http://tradeasone.com Using Fair Trade and business as a means to address issues of extreme poverty. en kevin@tradeasone.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-08T20:46:04+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/divine_in_sierra_leone/ http://tradeasone.comblog/divine_in_sierra_leone/#When:20:46:04Z Our friends at Divine Chocolate have just announced that they’ve begun sourcing Fair Trade cocoa from Sierra Leone. This is exciting news for all of us, and we wanted to share the highlights. You can read the whole article here. ——————- Divine Chocolate…is delighted to announce that, for the first time chocolate lovers can enjoy premium Fair Trade Certified cocoa from Sierra Leone in all of Divine’s chocolate delights.  Sierra Leone was ravaged by a decade-long brutal civil war which ended eight years ago. Rebuilding has been difficult.  This first Fair Trade shipment of cocoa out of the country is a sign of hope that the fortunes and prospects of the country’s farmers can be turned. The first container of cocoa from Sierra Leone’s only Fair Trade Certified cooperative Kpeya Agricultural Enterprise (KAE), was purchased by Divine Chocolate and is of the required quality to be included in the Divine recipe. Kuapa Kokoo, the Ghanaian co-operative that significantly owns Divine Chocolate agreed to include this shipment in their brand as a sign of support for fellow cocoa farmers in Sierra Leone. Erin Gorman, Divine Chocolate’s CEO in the USA says: “The partnership between KAE, Divine and Kuapa Kokoo is a shining example of the power of Divine’s farmer ownership model.  Not only did Kuapa Kokoo offer technical support and advice alongside funding from Divine, they offered KAE a market for their product.  Since Kuapa Kokoo profits from sales of their Divine branded chocolate the move makes financial sense as well.  Divine’s mission has always been to improve the livelihoods of West African farmers by pulling farmers higher up the value chain.  We believe our mission and excellent chocolate is what keeps Divine fans coming back.  With this cocoa from KAE we are extending our reach beyond Ghana and increasing our impact.” KAE is based in Kenema, 200 miles out of Freetown, and has over 1200 members and 50 village committees. It was first established in 1996, during the civil war, and its growth and achievements are in part the result of the determination, passion and tenacity of cocoa farmer Ibrahim Moseray – the organization’s general manager.  Against enormous odds, Moseray has convinced farmers of the benefits of being part of a cooperative with farmers’ welfare at its heart.  With the help of Twin (the Fair Trade NGO behind Cafédirect, Divine Chocolate and Liberation Nuts), and other organizations such as the UN FAO and German Agro Action, KAE has trained farmers how to produce good quality cocoa, developed democratic structures, and learned how to export its own cocoa. Representatives from Kuapa Kokoo have come to Sierra Leone to share their expertise both in terms of running a cooperative and, importantly, improving the quality of their cocoa. Exchange visits have also been arranged with KAE representatives visiting Kuapa Kokoo. Ibrahim Moseray says: “I am a cocoa farmer myself and my mother and father before me. During the war I saw the struggle of my brothers and how we were cheated by traders, and I wanted to do something to make a better life for us…” ——————- You can see all of the Divine chocolate we carry be clicking here. 2010-03-08T20:46:04+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_shea/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_shea/#When:17:00:34Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with shea butter.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Shea butter has a rich history; the traditions of making it passed through generations of African women. It is well known as “women’s gold” because it is often the only source of income for economically marginalized women. Unfortunately, most shea butter on the market in the United States and Europe is not fairly traded meaning that the women who actually gather and hand craft the oil receive a fraction of the price. The work involved in creating the shea butter is labor-intensive. The shea nuts are picked (in some environments, the women are at risk of scorpion or snake bites) and then the pulp has to be removed. The buts are cleaned, boiled, shelled and the seeds extracted. After the seeds are dried in the sun, the seeds are crushed, roasted and pounded. Once water is added, a paste is created which is kneaded repeatedly and beaten into a foam floats to the surface. This foam is washed until the impurities are removed. After a final boiling, the top layer is skimmed off to create the butter that is what we know as shea butter. It takes 20 to 30 hours to produce one kilogram of handcrafted shea butter. This is traded at $1 or less in the market and the laborer only receives a fraction of that dollar for 30 hours of work! The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade Shea Butter from producers like Alaffia has the power to change lives of the cooperative members. Very specifically, Alaffia was formed to help West African communities become sustaimable through the fair trade of indigenous resources, like shea. Women in West Africa have been excluded from the formal education sector which means they cannot read or write, making them less valuable as employees. However, a main component of the Alaffia Cooperative is empowerment so the women are acknowledged for their unique skills, traditions and knowledge and compensated accordingly. Alaffia pays 15-25% above market prices for shea nuts and the cooperative members receive a salary that is more than 4 times the average family income in Togo. Additionally, members receive full medical care, employment security and paid vacation. Through direct involvement in the entire process — from gathering the wild shea nuts and crafting the butter, to distribution locally and abroad — Alaffia cooperative members receive fair and steady incomes. In addition, 10% of sales always go directly back to our community empowerment projects. The protective and emollient properties of Shea Butter are a huge benefit in skincare. Check out Alaffia’s skincare and bodycare products here. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-03-05T17:00:34+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_rice/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_rice/#When:17:00:12Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with rice.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System According to the Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange (ENGAGE), rice is a main staple for 3 billion people around the world and employs over 1 billion farmers on all continents except Antarctica and yet world prices have fallen for rice farmers. In Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, 68% of farmers have debt that is three times their income, making it nearly impossible to get out of debt or send their children to school. Often, farmers turn to other ways of making money, seeking work in sweatshops or in the commercial sex industry. Additionally, much of today’s rice cultivation uses heavy pesticides and fertilizers. This is expensive over time, further contributing to the farmer’s debt. And making them sick with pesticide-related health issues. The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade Rice is not only of highest quality but ensures that farmers can get out of debt and care for their families. Organic Fair Trade Rice, like our rice from Alter-Eco further ensures sustainability for the environment. Due to the changes in farming methods, soil fertility is improved and there is no longer chemical runoff into local rivers which was negatively impacting wildlife. Farmers have reported noticing an increase in frogs, birds and fish. “Rice is something that is very important to the farmer, the farmer’s family, and to our livelihood. It’s not just food for us. If you buy Fair Trade organic food for your health and the health of your family, you should know that you are getting more than that, because you are helping people to construct another world, an alternative for living.”    -Pakphum Inpaen, Thai Fair Trade Jasmine rice farmer Join Carolyn Barnwell, in the video, Grains of Change: The People’s Voice as she journeys through northeastern Thailand to visit with farmers who are practicing Fair Trade, organic, sustainable agriculture. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-03-04T17:00:12+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_household_items/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_household_items/#When:20:53:59Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with household items.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System The earth is too often ignored, abused, and destroyed in order to produce the items we use, eat, and wear every day. This often happens without our knowledge or permission, but it happens nonetheless. One aspect of this abuse is deforestation, which continues at an alarming rate despite growing awareness of the issue. Household items make up a sizeable amount of the problem, meaning that the things that we buy and use every day in our homes and kitchens are contributing to environmental destruction. Everyday items - like cutting boards, tables, chairs, and decorations - are often produced with little regard to their impact on people and planet. Here’s a few stats on deforestation: More than half of the world’s rain forests have been cut down In countries like Nigeria and Brazil 80%+ of their rain forests are gone 1.5 acres of rainforest disappear every second This affects our water cycle, climate, thousands upon thousands of plant and animal species, and the quality of millions of lives in the developing world. It’s a system very few of us are proud of, but most of us feel that there aren’t enough practical ways to make a real difference. So what can we do about it? How can we make sure that the products we buy don’t bring destruction to lands that we’ll never see? It starts by continuing to recognize the enormous power of each purchasing decision. The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade means environmental sustainability. It’s as simple as that. Fair Trade certification ensures that both people and planet are being afforded the dignity and respect that they deserve.  Each Big Swap thus far has focused on labor issues, and rightfully so, but today we’re focusing on the environmental impact your purchases can have. Here’s an example of an everyday home item, and the role that Fair Trade plays. Our Cutting Board from Morocco Not only is this Cutting Board beautiful, but it comes with a story of sustainability. Our partner in Morocco, Green Sahara Gifts, commits to limiting wood waste by using parts of the tree that are often unused, and to using offcuts and reclaimed materials whenever possible. They’re also partnering with the High Atlas Foundation to plant trees in the Atlas mountain regions of Morocco –  looking forward to seeing more green in the Moroccan mountains and moving on into the Sahara. It’s not rocket science, it’s just a product that tells a unique story. It is our hope that throughout the entire Big Swap, you’ll see that each Swap carries a common denominator: a purchasing decision that factors in more than just price. It’s a decision that incorporates people you’ll never meet and places you’ll never see, and comes with the knowledge that those people and places are better off because of your purchase. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-03-03T20:53:59+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_tea/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_tea/#When:20:00:53Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with tea.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Much like the chocolate and coffee we have already featured in The Big Swap, tea is yet another fixture in our daily routines that starts with a complicated process and often mis-treated workers. Much of the tea we drink originates from the mountains in Africa and southeast Asia. Good crops require high altitudes and good rainfall and incredibly long hours from the tea pickers. Tea plantation workers tend to make even less than the minimum wage of other agricultural workers. Literacy rates among tea workers and their families are very low. Hundreds of people die each year from water-borne illnesses as most plantations do not have portable drinking systems or drainage systems. While the plantations are required to have primary educational facilities on-site, once the children pass through those initial years of education, they are expected to join their parents in the fields. This continues the broken system of labor in the tea industry where families who are born into the tea plantations do not have other opportunities. The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade Tea literally has the power to change lives. In a short film about tea workers in southern India, a family from the Chamraj Tea Estate is featured. All of the issues described in the broken system are addressed and reversed. The Fair Trade Premium allows a joint board who represents the workers to determine how to spend the additional income. Thus far, this particular estate offers education up to the college level. Parents only pay a very small school fee and the Fair Trade premium has allowed the estate to purchase computers, a school bus and to pay for the teacher salaries. They have also begun a pension scheme which prevents older family members from being an additional financial burden on their families. They are also developing a housing solution which helps families put money away to purchase land once t hey retire from the tea plantation. As heath issues have largely been undealt with on other plantations, the Chamraj Tea Estate has even been able to hire medical professionals and offers free cooking gas and typhoid vaccinations. It is hard to imagine how making a simple choice like drinking fair trade tea can make a difference. But, collectively, it can literally contribute to changing people’s lives. Check out our tea selection from Choice Teas, the first US tea maker to receive the Fair Trade mark. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-03-02T20:00:53+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_sports_balls/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_sports_balls/#When:22:07:49Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with sports balls.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System The sports ball industry has long been marred by child labor, meaning that our children are often playing with balls that were made by their counterparts in the developing world. The same toy that brings so much joy to a child here in America is the symbol of oppression and despair thousands of miles away. Pakistan, which supplies around 70% of the world’s soccer balls, has been among the chief offenders. International pressure in the 1990s led to some legislation that made a dent in the problem, but stubborn vestiges of the problem remain, and children still stitch many of the sports balls we use here in America. The problem stems from a lack of livable wages for their parents. The men and women – either without work, or working jobs whose wages leave them fighting a losing battle against the costs of surviving – are forced to send their children to work as well. This problem is exacerbated by its cyclical nature. A child deprived of his/her education will likely end up working a job no better than his/her parents, forced to send the next generation of children to work in the factories as well. And the cycle of poverty continues. There has to be a better way to play. The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade sports balls address the problem head on. Rather than set up shop in an area without the stigma of child labor, unfair working conditions, and bonded labor, our partners work right in the middle of the crisis, in Sialkot, Pakistan. Their idea is simple: what if sports balls brought joy to everyone? What if the women and men stitching were paid fairly, treated like human beings, and given the chance to lift their families out of poverty? What if the balls were produced with eco-certified rubber that didn’t ravage our planet? And what if these balls were high-quality, and lasted long enough for years of enjoyment? We think these sports balls are a great example of the breadth of Fair Trade. Whereas Fair Trade used to be just coffee and maybe chocolate, now you can incorporate Fair Trade into so many aspects of your life. The Big Swap is all about taking purchases you were going to make anyway, and diverting them into channels that directly benefit the poor. So if you were thinking about purchasing a sports ball, we’d love for you to consider the Fair Trade alternative. You won’t be disappointed. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-03-01T22:07:49+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_shopping/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_shopping/#When:20:20:10Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with shopping.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Ellis James, author of The Better World Shopping Guide, frames the problem that drove him to write his book by saying “Money is power”. This is a very familiar phrase and we use it often But, what does it really mean? When you hear that phrase, do you instantly begin thinking of other people – people in your view who actually have money or have power?  You may not be famous and you may not feel powerful but the truth is, if you have any money at all to spend, you wield power with each dollar you spend. As consumers, we have the power to vote with each purchase we make. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the average American spends around $10,000 on goods and services so that means we have 10,000 opportunities to vote. If you’re purchasing for your family, that you can take that $10,000 and multiply it by each member of your family! You can determine, by the companies you choose to do business with, if your dollars will destroy or build the environment, communities and most importantly the lives of people around the globe. At Trade as One, we often get calls and emails from individuals whose eyes have been open to the realities of modern-day slavery, extreme poverty, and environmental abuse and now want to shop purposefully and wisely. It can be difficult to do all the research individually to know which food, cleaning supplies or even cars are made in the most ethical way. We are excited to be able to refer you to The Better World Shopping Guide, small enough to fit in a purse or keep in the car! The Fair Trade Solution The Better World Shopping Guide: a handy pocket shopping guide. A comprehensive, up to date, user-friendly guide for socially and environmentally responsible consumers. This book gives a vast range of products an A-F ranking so you can quickly tell the ‘good guys’ from the ‘bad guys’- turning your grocery list into a powerful tool to change the world. This guide is organized into the most common product categories including coffee, energy bars, cell phones, gasoline, clothing, fast food, cars, water and more. Whether you are concerned about environmental sustainability, human rights, social justice, community involvement or animal protection, you will find this guide to be an essential companion. To be clear, not every company rated highly in this book is Fair Trade. This guide is meant to show which companies are better than others, and to help guide purchasing decisions in categories where Fair Trade isn’t always an option. At the very end of the guide, there are two pages of resources that can help you do your own research and learn more. Due to the nature of Fair Trade, you can assume any fair trade company will be automatically rated an A. But, it is fun for us to see many of our producers specifically called out on the pages of this book rated as an A or A+: AlterEco (chocolate and rice), Divine (chocolate), Thanksgiving Coffee (coffee), Choice (tea), and Canaan Fair Trade (olive oil). Want all of this on your iPhone or iPod Touch? Click here to view the App. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-02-26T20:20:10+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_bananas/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_bananas/#When:19:12:29Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with bananas.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Bananas are symptomatic of many of the current problems with conventional trade. The “race to the bottom,” the all-consuming drive for lower prices, has created a system where the farmers are paid little, have unacceptable working and living conditions, a few multinational corporations wield a disproportionate amount of influence, and the environment is neglected or abused. The other factor in play here is the long history of violent abuse, bribery and murder in the banana industry’s history. Without diving into too much detail (you can read more here and here, the short story is that, over the last 100 years, a few multinational corporations have used their substantial leverage to manipulate governments, violently oppose workers rights, and bribe their way to more profits. It’s not hard to see that something needs to change. It’s no secret that there’s money to be made in bananas, so why does so little of that money reach the farmers? Here’s a few stats to show their popularity: Bananas are the most popular and most profitable fruit in the world. It’s estimated that 2% of the average American supermarket’s turnover is banana sales. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the average American eats over 26 pounds of bananas each year, nearly twice that of any other fruit. Virtually everyone eats bananas – an estimated 96% in the US. So the problem isn’t that the farmers are creating an inferior product, it’s that they’ve been excluded from the profit-making parts of the business! There has to be a better way. Can’t all the links in the chain be treated fairly, and earn what they need to earn to live and support their families? The Fair Trade Solution Fair trade means that transparency, fairness, and basic human decency are built into the supply chain. Fair Trade bananas, like other Fair Trade Certified products, guarantee that the farmers are paid a living wage, that children are in schools, not working in the fields, that women are empowered and valued, and that the environment is respected and preserved. Without Fair Trade certification, small fruit farmers often receive only a few cents a pound for their crop, far below the cost of production. Farm workers on plantations are equally disadvantaged. For example, in Ecuador, the cost of basic necessities for a family of four is $9.60 a day, but on non- Fair Trade farms, workers may earn as little as $2 a day. These disparities have lead to the widespread need for children to work in the fields to supplement their family’s income. But Fair Trade wages are up to 6x what conventional farms pay – meaning that farmers can support their families with dignity and stability, and that their children are free to play. Organic certification means that the environment is valued and protected, ensuring that there are many more bananas for years to come. As the statistics mentioned to the left have shown, many of us buy bananas regularly. It’s likely that you’ll purchase bananas in the next two weeks. So why not swap? Go out of your way, pay a little bit more, and know that your purchase supports a better way to do business. Here at Trade as One we don’t sell bananas, but our friends at TransFair have a tool that can help you find Fair Trade bananas and more, right in your neighborhood. Now What? We don’t offer bananas, but our friends at TransFair have a tool to find Fair Trade bananas near you. Happy Swapping! Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-02-25T19:12:29+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_chocolate/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_chocolate/#When:21:46:55Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with chocolate.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Credit: Daniel Rosenthal/Laif/Hollandse Hoogte Child slavery, unfair working conditions, and unsustainable farming practices all factor into one of our most beloved treats. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) conducted an investigative report finding that hundreds of thousands of children were being purchased from their parents for very small amounts of money or even stolen and then shipped to the Ivory Coast where they are sold as slaves. The children work 80-100 hours per week without pay, are fed little and beaten. The work itself involves dangerous tasks like working with machetes and applying toxic chemicals and pesticides without appropriate protective gear. It may be hard for an American child to fathom that a child their age has never tasted chocolate much less the fact that the same child is a slave. To learn more, watch the documentary, Slavery: A Global Investigation. Adult farmers see a disproportionately small amount of money for their labor. According to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), the majority of cocoa is produced on small family-owned plots and farmers often do not know the rising value of their crop. Worse, many farmers have reported that commercial traders use distorted scales cheating the farmers out of revenue. An article on CNN.com discussed the unsustainable farming practices. John Mason, executive director and founder of the Ghana-based Nature Conservation Research Council (NCRC) explains how the soil is being degraded and plant life decreasing while others discuss how farmers feel pressure to use pesticides and fertilizers to protect and grow their crops that ultimately pollute their soil and water and even make the farmers sick. Chocolate is a $60 billion worldwide industry and is forecasted to reach sales of $18 billion in the United States by 2011. How can you ensure that slavery is not an ingredient in the chocolate you enjoy? The Fair Trade Solution Fair Trade Chocolate purchasing guarantees that the cocoa farmers have an opportunity to make a real living because Fair Trade Standards ensure a minimum price for beans. The minimum price means the farmers can maintain a stable income and provide for their families. Additionally, when farmers sell their cacao beans to fair trade companies, they are prohibited from employing children. This ensures children in the community are getting an education rather than working in harsh labor conditions. A Fair Trade Premium is added to the purchase price and is used by cooperatives for social and economic investments such as education, health services, processing equipment and loans to members. This means the farmers work together in their cooperatives to fund community projects that benefit everyone like scholarships, additional training or healthcare. Divine Chocolate: Like all of our partners, Divine Chocolate combines an amazing product with a compelling story. In the early 1990s, a group of farmers frustrated with being cheated at every turn, pooled their resources and formed the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative. These farmers based their cooperative on fair trade principles, transparency, democracy, efficiency, and equality for women. In 1998, they formed a publicly traded company, now Divine Chocolate, so that they could directly market their work to the rest of the world. The farmers of Kuapa Kokoo own nearly half of the company, hold seats on the board, and host yearly board meetings in Ghana. Trade as One is proud to be a part of Divine’s continues growth, as they bring justice and transparency into an region and industry devoid of either. Learn more by watching an interview with Divine Chocolate Farmer, Comfort Kumeah. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-02-24T21:46:55+00:00 http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_cotton/ http://tradeasone.comblog/the_big_swap_cotton/#When:22:31:00Z This entry continues our Big Swap series with cotton.  The Big Swap is a simple idea: for the next two weeks, swap out something you buy regularly for the Fair Trade alternative. Coffee, chocolate, cutting boards, bananas, and more. Learn more. The Broken System Cotton is everywhere. It touches all of us, quite literally, just about every day. The dark side of cotton’s ubiquity is the pain extracted from cotton farmers to make sure our prices stay low. India is the world’s 2nd largest cotton producer (behind China), and the bulk of Indian cotton farmers come from its lower castes. Over the last 10 years, these farmers have seen input costs like seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides rise, while the per-pound price of cotton has been cut almost in half. This makes it increasingly difficult for farmers to make ends meet. This desperation breeds two consequences. First, farmers are forced to cut costs wherever they can, and labor is the quickest and easiest fix. Here’s a quote that sums up one farmer’s attitude toward the labor cost issue. “The most important thing is labour costs. Nearly half of our investment goes towards payment of labour charges. The wage rates for children are far lower than adult wages. We can reduce our labour costs considerably if we hire girl children. If we want to hire adult labour we have to pay higher wages. With the current procurement price we get from the seed companies we can not afford to pay higher wages to the labourers.” More than 400,000 children are involved in cotton farming, keeping them out of schools, and trapped in the generational cycles of poverty. The second consequence of this desperation is suicide. Between April and June, cotton farmers learn whether or not their crop has failed, and consequently whether or not they can afford to pay the moneylenders who they use to help finance their input costs. Forced to walk a razor’s edge, these farmers often see suicide as the only way out of a failed season. The dreadful statistics are that approximately 18,000 farmers commit suicide every year in India. In addition, according to the World Health Organization, every year over 20,000 farmers die and millions more suffer chronic diseases caused by pesticide poisoning. These are but a few of the high prices paid for cheap cotton. The Fair Trade Solution Fair trade cotton has the potential to right these wrongs. HAE Now, our partner in India, works right in the midst of this broken system. They focus their efforts on both the Fair Trade and Organic aspects of cotton production in an attempt to address the problems highlighted to the left. Fair Trade: As always, Fair Trade means a living wage, paid regularly, with no child labor (and a host of other benefits). In the Indian cotton industry, it means that our farmers don’t face the desperation felt by their counterparts in the conventional cotton industry. It means that their children are in school, rather than working 14 hour days in the cotton fields. It means they’re treated like human beings, rather than a means to an end. Organic: The organic aspect of cotton farming has multiple implications as well. It means that farmers aren’t forced to indebt themselves to loan sharks in order to pay for pesticides up front, banking on a good harvest to pay off that debt. Despite cotton fields occupying only 3% of the world’s farmland, they use 25% of the world’s chemical pesticides! Not on our farms. This means the cotton in our T-Shirts from HAE Now is safer for the farmers and their families, safer for our families here in America, and much better for the planet we share. For Kusum Rao (pictured) organic, Fair Trade, cotton cultivation has truly changed his life. Since working with HAE Now,  he no longer has to take out loans at exorbitant rates to purchase chemicals that endanger his family’s lives. He grows better, healthier crops, and lives a better, healthier lifestyle. He can now save money to send his children to school, and doesn’t live in fear of moneylenders. Now What? Learn:View More Swaps (Blog) Swap:One Stop Swapping (Shop) We want to hear what you’re Swapping, why you’re Swapping, where you’re Swapping, we want to know! So share your swapping story in the comments section of this post. 2010-02-23T22:31:00+00:00