Uh, okay so it's been a while. I never said I was gonna be very good at keeping up a blog, just that I wanted one ;)


I have also decided to make my blog a forum of sorts to share some of what I have learned in my research on being green and couponing and whatever else I can think of. I don't guarantee to be unbiased or even right, but I'll do my best.

The first topic I want to touch on is the idea of Free Trade.

For those that don't know, a short laypersons (actually this particular layperson) definition of Free Trade might be a fair and healthy work environment for the folks who do the hard work to actually pick or make the product. Basically, the little label means the workers are getting paid a living wage.

Not much to think about right? OBVIOUSLY Fair Trade buying must be the way to go.

And it very well could be.

Here's where I get hung up: there's no standard. No set of rules governing what "fair" really means. Not only that, but Fair Trade is monitored by several companies who each have their own set of guidelines to gain that little stamp of approval on my coffee bag or chocolate bar.

Then there is the question of everybody else. If the brand I usually buy is not Fair Trade, what's happening to those workers? Is there anybody trying to protect them?

But Sarah, you say, how can Fair Trade be bad??? Good money, ethical treatment of workers...sounds alright to me.

Of course, the idea of Fair Trade is great. There shouldn't even be a need for Fair Trade because all people should be treated ethically. Children shouldn't be put to work. A day of work should pay enough for a family to live on.

Look, I have only just begun to explore how I can use the one voice, the one power I have for good. The only thing that gets one little person heard: money. I think what I buy can make a difference in the right coffers. I'm just not sure Fair Trade is, in fact, the right coffer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade
http://www.fairtradefederation.org/
http://www.equalexchange.coop/index.php
http://www.fairtraderesource.org/
http://www.crsfairtrade.org/