World Fair Trade Day 2010 & Mothers Day: Empowering Women Worldwide

This past Saturday (May 8th) marked the official celebration of World Fair Trade Day. This year’s theme, entitled “A BIG DAY FOR THE PLANET”, represented the blending between principles of Fair Trade and sustainability. The founders hoped this day would draw attention to Fair Trade, sparking greater awareness around product sourcing– encouraging consumers to ask more questions about who makes their products, where they are made, and how they are made….and it seems to have been a success.

We here at Jute and Jackfruit take fair trade seriously and one of our core company goals is to empower women worldwide through economic opportunities and fair trade. So it is very timely for us that World Fair Trade Day fell one day before Mothers Day this year, since the two days to us, go hand in hand. Both are a celebration of women, women throughout the globe and an opportunity to honor and empower those who are less fortunate than ourselves. So if you are also a mother out there reading this, happy Mother’s Day to you as well, and congratulations for all your hard work and success as a mom (we know its not an easy job!).

For those who are unfamiliar, WFT day is an initiative of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and is supported by thousands of citizens, Fair Trade Organizations, social and environmental movements, producers and consumers worldwide. Local authorities, national governments and multilateral institutions have been supporting Fair Trade for several decades now.

At Jute and Jackfruit, we believe firmly in the principles of fair trade and ethical sourcing, especially the empowerment of women worldwide through economic opportunity. We specifically support fair trade by working with non-profits and companies that empower women and/or consist of women CEO’s, Directors and designers. For example, we support and work with a number of independent women designers in the US for our eco-fashion collections and also partners with organizations to offer you beautiful handmade accessories and handbags made by women from around the world.

We are proud to carry some of the leading pioneers fair trade apparel, such as Indigenous Designs (example featured below in the Melange Dress), and to carry a wide range of handbags and accessories that are also fair trade, all made by women artisans from all around the world.

Indigenous Designs is one of the first US apparel companies to invest in fair trade practices beyond worker wages, making a social commitment to their artisans beyond temporary employment, doing so well before any other apparel company was thinking along these lines (for more than 15 years now!). They now work with more than 200 artisans in Peru providing them skills training and long-term employment.

Be Sweet , from the other side of the globe, makes our beautiful mohair scarves and wraps and simultaneously empowers women of the Xhosa Tribe right outside Cape Town (South Africa). Be Sweet teaches these women weaving and looming skills as well as makes a number of other direct investments in the communities in which the women live. Be Sweet has been working with these women since 2003.

Escama Studio another one of our favorite socially-conscious, fair trade companies empowers Brazilian women by teaching them complex crocheting techniques, providing them stable employment and making other investments in the community. Each handbag is handmade, gorgeous and signed by the artisan who made it.

Turning now to the South Asia, Sevya, (scarves featured above) is another one of our partners committed to women’s empowerment. Sevya, which means caring, is a member of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) and a non-profit. Sevya invests all its proceeds into preserving traditional weaving and looming techniques in India and to providing fair wages and other economic opportunities to the women with whom they work.