Karma And Cash
With fair trade, you can make money and help stop inhumane labor practices.
Visitors to Traditions in Olympia, Washington, may be lured into
the shop by the smell of incense or the strains of international
music. They may stay to browse its collections of carved wooden
animals from Kenya, lacquer pins from Russia or colorful Guatemalan
shawls. They may even stop to sip a cup of environmentally correct
coffee, grown by independent farmers and without damage to the
environment, in the adjoining cafe. But no matter how long they
stay, one thing is certain: They'll leave with an
education.
That's because owner Dick Meyer's goal isn't simply
to sell wonderful products--it's to promote awareness of
working conditions in developing countries around the world, often
by telling the stories of the artisans who produce his store's
merchandise. Part of a growing international "fair trade"
movement helping to develop markets for disadvantaged artisans,
Meyer works with cooperatives, collectives and wholesalers
worldwide to ensure that his wares are not only appealing but
socially responsible.
"I've always been in-volved with social and community
issues," says Meyer. "I liked the idea of selling
products that benefit not only my community but the community of
the artisan."
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According to the International Federation for Alternative Trade
(IFAT), the primary purpose of fair trade is to "trade with
concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of
marginalized producers in developing countries." Products
purchased from participating groups are guaranteed to have been
made under humane working conditions--no sweatshops, no convicts
and no exploitative child labor.
"When consumers purchase something from a fair-trade
store," says Candi Smucker, co-owner of retail store Baksheesh
in Sonoma, California, "they're guaranteed the person who
made the product is being paid fairly and isn't working in
sweatshop conditions," a claim major retailers can't
always make.
Moira Allen is the author of Writing.com (Allworth
Press) and editor of Global Writers' Ink, an electronic
newsletter for international writers. She has been writing
professionally for more than 20 years.
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