Fair Trade Month also means Chocolate!

[The Little Seed]

Fair Trade month is officially here – yay for October! This is excellent news on many fronts. For one, it's a clear indication that the public has begun to celebrate and embrace the ideas Fair Trade is based upon: greater equality in partnerships dealing with international trade, eco-friendly manufacturing & environmental preservation, enforced adequate working conditions (this means no child labor, or enslaving work!!), educational & female empowerment, and a percentage of the fair trade income is used for community developmental projects for the local area.

In addition, October is the perfect month to raise Fair Trade awareness because it’s a time of year that glorifies chocolate! Chocolate, one of October’s choice accessories (aside from all things purple and orange) also happens to be a common product produced at the hands of unfair child labor. Year after year, story after story leaks and shines a light on this heartbreaking enslavement at the hands of creating a simple pleasure - cocoa. Fair Trade organizations have paved an immense path in the road to recovery for this still impending issue. Although it is not an easy problem to mend, you can make a difference by doing your part. Fair Trade USA is offering free event kits and educational materials to anyone who registers & hosts a Fair Trade Event in the month of October. Why host a Fair Trade party? Halloween is right around the corner! Why not make it a double celebration! Buy fair trade yummies for your guests and lead by example.

Sometimes the best way to learn is through experience. Create a positive ripple through your actions by providing quality goodies for your guests. If Halloween isn’t your thing, host a Fair Trade party for the sake of supporting an existing movement geared towards creating sustainable, equal international trading practices. As individual everyday consumers you can affect the purpose of the whole. Consumers play an integral role in the workings for fair trade since your purchases are what create the foundation for these partnerships to exist. This is not a system that only benefits it's producers, as the purchaser, you know you are receiving the best quality merchandise, as well; most fair trade products are made with raw ingredients, and most importantly, love. The individuals and communities creating these goods take great pride in their work and the final product. For them it is more than a business transaction, it is their craftsmanship. We believe it is a universal emotion to take pride in creating something yourself, and even more rewarding when you know that all parties involved are benefiting fairly.

Register to Host Your Event:

http://transfairusa.org/blog/?p=4785

Helpful Websites to Furthur Educate (Chocolate, Child Slavery, and Fair Trade):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_in_cocoa_production

www.savethechildren.ca ;

www.radicalthought.org ;

Writer/Contributer: Giselle Rodriguez