Fair Trade

Yesterday, Teresa Hendricks from Lucia's Boutique here in town came to the sustainable living class that I am teaching to talk about fair trade and why it is important. I have supported fair trade for many years but yesterday learned a lot of things I did not know. It makes me want to support this movement with as many of my purchases as possible.

First a little bit about Teresa. She lived in Guatemala for 18 years and her husband was born and raised in Guatemala. They own a wholesale fair trade business of Guatemalan items. Three years ago they opened up Lucia's Boutiques here in town and carry their Guatemala items plus other items from all over the world. They are part of the Fair Trade Federation. She is very passionate about what she is doing.

The fair trade movement now has its own certification. It is administered by the Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) world-wide with the domestic body being TransFair USA. This label insures the consumer that strict land conservation and fair trade regulations were followed. The following link gives a good general overview of fair trade as well as current topics Fair Trade Overview

In future posts I will share Ten Reasons to Support Fair Trade from handouts she gave us. In the meantime, please check out the link above and learn more about this important movement.