Fast Five: Five things you should know about the global fair-trade movement

from The Idaho Statesman

By Dana Oland

You see the words "fair trade" on products in specialty shops and grocery store shelves, but what does the term really mean?

Here are five things to know about buying fair-trade items.

The most important is that fair trade offers people who make or grow the goods an opportunity to live with dignity, said Anna Wulfsong Belt, manager of Boise's Ten Thousand Villages, 1609 13th St.

No. 1: What is Fair Trade?

The term fair-trade has been around for about 60 years, but it's only been in the past few that it has come into the mainstream as part of the growing Sustainability Movement sweeping the globe.

Ten Thousand Villages began in 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler, a member of the Mennonite Central Committee, began buying needlework from women in Puerto Rico.

On a visit there, she found that these talented women lived in poverty and realized if they could sell their wares in more places, their lives would improve.

Byler started selling the needlework, along with cross-stitch from Palestinian refugees and hand-carved Haitian woodenware, from the trunk of her car in Akron, Penn., headquarters for the Mennonite Central Committee.

She opened the first fair trade store in 1958 as the Self-Help Craft Program, which later became Ten Thousand Villages.

Ten Thousand Villages now has shops throughout the United States and Canada, including the one in Boise, which opened in 1995.

The nonprofit is a founding member of the International Fair Trade Association, the largest organization that oversees fair trade in Africa, South America and Asia among its more than 300 members in 70 countries.

No. 2: Why is Fair Trade important?

The fair-trade designation does more than just get you cool, handmade stuff, Belt said. "One really important thing is that it keeps the economy rolling in the villages where the product is made," she said. "Otherwise people — many of whom are women — have to leave their families to make a living."

No. 3: How does it work?

Fair-trade practices reflect 10 standards adopted internationally by all companies that import goods through fair-trade organizations:

• To create sustainable economic opportunities for producers historically disadvantaged or marginalized.

• To do business in a transparent and accountable way and deal fairly with traders.

• Work to develop producers' independence.

• Provide customers with clear, honest advertising and as much information as possible about how and where products were made or grown.

• Pay a fair price for the product that has been negotiated directly with the producer. The price should cover the cost of production and supports social justice and environmentally sound practices.

• Promote gender equity.

• Support safe and healthy working conditions.

• Insures that the participation of children conforms to the United Nations on Convention of Rights of the Child.

• Encourages better environmental practices.

• Trade practices must be carried out with mutual trust and respect that promotes growth. When possible, assist producers with pre-harvest or pre-production with advance payment.

No. 4: What can you buy through fair trade?

You can find a huge variety of products with the fair-trade certification.

At Ten Thousand Villages, you can find everything from textiles to coffee, jewelry to chocolates, lotions to art.

"Sometimes it costs more, sometimes not," Belt said.

You also can find a variety of products at the Boise Co-op. More and more, you can find those products in mainstream grocery and department stores.

"A lot of national retailers are getting on board with this now," Belt said.

No. 5: How do I know a product is really fair trade?

Look for the label. Some labels to look for are from the International Fair Trade Association and Fair Trade Labeling Organization.

Both set international standards for fair-trade products, certify production and audit trade according to the standards and for the labeling of products.

Launched in 2004 at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, the fair-trade organization mark identifies registered fair-trade organizations worldwide.

More than 150 organizations are registered.

Fair-trade labeling has helped the idea and the designated products become mainstream. Currently, more than two-thirds of fair-trade products are sold by mainstream catering and retailing businesses.