Jennifer Kongs realizes how much Americans consume each year. For this reason, Kongs, Topeka junior, decided to become involved with the Lawrence Fair Trade Coalition.
“Everyone here, including myself, consumes so much without thinking where it came from,” Kongs said. This is a movement to realize what we consume and how it’s made.”
According to the Fair Trade Federation, “fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create greater equity and partnership in international trading system.” This occurs by paying vendors a fair price for the items they produce and ensuring they work in fair and safe conditions.
Fair trade is a booming industry. The Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International reported that from 2005 to 2006 the consumption of fair trade products increased by 45 percent in the United States and by an average of 42 percent worldwide. The trend is apparent in Lawrence as well as an increasing number of vendors are selling fair trade products locally.
Source: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations InternationalThe Lawrence Fair Trade Coalition recently held an annual Fair Trade Holiday Market at the University of Kansas Ecumenical Christian Ministries. Merchandise included jewelry, coffee, Christmas ornaments and clothing from all over the world.
“The products aren’t more expensive than products you would otherwise buy. Many of them are even cheaper,” Kongs said.
Kongs said students at the University should especially care about fair trade.
“In the first place, most college aged people making the products do not receive an education at all. It’s an issue of human morality. If you know products are made in inhumane conditions and buy them anyway it’s saying you’re okay with child slave labor, toxic poison and people living in awful conditions,” she said.
Kongs also noted that students have to make only small changes to their lifestyle to support the fair trade movement.
“Some college students that don’t have time to get involved can buy products they would buy anyway and make a difference,” Kongs said. “Using our normal consumption as a means to make a difference is something everyone can do.”
Matt Gifford, Ottawa junior, saw advertisements about supporting fair trade and decided to volunteer at the holiday market after he found out his friend was helping organizing it.
“It sounded really cool and I wanted to participate. I learned a lot about how fair trade organizations work,” Gifford said.
After volunteering at the holiday market, Gifford said he would be more likely to buy fair trade items in the future.
“People don’t think about where there money goes and how people are disadvantaged and getting the shaft,” he said. “Sometimes the only voice we have is our dollar and how we spend it. It activates change.”
Alicia Erickson and Brady Swenson, a couple from Topeka, launched their Web Site, Two Hands Worldshop, a year ago, which features exclusively fair trade merchandise.
The couple was inspired to start their Web site after they returned from Guyana, South America, where Swenson was involved in the Peace Corps and Erickson developed an after-school art program.
Source: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International“We wanted to find a way to reconnect American consumers to producers,” Swenson said. “Americans are buying their shoes from Michael Jordan, not the real people who make them.”
Swenson and Erickson had hoped to open a store on Massachusetts Street this fall, but are still saving money to do so. Swenson said their goal was to open a store by the spring of 2009.
“This holiday season business has really picked up quite a bit. It was slow at first, but we are starting to make a profit,” he said.
Mary Klayder, Lawrence Fair Trade Coalition faculty advisor and a lecturer in English said she isn’t surprised about interest in fair trade in Lawrence.
“People are concerned about the earth,” Klayder said. “We have more exposure to other cultures than before. Students are the least sheltered. More than 25 percent of students study abroad, so they are aware of other cultures.”
Swenson and Erickson have worked closely with the Fair Trade Coalition. Swenson said it was important to build a base with the younger generation because that is where change starts.
“There are some very inspiring, informed students out there,” he said. “That’s where the real leadership for this movement begins.”
In the spring, the Fair Trade Coalition will host a conference called, “Fair Trade in the Heartland,” in the Kansas Union. Kongs said the conference will focus on fair trade education and how to advance fair trade in Lawrence.
“Globalization and the aftermath is such a huge thing; it’s overwhelming,” Kongs said. “The conference will concentrate on grassroots work and how to make a change in the community.”
The Fair Trade Coalition meets every Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the ECM.