Fair Trade

I headed off to a seminar on Fair Trade at Everman on Sunday night with my good friend Nat. I was uber excited to learn more about what fair trade is and the importance of it. We found the time for the event on Everman's Facebook page. It was scheduled for 6:30 pm. Nat & I showed up at 5:40 to walk around Everman and do some shopping while we waited for the event to start.

At 6pm we headed into the classroom and saw a bunch of people exiting the class. A guy let us know that they had to move the class up to 5:30 pm since Everman closes at 7pm. So we missed the seminar! How awful!  The worst part is that we were in the store at 5:40 and no one told us about it. I checked Facebook and saw they announced it at 5:24pm that they switched the time...we were bummed. The only silver lining is that we were in time for a meet and greet with a Kenyan coop coffee farmer named Raymond. It was so neat to hear from his heart what Fair Trade is and how it affects his life, and the life of other farmers in Kenya.

So what is Fair Trade? Basically products that are labeled FAIR TRADE are products that make sure that the workers are being treated fairly, they are getting paid minimum wage, no sweat shops, and there are equal rights for women.

www.fairtradeusa.org


It sounds like buying Fair Trade products means that you support treating others fairly. It sounds like the right/moral thing to do.

During the meeting I also found out that Pensacola is becoming at Fair Trade Town! We'll be working together to raise awareness of Fair Trade.
http://www.facebook.com/FairTradePensacola



After the meeting on Sunday I checked out the website to see what products are Fair Trade. I figured there wouldn't be a lot to choose from. In fact there are a TON of products that are labeled Fair Trade.  I was surprised to find that you can find Fair Trade coffee at dunkin donuts, starbucks and McDonalds. I guess its more common than I realized.