As October comes to an end, so does Fair Trade Month. However, this is just the beginning for Ben & Jerry's, who currently has four certified Fair Trade ice cream flavors available for purchase in pints. These flavors include Vanilla, Chocolate, Coffee Heath Bar Crunch (YUM!), and their new Chocolate Macadamia.
What qualifies a product to be classified as a "fair trade" item?
1) Paying farmers a fair price for their goods so that they can afford to support their families and improve upon their businesses.
2) In return, farmers are required to run their farms and businesses in the most environmentally-friendly ways possible.
3) Farmers also must use some of their profits to help develop their community.
4) Farmers must offer safe working conditions and cannot utilize child labor.
5) Fair Trade products can only be purchased directly from the farmers so that they have control over their own businesses, eliminating the middleman.
6) Farmers allow their workers to have input about the business and where to invest the money in the community.
Stop by TransFairUSA.org to learn more about Fair Trade. Visit Ndali.net to find out about the vanilla that goes into the various vanilla-based Ben & Jerry's ice creams. Now if we can just get Cherry Garcia on that certified Fair Trade list, I would be better able to justify how many pints I consume on a weekly basis.
