As you may know, the month of October is National Fair Trade Month. David Funkhouser of TransFair USA sent us this great post explaining Fair Trade Month and what you can do to participate:

TransFair USA celebrates National Fair Trade Month every October—an annual month-long Fair Trade promotion begun in October 2004, involving thousands of retailers and a broad network of non-profit and student groups, faith-based and community organizations, even entire municipalities (Fair Trade Towns). This year’s theme, The Faces of Fair Trade, highlights the farmers and workers who are the primary beneficiaries of the Fair Trade system.

Fair Trade supports economic development for farming families and sustainable development for our planet’s future, and, in a few words, this is how it works: Importers of Fair Trade Certified™ products (coffee, chocolate, tea, bananas, sugar, rice, flowers, wine) pay a premium price to growers and farm workers who produce goods under rigorous standards that guarantee workers’ rights, community empowerment, and environmental sustainability. Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Since 1999, sales of Fair Trade Certified products in the U.S. have generated more than $110 million in supplemental income for farmers in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

We consumers are a vital link in the Fair Trade model—every Fair Trade purchase we make is a vote for a better world. Behind every cup of Fair Trade Certified coffee or tea, bar of chocolate, or bouquet of roses are faces of producers and workers, and our purchases make a difference in their lives. We hear it in their voices: “My job on the flower farm allows me to look toward the future and imagine a better life for my family….Women can achieve as much as men…. Thanks to Fair Trade the whole community has benefited from the programs we have implemented.”

Join us —tell friends and family—and help build a better world!

-David Funkhouser, TransFair USA