| Have you ever wondered what Fair Trade, Fair Labor and Fair Wage mean?
Since there is a lot of confusion in the green marketplace about the use of the words Fair Trade and Fair Labor. I thought that it might help to define them and also offer some websites for further information & explanation.
- Both Fair Trade and fair labor provide a fair wage, safe and healthy work environments, and a workforce free from forced and child labor.
- However, Fair Trade also includes building direct, long-term, and empowering relationships with economically and socially marginalized producers that live in developing countries, and supporting community development and cultural diversity.
- The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) is the trade association that strengthens and promotes North American organizations fully committed to fair trade. The Federation is part of the global fair trade movement, building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.
(see www.fairtradefederation.org).
- There are two types of organizations in the Fair Trade arena: those that certify products through the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) (www.fairtrade.net) and its affiliates, such as TransFairUSA (www.transfairusa.org), and those that evaluate companies through the World Fair Trade Organization (www.wfto.org) and its partners such as the Fair Trade Federation.
Many of the green products you see for sale have a seal of the organization it has been approved or certified by. This way you can know the qualifications the company that is selling these products has met. |
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