By Amy Mazurek, sustainability student
IU South Bend
There are several ways to be a consumer making healthy lifestyle choices while still being a responsible consumer. Three of the biggest are purchasing organic, buying local, and purchasing food that is fair trade.
Fair trade is probably the least common way to shop, but only because it’s the least talked about. Hopefully that is becoming something of the past. Consumers are hearing more and more about how their food is made, who is producing their food, and how those people are being treated. Are the farmers who plant the seeds and work the fields cared for humanely and paid a fair wage, or are they overworked in order to keep their jobs and exposed to harsh chemicals? “Fair Trade is a system of exchange that honors producers, communities, consumers, and the environment. It is a model for the global economy rooted in people-to-people connections, justice, and sustainability.” (Green America)
There are several standards required to be considered fair trade: producers need to be treated fairly and paid a living wage, the items produced should be as biodegradable and recyclable as possible, items are being made in a sustainable environment (anything taken from the earth is replaced), and money is going back into the community that produced the item. Why would anyone consciously purchase an item that was produced under harmful situations, whether it was to people or to the earth?
It’s not as easy to locate Fair Trade items. Anyone can claim that their products are Fair Trade since there is no single entity that monitors Fair Trade. There are several organizations that will certify items as Fair Trade, which is helpful. By doing the research and knowing which stickers to look for, shopping Fair Trade can be much easier for the consumer than it once was.
By doing a little work and a little research, we can make purchases that are better for our people, better for our earth, and often times better for our wallet. If we know better, we can do better.
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