Beat the Heat!

It's hot out there. Stay cool in these strappy tanks, made by Avatar Imports. We sell them in our store for $32.

This top was made in a fair trade factory in Kathmandu, Nepal. This is a photo of some of the fair traders who made it!

By the Numbers

I was stumbling around the Internet just now and ran across these figures from the Fair Trade Federation's March 2009 Trends Report. These numbers were cited by Nancy Jones, director of Chicago Fair Trade, in a longer May interview with the blog BuzzFlash.

Some overarching statistics describe Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs):
-78.4% of FTOs are for-profit businesses, up from 54% in 2003
-81% are involved in wholesale/importing, up from 67% in 2003
-13.8% have been in operation for more than 20 years

Some overarching statistics describe the producer partners of North American FTOs:
-76% of Fair Trade Production is done by women
-69% of artisans and farmers involved in Fair Trade are ethnic minorities
-Central America and South Asia remain the predominant source FTO areas

Fair Trade Organizations averaged:
-Nine North American full-time employees in 2008, up from an average of 7.45 in 2007
-Partnerships with 7,049 people in producer communities in 2008
-Sales of $517,384 in 2007, up from $499,893 in 2006

As consumer awareness grows about Fair Trade, conflicting forces influence Fair Trade Organizations. Recent studies indicate that 71.4% of US consumers have heard the term “Fair Trade” and 88% consider themselves conscious consumers, but only 6% could name a Fair Trade Organization unaided and fewer than 10% had purchased an item from an FTO.

Going Global!

These girls in Ghana keep us supplied with bags, blankets, cute napkins and placemats, fun batiked tops and skirts. Here's a look at who Global Mamas is, what they do, and why.


Mission
Global Mamas enhances the international marketplace with unique, high quality, handmade apparel, and at the same time provides sustainable livelihoods for women and girls in Africa. Global Mama’s reduces the economic inequality of women by significantly increasing the revenues and profits of woman-owned businesses in Africa. This in turn increases employee wages, generates new jobs and improves the standard of living. We believe that helping women gain economic independence is the most effective way to reduce dependence on foreign aid and steadily create a prosperous society.

Why Buy Global Mamas Products?
Global Mamas is the name brand for goods produced through the efforts of Women in Progress, an international not-for-profit organization assisting women of Africa in attaining economic independence. All proceeds made by Global Mamas’ sales go directly to the women producing the merchandise and to the business development programs carried out by Women in Progress. Sales of Global Mamas’ products provide dignity to African women who are now able to earn an honest living through the production of handmade batik products. By helping women to help themselves, Global Mamas is taking small steps towards helping end Africa’s dependence on foreign aid and creating a sustainable society.

Our Difference
Global Mamas helps the women find export markets AND assists them in managing their growing businesses by providing hands-on personalized assistance in implementing practical business strategies into day-to-day operations. In fact, one requirement of being a Global Mama is the adoption of basic bookkeeping practices which enables a business to observe trends and plan for growth.

This information is taken from Global Mamas' website. Find out more information about them by visiting them at www.globalmamas.org.

Monday Thought

"If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other, there better be no trade at all. A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud."

Ayn Rand

Five Reasons We Love Bamboo

1. Bamboo makes a great fabric: soft (think silk or cashmere), durable, and beautiful.
2. It is sustainable. Wikipedia says bamboo is "the fastest growing plant in the world," and the American Bamboo Society quotes sources who claim bamboo has been measured to grow as much as 47+ inches in one 24-hour period.
3. Bamboo is hypoallergenic, and clothes made of bamboo will not irritate sensitive skin. It also does not hold odor, which makes bamboo perfect exercise gear.
4. Multi-purpose: bamboo is delicious and edible, and can be used for furniture, construction, medicine, clothing, and more!
5. Organic. Bamboo does not rely on chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

We sell great, fair trade, bamboo tee's and socks for men, women, and children. Click here to check out our online selection!

Have you signed yet?

We mentioned this a while back, but here's an update.

World Next Door has agreed to support a campaign to "Fair Trade the White House," in which e-signatures are gathered worldwide in order to invite First Lady Michelle Obama to commit to sourcing as much of the White House's daily necessities as she can from fair trade providers.

The movement is rapidly gaining steam, with more and more signatures added daily, as well as more companies coming on board to lend their official support.

Go to http://www.fairtradewhitehouse.com/ to learn more, and be sure to visit the "Savings" section of the page for discount options from some great fair trade organizations, including yours truly!

Potter Thinks Fair Trade?

This made me laugh.

Looks like some people are taking the Harry Potter love to a whole new level--one blogger has decided to promo fair trade based on the fair-minded leanings of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

On a website titled What Would Dumbledore Do?, fans can share their take on "what it means to be loyal to the spirit of Albus Dumbledore." Fair trade is today's topic.

Again, although I can't help but chuckle at the site, Harry Potter fans (like me) will have to laughingly agree that the writer makes some valid points.

I've re-posted the beginnings of this post below. Click here to read the full article.

When Hermione Granger discovers that the food at Hogwarts is being made by house elves – essentially unpaid, indentured servants, she immediately starts a campaign to replace exploitation with fairness. Though Dumbledore is not as outspoken on this issue as Hermione is, he certainly shares her passion. For one, he agrees to hire Dobby, the first “free elf” in modern Wizarding history and pay him fair wages for his work.
But he later elaborates on how Wizards have treated the enslaved workers who are doing their cooking and cleaning – saying that we have come to regard them as servants “…unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike…” (Half-Blood Prince 834).

In the United States, we are often indifferent to the fact that much of our food and clothing comes from sweat shop labor. Sometimes the very chocolate that we eat is grown by enslaved children on the Ivory Coast who are forced to live in small shacks, beaten and sexually abused. In less intense cases, farmers are still exploited and left to stay in poverty as they toil in the hot sun growing cocoa plants.

The One You've All Been Waiting For

And if you haven't been waiting for it, I have. We've got audio of Jency's interview, which aired last week on Around and About. Jency talks about human trafficking, the experiences she and Nathan had as they traveled to India, and her dream to stop the exploitation of women and girls through an act as simple as selling bags.
Her radio interview is posted below.

Beach Bound

I'm leaving this afternoon to head to the lovely shores of Gulf Coast Alabama, where I'll spend nearly a week hanging out on the beachwith my husband, mom, dad, and three sisters. Could be fun... it will definitely be dramatic (with all my sisters there's no way that there won't be lots of high-pitched squealing going on). I packed my bags this morning. Listed below are a few of the fair trade things I brought...and a couple of things I wish I had packed.

Beach Bag
I can't imagine a much better beach tote than these recycled rice bags. Made in Cambodia, these bags were originallyused for transporting rice and animal feed. Brilliantly, this recycled bag found new life in the hands of disabled and disadvanted workers, many of whom are victims of land mines and/or polio.

Sarongs
Use it as a beach cover-up. Lay it on the sand and make it a picnic blanket. Take it home and make it a tablecloth. The sarong is a jack-of-all-trades--there's not much it can't do. Grab these kikoys, the East African version of a wrap or sarong, and you will be ready for just about anything.

Flip Flop Key Chain
Flip flops just might be my favorite article of summer clothing: they're comfy, laidback, and fun.
These key chains, made in Zimbabwe, are the perfect way to keep the summer spirit going...even when you leave the beach and get in your car to head back home.

The Twofer

Don't you love things that are two-in-one? If so, you'll fall hard for this adorable top that doubles as a breezy skirt. Packing this means I've got two outfits for the price of one.
Plus, the batiked shirt/skirt is made in Ghana by Global Mamas, a group that works with small women-led enterprises. Everyone wins!

Read All About It!

We're in the news! This week has been rather media-intense, as we've interviewed with Around and About on the local NPR affiliate, and have also met with Joy Lukachik, a Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter. Her article on fair trade, which headlines with World Next Door, is in today's paper.

Here it is:

Local fair trade businesses helping poor of world

By: Joy Lukachick

Forced to work the redlight district in the slums of India since she was 12 years old, Sunita finally found an escape from her prison.
She was approached by two Americans 10 years ago who offered to teach her to sew.
Today, Sunita, whose name was changed to protect her identity, is a manager for an American-run fair trade company in India called FreeSet, which produces handbags and blankets to sell in the United States.
She is able to support herself through the fair trade system, said managers of Chattanooga's World Next Door who sell only fair trade products including FreeSet hand bags and met Sunita in April.
"We can, as Americans, help countries that have workers who were taken advantage of," said Jency Shirai, a World Next Door manager.
Seventy-one percent of U.S. consumers have heard of the term "fair trade," the global movement to promote fair pay and economic growth in Third World countries, according to a report released by the Fair Trade Federation in March.
But of that number, less than 10 percent have purchased a fair trade product, the study shows.
Despite those numbers, fair trade is a growing industry in the United States, said federation Executive Director Carmen K. Iezzi, noting that the same report showed a 56 percent increase in the sale of fair trade products from 2007 to 2008 in North America.
Ms. Shirai said World Next Door sells only fair-trade products, including necklaces from Kenya and hand-carved boxes from Peru. The store owners pay a fair price for goods to ensure the Third World craftsmen are making enough money to support themselves.
When the local owners buy products from Third World craftsmen, the money is paid upfront, Ms. Shirai said. Her store is not nonprofit, but she said its mission is to be "a better alternative to business."
Owners of other fair-trade businesses in Chattanooga agree that people are not as educated as they should be on the treatment of farmers and craftsmen in the Third World.
If you ask shoppers at Greenlife Grocery, which carries a large range of fair trade products, some say they have never heard of fair trade. Others, however, seek out fair trade products.
"Fair trade is helping people (and) helping them develop a better life," said Dori Elliot from Trion, Ga., who makes special trips each week to shop at Greenlife.
Pasha's Coffee and Tea in St. Elmo only sells fair trade coffee and espresso, owner Ladonna Cingille said.
"If everybody did something small it could really help," she said. "It could put more pressure on people who are enslaving people."
On Frazier Avenue, Go Fish Clothing and Jewelry Co. displays pictures of craftsmen and seamstresses beside products sold in the store. The pictures put a face to the products, owner Sherra Lewis said.
"(The signs) notify shoppers of where the items came from," Ms. Lewis said.
Still, although fair trade is benefiting many people in poverty, there are still policies that can be improved, said Stone Cup Roasting Co. owner Jennifer Stone, who sells about 40 percent fair trade coffee. For example, she said some companies that claim to be fair trade are not paying enough to farmers.
Consumers should do their research when they purchase fair trade products and also consider giving money directly to organizations that help Third World workers.

Check out the Time Free Press's online version of the story to see a quick clip from Jency's interview.

I'd also like to note that, although I'm sure we didn't do a good job clarifying this initially, the couple who initially started FreeSet are New Zealand natives, not Americans.