By Kelsey Holmes, Greenheart Club Program Assistant
Fair Trade economically empowers communities around the world and close to home. By providing artisans with fair and living wages, purchasing fair trade ensures that the individuals behind each product are receiving fair pay for their work. The Greenheart Shop is a great example of an organization that provides an avenue for many of these artisans to enter global markets, but they are certainly not alone!
Aid to Artisans is an organization that seeks to create economic opportunities for artisan groups whose livelihoods, communities, and traditions are marginalized or at risk. By working with artisan groups from around the world, Aid to Artisans ensures that the individuals are paid a fare wage for their work, which can lead to the creation of opportunities for their entire community. Aid to Artisans focuses on the community aspect of fair trade to ensure that the story of each artist is told to consumers. Check out Aid to Artisans U – an e-learning platform with online courses dealing with the various elements of fair trade! Watch the video below for more information on the work done by Aid to Artisans:
By Hand Consulting is another organization that works with artisans to help bring their products to global consumers. Making sure that artisans understand the various elements of marketing, product development, and international business, By Hand Consulting provides opportunities that would be difficult for many artisans to obtain on their own.
We mentioned the World Fair Trade Organization, Fair Trade Federation, and Chicago Fair Trade in last week’s blog post, but check out this list of other organizations that are also working to share the story of artisans from across the globe:
Interested in learning more about fair trade initiatives around the world? Check out Greenheart Shop’s blog highlighting artists featured in the shop and issues surrounding fair trade! How can you be an ethical consumer?