Happy Fair Trade Month

Happy Fair Trade Month

October is Fair Trade Month, and you can celebrate by learning more about Fair Trade, and then purchasing items that are Fair Trade. Fair trade’s strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalised producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency.

Education

Fair Trade provides farming families with the income and stability they need to keep their children in school, not working in the fields. From Nicaragua to India, Fair Trade farmer cooperatives have provided school supplies, tuition and uniforms, set up scholarship programs, and financed free, healthy meals for children.

Health

Fair Trade farming communities worldwide have elected to invest Fair Trade premiums into lifesaving health facilities and programs. From HIV/AIDS and First Aid programs to drugs and medication that help reduce the incidence of malaria, Hepatitis B, typhoid, dengue fever, and anemia, disadvantaged farmers and workers around the world have benefited from Fair Trade. Farmer groups often provide emergency funds for workers, which helps support them during health crises, as well as life insurance, which is highly uncommon in the developing world. Some cooperatives have subsidized eye glasses and medical exams for members and their families.

Women’s Empowerment

The U.S. Fair Trade market provides women from Bolivia to Papua New Guinea with funds for life-saving health programs, micro-credit, income diversification opportunities, leadership training, and more. Fair Trade cooperative members have fewer cases of domestic violence than in the community at-large, due to an improved quality of life and greater personal empowerment, many coop members say. One Honduran cooperative even views spousal abuse as grounds for dismissal.

In contrast to the norm in many rural areas of the world, Fair Trade cooperatives encourage women’s active participation; women occupy leadership positions in many Fair Trade cooperatives.

Environment

Fair Trade makes small-scale agriculture more profitable. This discourages deforestation, and preserves traditional intercropped farms that prevent erosion and protect wildlife. Fair Trade also requires dramatic reductions in agrochemical use, forbids the use of the most dangerous chemicals, and requires implementation of Integrated Crop Management (ICM) systems and other environmental stewardship practices. Fair Trade also provides farmers and workers with financial incentives and technical assistance to convert to organic production. As a result, many Fair Trade Certified products sold on the U.S. market are also certified organic. A guaranteed premium for Fair Trade Certified organic products can put organic agriculture within financial reach.

Many Happyhippie.com Retailers support Fair Trade.

You may also visit TransFair USA, which enables sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable global trade model that benefits farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth.

Enter the Connect with Fair Trade Video Contest and win a free trip to Peru!