Consumers give fair trade a fair shake

Natural Foods Merchandiser, July, 2008 by Tirone, Alison

Fair trade is a social movement that advocates the payment of a fair price as well as enforcement of social and environmental standards in the production of a variety of goods. It is a marketbased approach that aims to alleviate global poverty and promote sustainability, with a focus on exports from developing countries to developed countries. Popular fair-trade products include handcrafted items as well as coffee, chocolate and cocoa, sugar, tea, herbs, honey, cotton, rice, fresh fruit and flowers.

Fair-trade products are currently available at more than 35,000 retail establishments in the U.S., according to TransFair USA, a fair-trade certifier. In the natural supermarket and conventional food, drug and mass channels, the most common fairtrade products include packaged...

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