By Amber Nichols
You'll see the mark of fair trade in tea, coffee, bananas, and many other foods and beverages that you can have your refrigerator and cupboard full of them. Products with this mark generally mean that they were made and distributed under the conditions of fairness in all aspects of the business. For instance, the farms where they were cultivated employ just labor practices. Another example is that these products' manufacturers see to it that their employees always have favorable working conditions.
Tea that has been certified as a fair-trade product is made by companies of different sizes - from small- to large-scale. Certifying bodies are challenged about helping the whole industry since they can't just focus on the independent farmers and ignore the large tea plantations that employ hundreds of laborers. To solve this, tea plantations now have joint organizations where the work conditions, benefits, and other plans for the laborers and farmers are discussed.
One interesting story is that of the 100 percent organic fair trade tea in Sri Lanka's Uva district. Their black tea from Koslanda helps about 600 families by giving them jobs in the plantation, making available micro-lending programs, and buying other resources that can give them added income.
If you're a chocolate lover, you'll definitely love even more chocolate bars and candies that passed the standards of any of the certifying bodies. Aside from enjoying the rich, smooth taste of the confections, you'll feel good that these products support the movement on maintaining decent wages, prohibiting child labor, and helping many farmers across the globe to have better lives. Many companies can afford to sell cheap cocoa products, because they use minors to work in their farms and pay substandard wages. With these chocolate products, you are assured that that the producers of the product do not do these illegal schemes.
There are also chocolates that are not only fair trade-certified, but also organic. Many cocoa plantations now that are earning their fair trade certifications also strive to lessen the pesticides and hazardous chemicals that they use in cocoa cultivation.
There is an increasing awareness about the importance of providing benefits for farmers and all other workers involved in manufacturing various food products. Aside from tea and chocolate, there are also other food items all over the world that are made under fair trade rules and regulations. You'll now also find fair trade spices, oils, and rice. And the list just keeps on growing.
Fairtrade tea bags and loose leaves are available on the Oxfam Shop website. Visit their site today to also check out their fair trade chocolate bars, coffee beans, and more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amber_Nichols
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