Choose to shop fair trade. Armies of pyschologists, scientists and marketeers have been trying to get you to believe you are not thin enough, not hot enough and not good enough without pricy BRAND NAME LABELS and products. Every time you fork over your money to a seemingly great company, they are keeping millions of third world country people, many of them children and women, enslaved and working for hours for ridiculous pay to stitch your new Holli
ster or Nike T-shirt. You have to buy local. Things made in the U.S.A, or Canada or Europe. You have to pick fair trade. Fair trade coffee, clothes, products. This is the only way to end the madness. Just because we do not live in third world countries does not mean we have to allow others to live in pain and suffering while providing our clothes and luxuries. Look for fair trade stores near you. Why would you want to pay so much money for a name or logo stitched onto your shirt!!!! (I asked myself that yesterday at the mall!) And you know what, you will feel GOOD knowing you are helping make the world a better place, instead of contributing to the evils of the corporate, capitalist society we live in. There is a way to fix it, and it is called change.
http://transfair.ca/
About Fairtrade
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade Certification
TransFair Canada
FLO International
Facts & Figures
Bibliography
Newsletter
Home //
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade is really about making changes to conventional trade, which frequently fails to deliver on promises of sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for people in the poorest countries in the world.
Poverty and hardship limit people’s choices while market forces tend to further marginalise and exclude them. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation, whether as farmers and artisans, or as hired workers within larger businesses.
That two billion of our fellow citizens survive on less than $2 per day, despite working extremely hard, suggests that there is indeed a problem.
Fair Trade seeks to change the terms of trade for the products we buy - to ensure the farmers and artisans behind those products get a better deal. Most often this is understood to mean ensuring better prices for producers, but it often also includes longer-term and more meaningful trading relationships.
One Size Fits All?
How this is done varies widely - how people practice Fair Trade is largely determined by how they understand the problems it's meant to address.
For instance, TransFair Canada manages the Canadian side of an international system that sets standards defining what Fair Trade products are, and provides Canadians with a way to know whether those standards have been met. The intent is to both bring clarity about Fair Trade and instill confidence in the public that it is not about empty promises.
However, neither TransFair Canada nor the international system it represents invented Fair Trade, nor are its standards the only way it should be understood. Even companies who meet our standards and whose products carry our certification mark often approach Fair Trade differently, and it's up to you as an individual to decide which approach makes the most sense to you.
Ultimately, Fair Trade appeals to our sense of fairness and common decency, and applies those values to the marketplace. It allows us to make a positive difference in the world just by the products we choose to buy.
You’re off to the shops, you’ve got your list, a tight budget and twenty minutes to spare. The last thing on your mind is helping people across the world.
But doing your bit doesn’t have to take lots of time, effort and money. By choosing to put a few Fairtrade items in your basket, you are helping people across the world to help themselves.
Fairtrade products are high quality products and the people who grew or produced the goods are paid a fairer price for their work. Being able to rely on a market for their goods, they can plan for their future and that of their children. They can build schools and clinics, put in a clean water supply, and expand their business so it employs more local people.
ster or Nike T-shirt. You have to buy local. Things made in the U.S.A, or Canada or Europe. You have to pick fair trade. Fair trade coffee, clothes, products. This is the only way to end the madness. Just because we do not live in third world countries does not mean we have to allow others to live in pain and suffering while providing our clothes and luxuries. Look for fair trade stores near you. Why would you want to pay so much money for a name or logo stitched onto your shirt!!!! (I asked myself that yesterday at the mall!) And you know what, you will feel GOOD knowing you are helping make the world a better place, instead of contributing to the evils of the corporate, capitalist society we live in. There is a way to fix it, and it is called change.http://transfair.ca/
About Fairtrade
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade Certification
TransFair Canada
FLO International
Facts & Figures
Bibliography
Newsletter
Home //
What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade is really about making changes to conventional trade, which frequently fails to deliver on promises of sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for people in the poorest countries in the world.
Poverty and hardship limit people’s choices while market forces tend to further marginalise and exclude them. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation, whether as farmers and artisans, or as hired workers within larger businesses.
That two billion of our fellow citizens survive on less than $2 per day, despite working extremely hard, suggests that there is indeed a problem.
Fair Trade seeks to change the terms of trade for the products we buy - to ensure the farmers and artisans behind those products get a better deal. Most often this is understood to mean ensuring better prices for producers, but it often also includes longer-term and more meaningful trading relationships.
One Size Fits All?
How this is done varies widely - how people practice Fair Trade is largely determined by how they understand the problems it's meant to address.
For instance, TransFair Canada manages the Canadian side of an international system that sets standards defining what Fair Trade products are, and provides Canadians with a way to know whether those standards have been met. The intent is to both bring clarity about Fair Trade and instill confidence in the public that it is not about empty promises.
However, neither TransFair Canada nor the international system it represents invented Fair Trade, nor are its standards the only way it should be understood. Even companies who meet our standards and whose products carry our certification mark often approach Fair Trade differently, and it's up to you as an individual to decide which approach makes the most sense to you.
Ultimately, Fair Trade appeals to our sense of fairness and common decency, and applies those values to the marketplace. It allows us to make a positive difference in the world just by the products we choose to buy.
You’re off to the shops, you’ve got your list, a tight budget and twenty minutes to spare. The last thing on your mind is helping people across the world.
But doing your bit doesn’t have to take lots of time, effort and money. By choosing to put a few Fairtrade items in your basket, you are helping people across the world to help themselves.
Fairtrade products are high quality products and the people who grew or produced the goods are paid a fairer price for their work. Being able to rely on a market for their goods, they can plan for their future and that of their children. They can build schools and clinics, put in a clean water supply, and expand their business so it employs more local people.
