An Introduction to Fair Trade

If organic standards protect the food, then Fair Trade protects the people behind the food. Fair Trade products are gaining ground as conscious consumers strive to learn more about not only what is in their food, but its human impact before arriving on the dinner table. Fair Trade Certification is available in the U.S. for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, flowers, sugar, rice and vanilla.

Founded in efforts for social justice, Fair Trade products (certified in the U.S. by third-party group TransFair USA) guarantee equitable business practices between producers and consumers. This equity covers pricing, labor conditions and sustainability, while empowering farmers and farm workers through community development and direct-trade education.

Fair Trade foods are widely available; just keep an eye out for the Fair Trade Certified (FTC) logo on products, or ask your retailer for its Fair Trade selections. Here's a small sampling of companies that sell Fair Trade products:

Coffee Shops and Cafés: Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops, Bruegger's, Caribou Coffee, Indigo Coffee, Noah's Bagels, Peet's Coffee and Tea, Seattle's Best Coffee, Starbucks Coffee, Tully's Coffee

Retailers: Costco, Fred Meyer, Giant, Kroger, Organic Bouquet, Safeway, Sam's Club, Target, Trader Joe's, Wegman's, Whole Foods Markets

Check out foodspring.com's coverage of Fair Trade gift ideas, the people behind the products and edible goodies that will make you feel good: Meet the founder of Canaan Fair Trade; check out NASFT's Fair Trade Certified 2010 sofi™ Award Finalists Rishi Tea and Partners Tea Co.; gift others (or yourself) with a variety of FTC gift baskets; and read about a social program for women in coffee production and an organization helping producers earn certification.

A Look at the Fair Trade Movement

The video below was posted in 2008 as a Public Service Announcement about the
Fair Trade movement.