2006.12.13: December 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Fair Trade: Business: Hometown Annapolis: Nepal RPCV Damian Jones started Annapolis-based "Aid Through Trade" in 1993 to help provide good employment and fair wages to artisans and farmers in developing countries
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2006.12.13: December 13, 2006: Headlines: COS - Nepal: Fair Trade: Business: Hometown Annapolis: Nepal RPCV Damian Jones started Annapolis-based "Aid Through Trade" in 1993 to help provide good employment and fair wages to artisans and farmers in developing countries
Nepal RPCV Damian Jones started Annapolis-based "Aid Through Trade" in 1993 to help provide good employment and fair wages to artisans and farmers in developing countries
Since 2000, Aid Through Trade sales have returned more than $500,000 to the economies of Nepal and Vietnam. Workers from his Admiral Drive company visit either of the countries - sometimes both - each year. The visits allows Aid Through Trade officials to meet the workers, and see their conditions and the environment in which products are being made. "We have to make an assessment of the presence of human dignity, besides looking at wages and exterior conditions," Mr. Jones said. "From a business point of view, that's a big step in the business supply chain." Mr. Jones said he believes fair trade will soon become as popular as organic goods, which are now carried in such grocery stores as Giant and Safeway. "People want to know that their food came from a clean and healthy place," he said. "They also want to know their goods came from a good, healthy, fairly paid source."
Nepal RPCV Damian Jones started Annapolis-based "Aid Through Trade" in 1993 to help provide good employment and fair wages to artisans and farmers in developing countries
Fair-trade practices : Annapolis businesses offering more socially conscious goods
By KATIE ARCIERI, Staff Writer
Caption: Inside Bead Bungalow on Annapolis Street, storer co-owner Carleen Birnes talks to shoppers Leigh Spatafore and her sister Skyler Spatafore about fair-trade goods. (Below) These bamboo bowls are considered fair-trade goods because they are sold by companies that ensure that the artisans who make them are given fair wages and good employment opportunities. Photo: Paul W. Gillespie--The Capital
[Excerpt]
Fair-trade items are distributed by companies that ensure producers in Third World countries are paid well, have good hours, and an opportunity for advancement - no sweatshops allowed.
The Annapolis-based fair-trade wholesaler Aid Through Trade sells designs that even celebrities have taken note of - pop singer Christina Aguilera has a silver glass beaded necklace; actress Halle Berry, a bronze colored cuff choker.
First introduced to fair-trade goods in college, Ms. Birnes said her clientele seems to be as fascinated by the items as she is.
"I think consumers are becoming more socially responsible with their purchases," she said.
A backlash against mass-produced goods made by anonymous sources, the fair-trade movement seeks to provide good employment and fair wages to artisans and farmers in developing countries.
Experts say the market is growing as fair-trade companies become more savvy about differentiating themselves from mainstream retailers and as consumers grow more conscious about where there purchases were made.
Total fair-trade sales reached an estimated $376 million in 2004, up from $291 million in 2003, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Fair Trade Federation, a 200-member organization founded in 1994.
"Awareness of fair trade has certainly increased considerably in the past five years," federation Executive Director Carmen Iezzi said. "People are suddenly starting to take notice about where their products come from."
Fair-trade companies work directly with producers, cutting out the middle man without jacking up prices along the way, she said. And producers are paid by fair-trade companies up front, ensuring that workers can plan ahead for the future, she said.
Damian Jones was a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He saw how education and income improved families. So after he finished as a volunteer, he began the Annapolis-based Aid Through Trade in 1993.
Since 2000, Aid Through Trade sales have returned more than $500,000 to the economies of Nepal and Vietnam. Workers from his Admiral Drive company visit either of the countries - sometimes both - each year. The visits allows Aid Through Trade officials to meet the workers, and see their conditions and the environment in which products are being made.
"We have to make an assessment of the presence of human dignity, besides looking at wages and exterior conditions," Mr. Jones said. "From a business point of view, that's a big step in the business supply chain."
Mr. Jones said he believes fair trade will soon become as popular as organic goods, which are now carried in such grocery stores as Giant and Safeway.
"People want to know that their food came from a clean and healthy place," he said. "They also want to know their goods came from a good, healthy, fairly paid source."
For more information on fair-trade goods, visit www.beadbungalow.com and www.aidthroughtrade.com.
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Headlines: December, 2006; Peace Corps Nepal; Directory of Nepal RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Nepal RPCVs; Fair Trade; Business; Maryland
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Story Source: Hometown Annapolis
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Nepal; Fair Trade; Business
PCOL35453
39
Hi
Myself Neera ,
An accessories designer from NAtional Institute of FAshion Technology , my
specialization in livlihood enhancement and handicraft with any material. i m really interested
in working with artisans at grassroot level. here i m also sending my
CV. hope to here from you soon.
Thanx
Neera