Fair Trade

When you walk into a super market in Europe, you will find products with a label saying “Fair Trade”.
It can be chocolate, sugar, tea, bananas, wine, fresh fruit or coffee.

These products usually are slightly more expensive but the customer knows something very important about them.
That they come from developing countries.
That the producer is paid a fair price.
And that the environmental standards in which the product has been growing is acceptable.

“Fair Trade” is a big success in Europe.
They increase their business volume by 47 % annually.
In 2008 over 7,5 million disadvantaged producers and their families were benefiting from “Fair Trade” funded infrastructure, technical assistance and community development projects.

A farmer in a developing country never knows how much money the ground nuts he is growing with his family will bring him.
It depends if there is sufficient rain.
It depends of the world market price.
There are years he makes good money.
But there are also years he makes no money whatsoever and often starvation is the result.

If the farmer can join a collective of ground nut growers associated with “Fair Trade”, each year he will get a fixed amount for his product.
Even if the weather has been bad, he is guaranteed a certain amount for his ground nuts.
In that way he and his family can survive bad years.
And can he continue to send his kids to school.

In the years the price of ground nuts is very high, the extra money does not go to the members of the collective.
The money is spend on school buildings, the communal water well and other infrastructure in the village benefiting everybody.

“Fair Trade” is a great idea.
For only a little more money, consumers in the USA and Europe have a huge impact on the existence of hard working people in developing countries.

Next time you go shopping, look for “Fair Trade”-products.
And do us a favor: get those, please.
In Europe they are in every major supermarket.

In the USA:

Fair Trade Certified products are served at many national cafes and restaurants:

Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops - Ask for Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee or Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream.

Bruegger's - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.

Caribou Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.

Dunkin' Donuts - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.

Einstein Bagels - Ask for their Global Village Fair Trade Blend.

Noah's Bagels - Ask for their daily Fair Trade Certified brewed coffee.

Peet's Coffee and Tea - Ask for the Fair Trade Blend.

Seattle's Best Coffee - Ask for the Fair Trade Certified Organic French Roast.

Starbucks Coffee - Ask for Cafe Estima.

Tully's Coffee - Order any hot or iced espresso drink.

Fair Trade Certified products are available at many retailers:
Costco - Look for Kirkland Signature FTC Coffee

Fred Meyer - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea

Giant - Look for FTC flowers, coffee, tea, chocolate

Kroger - Look for FTC coffee, chocolate, tea

Safeway - Look for FTC coffee, tea, sugar

Sam's Club - Look for Member’s Mark® coffee, Neu Direction FTC wine,
Peterson Farms FTC Sweetened Dried Triple Cherry & Cherry Berry Blend, FTC bananas, & online FTC flowers

Target - Look for Wandering Grape FTC wines, Archer Farms FTC coffee

Trader Joe's - Look for FTC coffee

Wal-Mart - Look for Sam's Choice FTC coffee, Peterson Farms FTC Chocolate Covered Dried Cherries

Wegman's - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar

Whole Foods Market - Look for FTC coffee, tea, chocolate, wine, sugar, energy bars, body care products, flowers, rice.






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