Report back on Fair Trade Day of Action

I spent Saturday afternoon with a few other folks interested in promoting Fair Trade outside of the Prospect St Whole Foods in Cambridge. We talked to people about Fair Trade and got at least 100 people to sign cards asking Whole Foods to carry more Fair Trade products.

We then went to Severine's place for dinner which was a nice opportunity to get to know the wide spectrum of people who were involved in this and hear stories of what happened at other locations.

It was encouraging to know that this was happening at nine other stores around Boston and in cities across the US. On the other hand, it is a sign of the overwhelming task that in a large and slightly progressive city, only a few dozen people chose to be involved in this.

The Day of Action was very synergistic with Conscious Consuming since it was about raising awareness of Fair Trade options and of Fair Trade itself. When we purchase Fair Trade Certified items, we are assured that the farmers and laborers involved in production were payed living wages. The slightly higher price of Fair Trade items seems like a small price to pay to make a big difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.