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Fair Trade
Fair Trade Benefits Real People - Directly
Fair Trade is Larger Than You Think
Fair Trade is an amazing success story. For example, Fair Trade USA was founded in 1998 by Paul Rice. During travels to Nicarauga, Rice helped found a fair-trade-minded coffee cooperative—effectively the first of its kind in the world. Today, the organization works with nearly 1,000 worker and farm collectives around the globe (source: inc.com). Success stories like these have been occurring everywhere and it is clear that fair trade is in for a bright future.
The Facts
- Retail sales of fair trade products topped 1.2 billion in 2009 in the U.S. alone.
- In the U.S. market, more than 7,000 products sourced from 58 countries are certified and labeled as Fair Trade.
- Since 1998, Fair Trade USA has helped to earn an estimated $200 million in additional income for farmers and workers.
- More than 7 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from Fairtrade (another fair trade organization).
- 25% of Americans report seeing a Fair Trade label.
- Well over half of all Americans report they are willing to pay more for Fair Trade coffee.
Source: George Washington University
- Nearly half the world lives on less than $2 a day.
- An estimated 218 million children are engaged in child labor, and around 70% of them work in agriculture (UNICEF).
- Farmers are at the mercy of the global economy. They are not guaranteed a minimum price if demand decreases.
Public Opinion on Fair Trade
Unfair Trade
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