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Fair Trade

What is it?

Fair Trade is a Movement:
Fair Trade is a piece of the global justice movement that seeks to empower producer communities,
activists, and consumers and redefine power structures through people-centered, democratic trading,
and environmentally healthy alternatives.

Fair Trade is a Market Based Development Strategy:
Fair Trade gives marginalized producers a chance to succeed in the global marketplace and offers
Fair Trade consumers a means to make their purchasing power a tool for real social and economic,
change in the world. Fair Trade products ensure that producer cooperatives were paid a fair price
for their goods, which are produced under safe working conditions and according to environmental standards.

Children helped by Fair Trade Fair Trade man helped by fair trade

Oxfam-Fair Trade Fair Fair Trade Certification

United Students for Fair Trade - www.usft.org

Purpose:

USFT is a collaboration of students and youth working in solidarity with cooperative communities
to promote fair trade principles, products and policies. Consciousness raising, leadership
development and capacity building stand at the core of our grassroots organizing.

Vision:

We envision a world in which the global economy is based on human relationships, transparency,
democracy, equitable access, and shared power through cooperative organizations.

fair trade logo

Values:

The following are a set of values that guide our actions. We strive to embody these principles
in our work, our coalition, and ourselves.

Fair Trade: We work towards the key elements of Fair Trade, locally and globally. Fair Trade is a
trading partnership, based on dialogue, accountability, and respect, which seeks greater equity in
trade. It contributes to sustainable development by securing rights and offering better trading
conditions to marginalized producers and workers.

Anti-Oppression: We struggle to understand and to actively combat racism, classism, gender discrimination,
heterosexism, ageism and other forms of oppression. We must be mindful of and challenge the elements
of privilege and power not only on a global level, but also within our own organizational structures
and ourselves

Listening to Understand: We work to build positive relationships between people and across
boundaries. We strive to listen and promote understanding and dialogue across difference.

Guidance by Local Knowledge: We strive to remain rooted in the local experience and action of
students, producers, NGOs, and businesses working to expand awareness of and demand for Fair Trade

Awareness of Context: We recognize the context, history, and landscape of the Fair Trade movement
in which we work, and we recognize other initiatives working towards social justice.

Diversity: We respect and value diversity in our work, our organization, and the Fair Trade movement
as a whole. Diversity of representation, such as ofethnicity, gender, and class, as well as of individual
experience and perspective, is an essential component of validating the Student Fair Trade Movement.

Mutual Exchange: We value a mutual exchange of information and experience. We strive to nurture
constructive dialogues between everyone involved in expanding Fair Trade.

Making Connections: We strive to make connections between Fair Trade Certified products and other
initiatives that support local economies and cooperative forms of production and trade, and initiatives
that shape a fair global economy that promote sustainable livelihoods.

Sustainability: We organize for a more sustainable form of global trade that benefits producers as well
as the natural environment. We believe that protecting the human environment is a critical empowerment and
human rights issue on the ground and in our communities.

Celebration: We celebrate each success, large and small, to build hope in the struggle for a global economy
that nurtures human beings and communities.

Fair Trade Farmers and U.S.F.T. students