Fair Trade Federation

From March 27 - 29, 2009, the Fair Trade Federation will bring together members, partners, and friends for workshops on key topics to improve operations and discussions of larger questions in the Fair Trade movement.
All are welcome to attend! The event will be held at the Doubletree Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland

TransFair USA, the Oakland-based group that has certified everything from coffee and tea to bananas and flowers as being ethically produced, now is putting its seal on wines from Chile, Argentina and South Africa. The wines - available this month at grocers and liquor stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market and Sam's Club - are a first for Americans.

I was browsing the Fair Trade Federation website and came across some interesting facts and figures I wanted to share to motivate us through 2009.

Fair Trade is growing as a market share, although I am not sure as to how sales will relate when set in the wider economy at present. We are optimistic though here at Muenda as we believe there is a need for our Fair Trade Gifts so people have the opportunity to support a way to a brighter, fairer world.

Muenda Fair Trade believes that stewardship for the environment is an important part of supporting fair trade. With all this emphasis on building communities in developing countries we are often asked, is there anything particularly eco friendly about fair trade products?

Fair trade companies are primarily focused on social sustainability, not environmental. However, it's no big surprise that the two types of labels often get mixed up by people just testing the waters of conscientious consumerhood. Green labels like USDA Organic and fair trade labels like Equal Exchange are both using consumers’ purchasing power to make the world a healthier place. But for the record, the Fair Trade Federation states the following.

Muenda Trading Company started as a little seed of an idea to find a market for beautiful woven baskets made by the resourceful women of South Africa. Today ,over a decade later Muenda supports disadvantaged artisans in over a dozen countries, mostly those living in Africa. Muenda means "one who cares for others" in Swahili, which is what we do! Muenda follows fair trade practices and strives in every way to have as little impact on the environment as possible.