'Fair-trade' goods include much more than just coffee

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=2382195

Omaha store link: http://www.bluesummitexperience.com/

I know most DUers can't get to Nebraska to shop. There are online and local stores for them. I just wanted to bring attention to the concept of fair trade.

Published Saturday | May 12, 2007
'Fair-trade' goods include much more than just coffee
BY JOHN KEENAN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Handbags knitted by former Calcutta prostitutes.

Artwork on a teabag canvas by South African women escaping a life of poverty.

Pieces of paper formed from elephant dung in Sri Lanka.


Patti Boyle opened Blue Summit after a trip to Africa. Fair-trade stores stock items made with "fair trade" practices.

These are the kind of things you'll find in a fair-trade store such as Omaha's Blue Summit or Ten Thousand Villages, members of a nonprofit network of stores with locations in Lincoln and Kearney, Neb.

Fair-trade stores stock items made with "fair trade" practices, which means fair wages, safe working conditions, no child labor and an environmental consciousness. Today is World Fair Trade Day, which is intended to increase public awareness of the effort.

Although fair-trade coffee is probably the most familiar item, there are fair-trade teas and chocolates, home furnishings and artwork for sale, as well.

FULL story at link.

Trust me, I know chocolate.

The ultimate in fair trade.

:hi: