Queensferry Fair Trade Group
Support Fair Trade now...
About Fair Trade |
Introduction |
Shopping...
We all do it: food; clothes; household items; luxuries and treats. And when we shop, we choose from a huge variety of goods which the worldwide market brings us: tea from India; coffee from Peru; chocolate from Ghana; sugar from Mauritius; and exotic fruits from tropical Africa. We are all involved in a global pattern of trade in which our shopping decisions affect people thousands of miles away.
Winners and losers...
Everyone should benefit from this global trade but the sad fact is that not everyone does. The strong and powerful economies of the developed world exert pressures on the poorer countries. As a result, we buy goods cheaply at the expense of producers in poor countries who are forced to work for little reward.
A difference for life...
Fair trade is not charity - what workers in poorer countries want is not a handout but the opportunity to earn a just wage so that they can support their families, educate their children, have access to health care and live in dignity. In our country we expect to be paid fairly for our work. Why shouldn't they?
Make it fair!
The Fair Trade movement aims to redress the balance, working to ensure that growers and crafts-people can earn a just wage. Organisations like Traidcraft and Oxfam Trading work directly with producers: they make long term commitments and guarantee a fair price. These organisations buy and import food and crafts, making them available to us. By selling through supermarkets, they bring the issue of fair trade to all consumers. By selling through volunteers, such as church groups, they ensure that a very high percentage of profits go back to the producers. Fair traders are also campaigning at national levels to extend the principle of fair trade to all imported products.
FAIRTRADE Mark |
The FAIRTRADE Mark is awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation and is a guarantee that products have been closely scrutinized to ensure that they meet internationally agreed standards of fair trade.
Look out for the FAIRTRADE Mark when you are shopping.
Links |
Fairtrade Foundation
Traidcraft
Oxfam - Fair Trade
Make Trade Fair
British Association for Fair Trade Shops
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
Fairtrade in Edinburgh
Make Fair Trade happen in South Queensferry - Take the Pledge now!
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