The Power of The Consumer

Fair Trade is a system that harnesses the power of the market to help alleviate poverty and generate significant global change; this is why the American consumer has so much power. By making small, simple changes to your everyday purchasing habits, such as choosing a cup of Fair Trade coffee or eating a Fair Trade banana, shoppers are able to vote with their dollar for a better world.

We believe that injustice in trade is a global issue. In a world where the gap between rich and poor continues to grow and where, in business, maximizing profit is higher up the agenda than social responsibility, millions of hard-working and skilled producers and workers throughout the developing world remain in poverty.

Fair trade was created as an alternative way of doing trade. It is based on partnership, which means that the interests of farmers and workers are just as important as other commercial considerations. It also represents one solution to poverty and a model for development.

Economic Empowerment of Small Scale Producers
Fair Trade importers purchase from Fair Trade cooperatives as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. The certification also secures long-term, stable relationships between producers and importers.

Click below.. to watch YouTube video on 'The power of the Consumer", Fair Trade USA. (1.34min).