Fair Trade Certified flowers improve lives
Fair Trade Certified flowers improve lives
October is Fair Trade Month, a national, annual campaign to bring awareness about why every purchase matters. The Fair Trade Certified label represents products that are both socially and environmentally sustainable.
Jenna Larson, public relations manager at Fair Trade USA in Oakland, CA, told The Produce News that consumers are looking to make a difference with their purchases and over 55 percent of the U.S. population today is aware of the Fair Trade Certified label.
“Fair Trade certification is an important way to enable meaningful change and support sustainable livelihoods in flower-growing communities across the globe,” Larson said. “Fair Trade Certified flowers mean safe working conditions for workers, elimination of harmful chemicals, no child labor, environmental protection, and additional income to invest in the long-term wellbeing of communities.”
To address issues like low wages, unsafe working conditions and lack of healthcare, Fair Trade USA launched Fair Trade Certified flowers into the U. S. market before Valentine’s Day 2008. Now, more than 11,000 flower workers on Fair Trade farms across Colombia, Ecuador and Kenya (mostly women) are selling to U.S. businesses and receiving a fair price for their hard work, according the a news release.
In just a few years these flower workers have earned close to $1 million in community development funds that pay for preventative health services like cancer screening and prenatal care, as well as other important initiatives like education, housing, low-cost food programs, children’s healthcare, micro-loan programs and clean water.
Fair Trade farms encourage women workers to pursue leadership roles, and they also receive paid maternity leave and a guarantee of their job upon their return.
Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit organization, is a third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between companies and their international suppliers, educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with the tools, training and resources needed to thrive in the international market.
For more information, visit www.fairtradeusa.org.
