What does Fair Trade have to do with Women?
Fair Trade USA has been working for years to help get people out of poverty worldwide and a large number of this population is women. 70% of people living in poverty are women and women and girls count for 71% of human trafficking. On the positive side, women reinvest up to 90 percent of income in their families and communities compared to 40 percent for men (Forbes). So, if we start buying fair trade and consciously made products made by women, we can actually accelerate the path to a better future for women worldwide!
Fair Trade is a model with the goal to alleviate global poverty. Fair Trade certifiers work hard to create fair trade guidelines that promote equal/fair pay, good working conditions, and workers’ rights. Many companies across all markets are investing in fair trade certification and are positively impacting in developing communities. From building sustainable businesses to providing education, the fair trade movement is helping to make solid and secure changes for those living in poor communities around the world.
Studies have shown that women influence 83% of all consumer spending in the U.S. (Source inclusionary leadership group).
So when women buy products that are women made, they have an impact on the world’s community of women.
In this episode of Be Your Change podcast, Karrie Puksas Brand Activist at Kroger and Abby Ayers from Fair Trade USA talk about their partnership and how Kroger is committed to giving their customers fair trade options at a reasonable price. Listen to learn more about how these companies are teaming up to make Fair Trade products more accessible to the average consumer.
Listen to the episode here
What You’ll Learn
Have you ever wanted to understand consumer shopping habits and how grocery stores are able to analyze the data to provide products that their customers want? Karrie will give us a brief history of Kroger and why their brand, and fair trade, should be important to you. We will also learn from Abby about Fair Trade USA guidelines and how those guidelines have affected the local communities and people they are working with.
The Best Quotes Of The Show
So I’d like to think of myself a bit of a brand activist because I really try to push my colleagues and business partners to invest more in community engagement and sustainability efforts. We listened to customers and we know that our customers rely on us as retailers to be the curators of sustainable products that we need to offer products that they want and they are demanding more transparency and they want to see an authentic commitment to ethical action. -Karrie
I think that community development premium, it does two things. So it obviously gives them additional funds to invest in programs but what that really does is creates this model empowerment of pride that they have a resource that they can identify their needs, and they can then solve those needs. -Abby
We want consumers to be empowered to vote with their dollars to support brands and companies like Kroger who will make these investments into the supply chain and who offers these products. -Karrie
Go Deeper
Learn more about becoming a fair trade advocate and how you can vote with your wallet.
Books
- Global Girlfriends: How One Mom Made It Her Business to Help Women in Poverty Worldwide
- Sustainable Impact: How Women Are Key To Ending Poverty
- Buy The Change You Want To See: Jane Mosbacher and Wendy Paris The money we routinely spend on food, clothes, gifts, and even indulgences is an untapped superpower. What would happen if we slowed down to make more thoughtful decisions about what we buy?
- Fair Trade Campaigns National Conference:
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