The Big Swap: Shopping
February 26, 2010 @ 12:20 PM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with shopping. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
Ellis James, author of The Better World Shopping Guide, frames the problem that drove him to write his book by saying “Money is power”. This is a very familiar phrase and we use it often But, what does it really mean? When you hear that phrase, do you instantly begin thinking of other people – people in your view who actually have money or have power? You may not be famous and you may not feel powerful but the truth is, if you have any money at all to spend, you wield power with each dollar you spend… Read more
The Better World Shopping Guide: a handy pocket shopping guide. A comprehensive, up to date, user-friendly guide for socially and environmentally responsible consumers. This book gives a vast range of products an A-F ranking so you can quickly tell the ‘good guys’ from the ‘bad guys’- turning your grocery list into a powerful tool to change the world. This guide is organized into the most common product categories including coffee, energy bars, cell phones, gasoline, clothing, fast food, cars, water and more… Read more
The Big Swap: Bananas
February 25, 2010 @ 11:12 AM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with bananas. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
Bananas are symptomatic of many of the current problems with conventional trade. The “race to the bottom,” the all-consuming drive for lower prices, has created a system where the farmers are paid little, have unacceptable working and living conditions, a few multinational corporations wield a disproportionate amount of influence, and the environment is neglected or abused… Read more.
The Fair Trade Solution
Fair trade means that transparency, fairness, and basic human decency are built into the supply chain. Fair Trade bananas, like other Fair Trade Certified products, guarantee that the farmers are paid a living wage, that children are in schools, not working in the fields, that women are empowered and valued, and that the environment is respected and preserved… Read more.
The Big Swap: Chocolate
February 24, 2010 @ 01:46 PM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with chocolate. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
Credit: Daniel Rosenthal/Laif/Hollandse Hoogte
Child slavery, unfair working conditions, and unsustainable farming practices all factor into one of our most beloved treats.
The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) conducted an investigative report finding that hundreds of thousands of children were being purchased from their parents for very small amounts of money or even stolen and then shipped to the Ivory Coast where they are sold as slaves. The children work 80-100 hours per week… Read more
Fair Trade Chocolate purchasing guarantees that the cocoa farmers have an opportunity to make a real living because Fair Trade Standards ensure a minimum price for beans. The minimum price means the farmers can maintain a stable income and provide for their families. Additionally, when farmers sell their cacao beans to fair trade companies, they are prohibited from employing children. This ensures children in the community are getting an education rather than working in harsh labor conditions… Read more
The Big Swap: Cotton
February 23, 2010 @ 02:31 PM
This entry continues our Big Swap series with cotton. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
Cotton is everywhere. It touches all of us, quite literally, just about every day. The dark side of cotton’s ubiquity is the pain extracted from cotton farmers to make sure our prices stay low.
India is the world’s 2nd largest cotton producer (behind China), and the bulk of Indian cotton farmers come from its lower castes… Read more
Fair trade cotton has the potential to right these wrongs. HAE Now, our partner in India, works right in the midst of this broken system. They focus their efforts on both the Fair Trade and Organic aspects of cotton production in an attempt to address the problems highlighted to the left.
Fair Trade: As always, Fair Trade means a living wage, paid regularly, with no child labor… Read more
The Big Swap: Coffee
February 22, 2010 @ 11:25 AM
This entry kicks off our Big Swap series with coffee. The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more.
The Broken System
The coffee industry is marked by rampant cheating, abuse, and even slavery. As usual, the worst effects are felt by those most vulnerable: the farmers. Taken advantage of at every turn, with no access to markets except trough the “coyotes” that pay below-market prices… Read more.
Fair Trade coffee means that your morning cup o joe guarantees a better future for coffee farmers and their families. Take our certified organic “Peace Blend”, for example. It’s grown by a group of farmers who’ve paired Fair Trade with religious reconciliation. The Co-op, made up of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian… Read more.
