~ Gift Ideas for Your Valentine ~

 There's Still Time! (But not a lot!) 

 

We have a wide assortment of both fabric and recycled handbags, shoulder bags, and totes from STOPstart of Cambodia, as well as a wide assortment of jewelry from our artisans in Honduras and Kenya!

 

If you're inclined to stay a bit more "in your comfort zone", a hand-crafted pine needle basket or trivet from Fuente de Pino of Nicaragua or a set of hand-woven placemats from Asian Threads of Thailand makes a great gift!

 

The good news? If you order by Tuesday February 7th our default (FREE) shipping should get it to any continental US location by Valentine's Day. If you select Priority Mail, you can order as late as Thursday February 9th.

 

And......if your Valentine loves chocolate (and who DOESN'T?) we encourage you to purchase these delicacies from Equal Exchange or Divine Chocolate. Because all of their chocolate is Fair Trade, you can be confident that no child labor was used in harvesting the cacao beans.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

~ Anne Frank (1929-1945) ~ 

German-Jewish diarist

excerpt from "Diary of a Young Girl"

Fair Trade: Myth & Reality

As awareness of Fair Trade grows, so do a number of misconceptions about it. In this occasional series we'd like to "debunk" some of those myths. We'll give some response from the Fair Trade Federation (or other FT group) and a bit of KVI commentary as well.

Myth: Fair Trade is about paying developed world wages in the developing world.

Reality: Fair wages are determined by a number of factors, including the amount of time, skill, and effort involved in production, minimum and living wages in the local context, the purchasing power in a community or area, an dother costs of living in the local context. Wages are determined independently from North America wage structures and are designed to provide fair compensation based upon the true cost of production. (Fair Trade Federation)

Commentary: If you think about it for a moment, paying a "developed world" wage (which would be many time the "fair" wage for the culture) would actually be putting the artisan in a form of bondage, not freedom. Once adapted to the "exhorbitant" wage, they would need to protect their income at all cost lest they go back to what "everyone else" earns. A "fair and living" wage recognizes the worker's skills and expertise, compensates them at a level appropriate for their cultural context, and can inspire others to also develop new skills. Fair Trade has the potential to raise the standard of living for an entire community, not just a fortunate few.

Welcome to the "new" look of our monthly newsletter!

We decided it was time to "revamp" things a bit in a way that (we hope) will make it a bit more interesting while at the same time make it easier to read in small "chunks." We realize that most of us are constantly trying to multi-task and juggle several balls at once.

You'll find that we've reduced the number of articles and we'll try to keep those articles short with links for further reading. There's also a Table of Contents at the top left so you can quickly locate an article you want to read.

Once again, we desire to thank you for YOUR part in this Fair Trade adventure! While we have the privilege of working directly with these precious artisans, it is YOUR purchases that make repeat orders (and sustainable livelihoods) possible for our artisan-friends. THANK YOU!

 

Wishing you a GREAT month!

 

Rebecca & Glenn Fadner

"Making a Difference!"

 

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