Experience Together

Supporting Fair Trade

Fair Trade Bananas Photograph by Bennett Wetch © 2014 Fair Trade USA. All Rights Reserved


What is Fair Trade?

~ Quality Products ~ Improving Lives ~
~ Protecting the Planet ~

Fair Trade goods are just that. Fair. From far-away farms to the shopping cart, products that bear the Fair Trade USA logo come from farmers and workers who are justly compensated. Fair Trade USA helps farmers in developing countries build sustainable businesses that positively influence their communities. They teach disadvantaged communities how to use the free market to their advantage. With Fair Trade USA, the money shoppers spend on day-to-day goods can improve an entire community’s day-to-day lives.

For more information:

fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade#

School Sisters of Notre Dame support and believe in Fair Trade. By following Catholic social teaching principles of respecting the dignity of work and caring for the poor, people can make a profound difference.

October is Fair Trade Awareness Month. The focus of the month is to encourage community leaders and organizations to use and serve Fair Trade products. School Sisters of Notre Dame throughout the province support Fair Trade efforts in their own home and work environments.

Many sisters have taken the pledge to:

  • commit to continue to educate ourselves, colleagues, employees and others regarding Fair Trade
  • use, and continue to add, Fair Trade products in our food service and for meetings held on our campuses.

School Sisters of Notre Dame serve in countries where Fair Trade practices would enhance the living conditions of people who struggle to make a living harvesting cocoa, palm oil and bananas, along with other products. The sisters see first-hand the devastation of poor living conditions and no access to fair wages. When the people of these regions are taught the economic advantages of a free market, they can improve their lives. All of us can support that by purchasing their products.

To build support for Fair Trade practices, our SSND campuses are using various Fair Trade items, such as coffee, tea, sugar, chocolates and bananas. Some are trying to keep their purchases local by using beet sugar or products that are safer for the environment. They are also researching possibilities for purchasing other items, such as olive oil, baking cocoa and imported nuts. They are educating themselves about this topic. There is so much more that can be done to help.

Through Fair Trade, people can use their economic power to contribute to the common good.

How can you help? How can you make a difference in the world?

Fair Trade Resources:

  • To read the SSND Fair Trade Declaration >click here.
  • To read the press release from the Mankato Area Fair Trade Town Initiative (MAFTII) >click here.
  • To see Catholic Relief Services information about Fair Trade, visit www.crsfairtrade.org.

Photograph by Bennett Wetch © 2014 Fair Trade USA. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy  |  Contact  |  Home  |  Donate  |  Employment IT Online Resource Center  |  Webmail

© 2017 School Sisters of Notre Dame, 320 East Ripa Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63125 | Phone: 314-561-4100 | Email: info@ssndcp.org

Facebook  Twitter  Instagram  Pinterest  YouTube

~ Stay Connected ~