Fair Trade Month: Local Purchases for Global Impact
- Details
- Author: Morgan Rogers
- Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Every day we are faced with choices. What will I eat today? What will I buy today? As consumers we have the power of choice. We can vote with our dollars each and every day with the purchases we make, especially this month. October is Fair Trade month and it marks a very important time when you can make a difference in lives across the world. This is the month where we all get to “make every purchase matter” through buying the products we love.
Socialarc is proud to be working with Fair Trade USA. What is Fair Trade you may ask? Fair Trade USA is a non-profit organization working to build a sustainable world. They accomplish this by certifying products that have been produced in an eco-friendly way with fair wages. Fair Trade USA uses a "market-based approach to empower farming communities" throughout the world by ensuring safe working conditions and higher prices for their harvests. In addition, it requires farmers to practice sustainable agriculture, protecting local ecosystems and securing future harvests.
Through 'direct, equitable trade,' farming families are able to improve their communities by eating better, keeping their children in school, and improving their health and overall plans for the future. Fair Trade USA believes in creating a sustainable world and that is why each community receives additional funds for development projects. Communities decide how their funds will be allocated, from building schools and health care clinics, to providing scholarships and transportation.
You can help make this vision of a sustainable world a reality by purchasing Fair Trade Certified products. There are now 10,000 certified products on store shelves. To help you find these products, Fair Trade has put out an app, called the Fair Trade Finder, which you can find on their Facebook Page or download as an Android or iPhone app. The Fair Trade Finder app allows you to locate Fair Trade products nearest to you by simply entering your location. You too can add to the list of Fair Trade Certified products in your area by taking pictures of the products you find and uploading them to the app. By uploading your favorite finds you can help localize the discovery of Fair Trade Certified products. Simply put, it is "farmers market gone global." Your small impact in the local community will create a larger impact abroad.
You can support farmers worldwide for Fair Trade month by purchasing and uploading Fair Trade Certified products with the Fair Trade Finder application. Your purchases will help build a more sustainable world. I challenge you to make local purchases that matter for a global impact – it can make a world of difference.
