Buying Fair Trade Products

You've probably seen the statement before, but do you know what fair trade means? Basically, such a label means that the product was made under fair labor conditions (worker worked in safe conditions and was paid living wages), farmer groups receive a minimum price for organic products, and the products are purchased with direct trade. There are a number of other principles that must be met in order to receive fair trade certification.

More information about it can be found at www.transfairusa.org. At this web site, you can also find out which companies are certified to actually carry these types of products.

Fair Trade certified products in the United States, include coffee, tea, chocolate and handcrafted items. Here are some web sites that carry Fair Trade products.

Retailers: National retail stores that carry some Fair Trade products, include Costco, Fred Meyer, Kroger, Safeway, Sam's Club, Target, Trader Joe's, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Wild Oats.

Eateries: Places such as Starbucks Coffee, Seattle's Best Coffee and Dunkin' Donuts all offer some certified products. Starbucks has Café Estima, Seattle's has a certified organic French roast and Dunkin's hot or iced espresso drinks are certified. If you've got sweet tooth, the vanilla, chocolate, coffee or coffee heath bar crunch ice cream flavors at Ben & Jerry's are all certified.

OriginalGood: Originalgood.com carries a whole line of Fair Trade products ranging from purses to home décor. The organization operates on principles that include paying a fair wage, purchasing from non-profits or does business with cooperatives where the artist benefits directly from a sale. The whole list of guiding principles for Original Good can be found on its web site. The organization is a member of the International Fair Trade Association.

Check out the "A Fair Gem" clutches for $19.95 that were made in India by women of Tara Projects in Delhi, or the "Spot of Good" scarf for $29.95 made in Nepal.Each product you click on gives you information about where it was made and what organization the artisan is a member of.

Ten Thousand Villages: This nonprofit organization works with more than 130 different artisan groups from more than 38 counties and sells jewelry, home goods and other gifts. Shopping departments on the web site include holiday goods such as the Taqua Nut Dove ornament selling for $18 from Ecuador, or the holiday gifts garland made in the Philippines from paper selling for $16.

On the web site, you can also sign up for the organization's gift registry for weddings or birthdays. You can also find out about retailers that carry the online goods as well as bazaars or festivals selling Fair Trade items.

Global Exchange: Globalexchangestore.org has some great Valentine's Day ideas. Choose from the assortment of Global Exchange's organic chocolate boxes from Sjaak's Organic Chocolates of Northern California. The chocolates come in 9- or 18-piece assortments packed in 99 percent recycled boxes. Prices start at $9.95.

There are also Mexican paper flowers for $8.50 and a Valentine's Day gift basket. Some of the items in the basket are soap, chocolate covered espresso beans and a beeswax cinnamon flavored heart candle for $54. And if you wanted to be really different, there is a Fair Trade Valentine's Day action kit that starts at $16. Each kit has chocolates, valentines, a paper banner and "I Love Fair Trade" iron on.

The site also sells clothing, jewelry and craft items.

Green America: For more information about where to buy fair trade products, Green America's Web site offers a fairly comprehensive listing. Find the product you are looking for at the home page and get a list of places where you can shop at. Visit www.coopamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/products/index.cfm.