ABOUT FAIR TRADE

There's an old saying:

    "If you give someone a fish, you feed them for a day, but if you teach them to fish, you feed them for a lifetime."

But this leaves out an essential step:

   They also have to have access to the fishing hole--room on the bank to utilize their fishing skills.

People in many parts of the world have skills that bring them no economic reward until they have access to markets for their products.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair trade (also called "Alternative Trade") means an equitable partnership among marketers in the "western" world and producers in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and other developing parts of the world.

Fair Trade Partnerships work to:

bulletProvide low-income artisans & farmers with a living wage.
bulletEnsure that workers are treated ethically & work in safe conditions.
bulletFacilitate access to mainstream markets.
bulletBring mainstream consumers interesting & useful products.
bulletPromote appreciation for producers' cultural identity.
bulletPreserve the arts of the world's various cultures.
bulletRespect & protect the earth's environment.
bulletBe open with their financial dealings.

Fair Trade gifts "give twice"; they bring joy to the recipient & give meaningful employment to persons i9n developing countries.

Why Fair Trade?

Here are a few statistics indicating the need for Fair Trade alternatives.*

bullet6 percent of the world's population controls 50 percent of the world's income.
bulletThe 3 richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least-developed countries.
bulletThe world's 225 richest individuals, of whom 60 are Americans, have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion--equal to the annual income of the poorest 47 percent of the entire world's population.
bulletOf the 4.4 billion people in developing countries, nearly 3/5 lack access to safe sewers, 1/3 have no access to clean water, 1/4 do not have adequate housing, & 1/5 have no access to modern health services of any kind.
bulletAmericans spend $8 billion a year on cosmetics--$2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide basic education for every person in the world.
bulletAmericans & Europeans spend $17 billion a year on pet food--$4 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide basic health & nutrition for the entire world.
bulletEuropeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream--$2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water & safe sewers for the world's population.
bulletAmericans consume an average of 260 pounds of meat a year.  In Bangladesh, the average is 6 1/2 pounds.
bulletThe average African household today consumes 20 percent less than it did 25 years ago.
bulletOf $3.6 trillion of all goods exchanged globally, fair trade accounts for only 0.01 percent. 

            *From a United Nations Human Development Report, as quoted by the Fair Trade Federation.

Fair Trade leads to Economic Justice, leads to PEACE.

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