Fair Trade

What Does Fair Trade Mean?

"I wanted my children to have an education so that they could choose what they want to do," Edgar, a fair trade coffee farmer, said. (Costa Rica)

The fair trade movement is an international network of producers, importers, retailers and consumers who are thinking globally and trying to give people in developing countries a chance to sell their products at a price that enables them to live in dignity – at a time when half the world’s population is living on less than US $2.00 a day.

Every purchase from a fair trade vendor allows a producer to provide for the basic necessities of life. Alternative sales like these give producers hope and the opportunity to provide for their families, remain in their villages, maintain craft traditions, get basic medical care and education, and develop sustainable businesses. The producer is guaranteed not only a fair wage in the local context but also the promise of steady orders. 

Peace continues to put its mission into action in multiple other ways. From Poverty and Hunger Task Force trips to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, to the Environmental Task Force clean up efforts, to tutoring grade school children after school, to fundraising during Hunger Awareness Week, to providing Christmas cheer to families of St. James Parish, Peace establishes ongoing programs that provide food, clothing, shelter and education.

Coupled with this action, Peace’s flourishing Harmony Day program has also added a valuable education piece for students. For a full school day, students will hear from guest speakers from several organizations on issues related to fair trade, international relations, and sweatshop practices. The goal is to engage students in dialogue, open them up to global issues, show how such issues affect them, and then demonstrate ways to become agents of positive change.

Like Ten Thousand Villages, these programs provide opportunities to put faith into practice and help build a more just world. Above all, they foster dignity and solidarity with developing nations through information, public advocacy, monetary aid and fair trade. Peace, along with local and global organizations, continues to work for peace, justice and equality for all people through such partnerships . These projects make manifest the Dominican Sinsinawa values of truth, justice, compassion, community, and partnership.