Our host was Dawn Stary, an influential local organizer of Fair Trade San Diego. The guest of honor was Lata Kachhawan, also an influential organizer in her own region of Barmer in the western state of Rajasthan, India. Ms. Kachhawan has worked for decades with women in her region who are immigrants from Pakistan, helping them to successfully export their handicraft work for a fair wage.

So, what is Fair Trade? Apparently, it is a concept whose time has come.

The purpose of Fair Trade is to ensure that the benefits of an international market can be reaped by laborers as well as by distributors and consumers of that market; to provide a decent living wage to those involved. In other words, the purpose of Fair Trade is to bring justice into the world. You didn’t think it was possible? Neither did I. As consumers, we can now choose products which meet the standard of Fair Trade at regular grocery stores in our neighborhoods. As I discussed the meeting to a friend afterwards, I was met with immediate skepticism. ‘How do we know that fair trade is real? Why should we believe that anyone is actually checking?’ I am a person with a high regard for skepticism, and I did feel these questions had been answered for me during the meeting.

What I learned is this:

In the US, consumer goods including coffee, tea and sugar can now be certified through Fair Trade USA, whose slogan is, ‘Every Purchase Matters.’ Certification means the importing company has been audited to ensure they are checking their sources: checking to make sure that laborers are paid a living wage in their own economy, among other credentials.

Ms. Kachhawan’s export trade is validated through an international organization, Fairtrade International (FLO), which likewise operates to ensure that trade under its label is conducted in a manner to deal fairly with all involved.

These validation systems exist to answer precisely the questions my friend was posing. Dawn Stary and her associates with FTSD have persuaded the city government of San Diego to meet the standards and join the ranks of Fair Trade Towns USA; they are now also providing mentoring to organizers in the nearby city of La Mesa, California, in pursuing this approval process. Lata Katchawan’s organization of Pakistani artisans has international support through Fairtrade International to earn fair wages for their work. I encourage readers to explore these systems which are developing to validate fair trade, and to promote fair trade, making conscious choices with your every day purchases.