Buy Fair Trade Food and Products

Saturday, May 14 is World Fair Trade Day. Buying fair trade gives you assurance that the workers who produced your food and products work in safe conditions and get paid a fair wage.

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Photo: Istock

By Dan Shapley

Saturday is World Fair Trade Day, so look for events in your area designed to highlight the role that fair trade practices play in supporting workers around the world, particularly small-scale indigenous farmers and artisans. Fair trade principles espoused by the World Fair Trade Organization include paying a fair wage and ensuring workers are not exposed to noxious chemicals while producing goods for sale.

Purchasing fair trade food and goods can be confusing, because there isn't a single trusted certification for fair trade goods. The World Fair Trade Organization has one label. Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair USA) has its own trusted certification for products ranging from apparel to wine. The Fair Trade Federation has yet another. And there are several more.

But if you shop trusted retailers, like Worldofgood.ebay.com or Ten Thousand Villages you're often shopping for fair trade with a small "f" and small "t." World of Good works with various third-party "trust providers" that certify its products on a variety of metrics, ranging from sustainability to indigenous community development; it's a retailer that The Daily Green has grown to trust.

The best way to buy fair trade is to ask a few questions and learn a few retailers and brands to trust. Once you start looking, you'll find a range of product in every category that you can feel good about purchasing. For instance, this weekend, in a special promotion with The Daily Green, Equal Exchange is offering $5 off the purchase of two packages of fair trade coffee.

Get started with these organic and fair trade chocolates, organic and fair trade flowers, fair trade coffees, and even gifts for your sweetheart.

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