you can learn all about what Fair Trade means. Click on the "What To Know" link. This is a good place to start. Fair Trade addresses very important issues such as economic justice and the sustainability of both humans and earth.

What can you do?
NATIONAL GREEN PAGES
Here, you can browse for Fair Trade products. The National Green Pages is the only directory of of screened and approved green businesses, and is provided by Co-op America. You can also buy this directory in health food and book stores. It is updated each year. See "Fair Trade Federation" below for another "what can you do" tip.

FAIR TRADE FEDERATION
This is an association of folks working to ensure fair wages to farmers and others around the world. Members are the farmers and producers, the wholesalers and the retailers.
What can you do?
Use these links, below, where you can find retail member listings by state. You can also search wholesalers, mail order catalogs, online catalogs and producers...
RETAIL STORES BY STATE
WHOLESALERS
MAIL ORDER CATALOGS
ONLINE CATALOGS
PRODUCERS
I've just recently heard wonderful things about the first producer listed in the 'Producers" link above: "Agbanga Karite". A great example of how things should be done. Read about their philosophy and their community projects.

Another What Can You Do? Shop here...
TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES


FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED - TRANSFAIR USA
This is the only 3rd-party certifier of Fair Trade in the US. Fair Trade has given over $60 million more to coffee makers in Latin America, Africa and Asia than they would have had without Fair Trade policies. For now, these products can be bought Fair Trade: coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and grapes.

FAIR TRADE BLOG
This the blog from Fair Trade Certified, written by Dave Rochlin, the COO of TransFair USA.