Celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight With Us
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Here at Postcards Home, we believe in fair employment and sustainable trade. It just makes sense. When people are paid a decent living wage and their services are valued, productivity goes up and communities flourish, we all win.
We go to great lengths to ensure that the products we sell tell a soulful and sustainable story - one that focuses on people and quality, rather than profits and quantity, and one that is rooted in the places where each product is made.
Every year the fantastic folk at the Fairtrade Foundation run a two-week campaign over February and March to highlight the difference Fairtrade can make to lives and communities around the world. We're getting involved in Fairtrade Fortnight - join us!
Fairtrade is the most widely recognised ethical label in the world, and one that has had a huge impact on making it easier for us all to make snap sustainable decisions as we shop since it was created more than 22 years ago. It was developed to give the most disadvantaged and powerless producers in the world collective support by using trade as a tool for sustainable development.
The Fairtrade stamp is mostly used for commodity products like fruit, chocolate, coffee beans and gold. The Farmers of which are supported within cooperatives that help them gain a fair price for their crops, improve farming practices and safety, receive a living wage and become more economically stable with the support of reliable repeat buyers.
Fairtrade Fortnight is a great time to celebrate the people who grow the foods that we love, who also live in some of the poorest countries in the world and who are often exploited and badly paid. This year the Fairtrade Foundation are focusing on the farmers – in particular the women – who grow the cocoa in everyone's favourite friend, chocolate.
Farmers of Fairtrade cocoa have seen prices crash to crisis levels in the past few years, particularly in West Africa where most cocoa is grown. The situation highlights in stark terms the evil of unfair trade. But we can all rise up and take a stand against this.
Many farmers – both men and women – are underpaid and exploited. That means they can’t earn enough money for the basics many of us take for granted, including food, education and housing for them and their families.
It’s even worse for the women who work in the fields and in the home. Despite the hard work they put in, they’re often overlooked and under-represented, and usually see even less of the money for their crop than their male counterparts.
So, over this year's Fairtrade Fortnight, the Fairtrade Foundation will be featuring the amazing and inspiring voices of women cocoa farmers to help them spread the message and create a platform to change attitudes, behaviours and, ultimately, their communities.
What you can do to join the campaign:
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Choose Fairtrade chocolate and other cocoa-based treats always!
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Seeing as International Women's Day falls in Fairtrade Fortnight, it's a great excuse to make a Fairtrade chocolate cake for the office and share a snap on social media tagging #shedeserves
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Fundraise for the Fairtrade Foundation to help them continue the fight for fairer trade
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Visit the Fairtrade Foundation Hidden Hot Chocolate Salon Pop-Up in East London - what a chore!
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Sign the Fairtrade Fortnight petition here
Image Source: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk
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