Since I first became interested and involved with the fair trade movement a few years ago and started sharing some of about my experiences with my friends and family, I’ve found that most of my conversations about fair trade inevitably come back to the same, seemingly simple question:

“So…what’s fair trade?”

Even though by now I know that it’s coming, whenever I get this question, at first, I still feel slightly tongue-tied; there are so many important elements that tie in to fair trade and so many mistaken ideas about what fair trade means that it’s hard to know exactly where to begin.

For those of you who may have run into the same issue (and for those of you who might be the ones asking the question—don’t worry, the person explaining it had to ask at some point too), I thought I’d share this handy graphic that I came across awhile ago amidst my wanderings on the World Wide Web. It does a pretty good job of giving a basic break down all of the essentials of fair trade: the concepts that fair trade is founded on, our role in the fair trade process as consumers, how it works to preserve the dignity and improve the lives of workers around the world, and some of the major fair trade products to look for.  It’s a great overview for anyone who might be new to the idea of fair trade and a helpful tool if you’re like me and need something jog your memory when people ask you that unavoidable question.

Hi All!  Thank you for stopping by our site!  For this semester, the Duquesne Students for Fair Trade, in collaboration with Spiritan Campus Ministry, will be updating this site regularly with events, pics, tweets, and Facebook posts.  Feel free to read up on all things Fair Trade, and contribute to the conversation!