World Fair Trade Day

10th May 2008 is World Fair Trade Day.

WFTD started as a European movement of over 2,000 fair trade shops, working together through NEWS! The founder of People Tree initiated WFTD which was adopted by the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and its members in 2001 to promote global awareness of fair trade. IFAT is the global association of fair trade organisations, made up of 300 organisations from 70 countries around the world.

WFTD is celebrated every second Saturday of May and it is aimed at encouraging people to celebrate fair trade organisations, to buy more fair trade goods through fair trade retailers and to encourage more companies to sell fair trade products.

This year’s theme is Fair Trade and Ecology and they state:

“Fair Trade is a force for protecting the environment while promoting sustainable development. Fair Trade favours the sustainable use of natural resources and production methods that are not capital and oil intensive, favouring hand production and organic agriculture – to reduce the carbon footprint. Because Fair Trade is committed to paying a living wage and works in long-term partnerships, it enables producer partners to invest in environmentally friendly production. In turn, these initiatives promote environmental awareness locally and internationally.”

You can find out more by visiting the WFTD website.