Trade As One

As an undergraduate student studying humanities and fast approaching my fourth year, academic discussions of current world issues are all too common. In April I wrote a paper discussing human trafficking and the various methods in which non-profit organizations and fair trade companies alike are seeking the abolition of this form of modern day slavery. Little did I know that only two months later I would be participating in a conference, as an intern with Trade As One, whose purpose is to address the growing issue of human trafficking on both the international and the domestic levels. My academic discussion in the classroom suddenly became a reality through this internship.

For some attending the human trafficking conference at Congregation Netivot Shalom, a synagogue in Berkeley, California, this was their first introduction to the effects of human trafficking. Although Trade as One is all too familiar with slavery and its effects, the experience was new in one respect, this was the first time we’ve been invited to an event taking place within a Jewish community. This was special because it brought us into contact with a whole new community of people with whom we share so many values. We got to connect with them and share our common desire to fight slavery, and we also got to share one of our favorite producer stories, Thanksgiving Coffee. They are a coffee co-op from Uganda made up of people who have intentionally set aside the religious differences between Muslim, Jewish, and Christian neighbors and have united to combat extreme poverty, which plagues each individual group.

Upon arrival to the Congregation Netivot Shalom, attendees were given real stories of people encountering trafficking from around the world. Following the stories, the 8 organizations featured at the event, including Trade As One, shared about the work they are doing to bring an end to human trafficking. Trade as One is particularly concerned with the employment of people who have recently escaped human trafficking. Goods that Trade as One sells from producers such as: Hagar, Nightlight, and Rahab Bazaar, directly work with escapees from human trafficking.

As an intern, now more than ever, I have been forced to face this question: what is my responsibility towards problems that surround me? Issues such as human trafficking and poverty are indeed issues that are worldwide, but they are also here in our own backyards. What I have begun to understand is that while I am not from a poor household, I live under mandate to care for those who are poor and oppressed. My internship with Trade as One has opened my eyes to ways of alleviating poverty, and helping the oppressed through business venture. I am able to take part in a company that emphasizes social change and development around the world through the simple purchase of everyday goods. This is an opportunity that has shaped my purchasing habits, and has taken what was once an academic discussion, and made it personal and real.

Father’s Day is about a week away, and it’s been really cool to see Father’s Day orders shipping out, knowing that next Sunday these gifts will be opened all over the country, and the redemptive power of Fair Trade will be shared. Handmade Expressions, our partners in India, just sent us this fantastic video that shows how Fair Trade is affecting a Father and a Daughter in India. Please take a look and share it with your friends.

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If you’d like to see products made by this Father in India, you can click here or here.

A Trading Post is an on-going place within a bookstore, café or church where people can regularly purchase Fair Trade goods. This allows individuals to redirect their spending to Fair Trade purchasing where they can be part of breaking cycles of poverty and abuse around the globe.

Practically speaking, a Trading Post can be anything from a table that gets set up in the back of your church once a month to a special Fair Trade section of your church bookstore. See pictures of some of Trading Post Partners!

It has been really fun for us to see the number of Trading Posts grow because we know that means Fair Trade is becoming more and more accessible in your daily life. We encourage you Find a Post in our newly expanded Trading Post section of the site to see if there is a Trading Post near you that sells Trade as One products!

Recently, Lynne Hybels posted on her blog about the items she purchased through the Trading Post at Willow Creek’s bookstore, Seeds. How great to be able to buy our products locally!

If you want to start a Trading Post, read more about how it works here and then contact Rachel {rachel@tradeasone.com} to get started.

At some point in the next few days, we’ll have our 1000th order of 2010 here on our site.

To celebrate we’re giving away one of our favorite new products!

XS Project, our new partner in Indonesia, creates beautiful, functional products out of waste that would otherwise spend years (and years and years and years) decomposing in landfills.

One of our favorites is the Cooler Bag (guaranteed* to make you cooler). It’s a soft cooler that folds up for easy storage, expands to hold plenty of food and beverages, and is sure to turn heads. Each one is unique as the products it was upcycled from. We love it – so we’re giving it away!

The 1,000th customer here on our site gets this gift from us.

Hooray!

*Note: a guarantee of coolness on the Trade as One blog means absolutely nothing.

Throughout the year, Trade as One participates in events all around the country that seek to raise awareness and provide practical next steps on a whole host of issues. Last week, Trade as One was present at an event in Oakland, CA around the issue of human trafficking.

Many people living in the United States feel very distant from problems such as human trafficking. Aside from the occasional news article or Frontline special, it is difficult for many of us to contemplate the reality of a growing modern-day slave trade. Even when faced with the grim facts, how can we react?  What is there to do?  Many of you choose Fair Trade as a way to combat this crisis. Others get involved in activism, awareness-raising, work with local organizations fighting trafficking here in the US, and some of you even take short term trips to hotspots.

Nate and Laura Davis, of the non-profit organization Free Is a Verb, confronted those very same questions several years ago, and recently decided to uproot their lives in Oakland, CA in order to move to the Phillipines to fight human trafficking. As part of their fundraising efforts, they put on an event last Thursday, May 20th called “Taste for Freedom” at Mills College Student Union.

Guests from around the Bay Area sampled food and wine, participated in a silent auction, and learned about ways to help stop human trafficking, in the Bay Area and around the world. Ten organizations dedicated to abolishing human trafficking, including Trade as One, were represented at various tables around the room.  Other organizations, such as Because Justice Matters, California Against Slavery, Freedom House, Garden of Hope,  and the International Justice Mission offered educational materials and petitions against human trafficking in the Bay Area.  As the night progressed, hosts Nate and Laura Davis spoke to the crowd of their passion in fighting slavery and injustice.  They also shared a list of small actions that each American could take to fight human trafficking, including donating time and money, signing California Against Slavery’s petition, and buying Fair Trade products, especially products that are made by those escaping sexual slavery.

We so happy to know Nate and Laura. If you’d like to see more about our producers in the developing world who use enterprise to fight slavery and trafficking, click here.