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Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guides: Give to Real People in Need Around the World

Courtney Lang December 9, 2011

 

Photo courtesy of Fair Trade Federation

2011 is quickly coming to a close and the holidays will be here soon.  It is a time to be mindful of underprivileged people all over the world and to take action to help these people where possible.  One way of doing this is to support Fair Trade.

If you choose to do holiday shopping this year, use your consumer buying power to buy Fair Trade products.  It can really make a difference for communities in the developing world.

Buying Fair Trade products is easy.  Several non-profits who are champions of Fair Trade in the US have put together holiday gift buying guides to help you find Fair Trade products in stores and online.  Some of them are Fair Trade USA’s Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide, Fair Trade Federation’s 2011 Holiday Gift Guide, Serrv’s Holiday Collection, and Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Gift Staff Picks.  Global Exchange’s Fair Trade stores are also hosting holiday parties on December 15 in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

Fair Trade USA has also set up a site to donate to specific projects in the name of your friend or loved one.  For example, you can give directly to women who process shea nuts for making shea butter at the Akoma Cooperative in Ghana.  You can give money to a Fair Trade co-op somewhere in the world to help a reforestation project.  You can donate money to help a little girl learn how to read.

In a society where many of us have so much, and thinking of a gift for someone becomes a challenge because they already have everything they need, we should think about giving to real people in need around the world.

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Courtney Lang, National Organizer | Fair Trade Campaigns

Courtney Lang brings over 5 years of community organizing to Fair Trade Towns USA, building both the Local Food and Fair Trade networks in Vermont. As Local Food Coordinator with City Market/Onion River Cooperative, Courtney worked with local producers, institutions and consumers to grow the local food system and organize a strategic model for community engagement through farm tours, workshops, and local food challenges. Like many in the Fair Trade industry, Courtney was inspired to take action in Fair Trade when she witnessed child-labor first hand in Costa Rica. As a founding member of Fair Trade Burlington, she has worked with economic development organizations, businesses, and consumers to build awareness of Fair Trade among Vermonters. She also worked with a Fair Trade USA licensee, Vermont Coffee Company, as Friend Ambassador where she united the story of Fair Trade to every purchase of coffee.