Trade As One

Recently, I was flipping through Saveur, a culinary-travel magazine with a fabulous focus on summer markets and was thrilled to see one of our producers, Handmade Expressions, featured with 8 other shopping bags. A one-page featured called Hold Everything: Reusable shopping bags from around the globe highlighted bags and market baskets made all over the world. The Jute Symphony Bag is from the same family of products as our Nature Nectar Bag, $44 which can be used as a tote or purse. The bags are made by the Kasuthi Women’s Empowerment Group, a southern India cooperative focused on empowering women and children. The summertime provides many opportunities to carry things in creative ways - trips to the beach, the local farmer’s market or an outdoor concert - all requiring efficient packing efforts. Check out our favorite ways to tote things around this summer: the Trade as One Eco Grocery Bag made in Mexico, the Cooler Bag made in Indonesia, the Small , Medium and Large Recycled Magazine Totes, all made in Cambodia.

A bonus to doing what we do is getting to visit places that are doing something inspiring. Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois is one such place. In June, I (Rachel) had the privilege of being in Chicagoland and stopping in for a visit. Last winter, they launched an interactive ministry designed to connect people to opportunities within the church, the community and the world. Trade as One is a big connection for the Do Something Now for Our World as a very tangible way for Heartland attendees to make Fair Trade purchases right at the church. It was so fun to walk in and see our producer photos and stories attached to the oversized map!
The space itself is really compelling and invites you in with a huge map and large photos. As part of the community connection, there are opportunities to purchase birthday gifts for an under resourced child in the area, a monthly drive for items that are needed by a local pantry, and more. What a great way to rally everyone to focus on one need for something like peanut butter or juice boxes! Often, we are stymied by how to get involved or how to do good. Heartland is making it impossible to allow the overwhelming needs cause paralysis and inaction by providing clear opportunities to serve others!

Learn more about Do Something Now and see photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=145409&id=278874584322

Better late than never! It took us about about a month to get a hold of her via email, but we have a winner of our 1,000th order giveaway!

Jess Kearny, who just so happens to be on staff at Centerpoint Church in New Hampshire, placed the 1000th tradeasone.com order of 2010. To celebrate, we’re giving her one of our favorite new products, the Recycled Cooler Bag from XS Project. Made from recycled waste in Indonesia, these Coolers are unique, earth-friendly, people-friendly, and fun.

Thanks to Jess, and to the other 999 people who placed orders before her. Here’s hoping that tradeasone.com continues to be a place where people of conviction can use their spending to bring hope to some of the darkest corners of the world.

Our intern Jordan just finished reading “Good News about Injustice,” and wanted to share his thoughts.
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From its title to its conclusion, Gary Haugen’s book, “Good News About Injustice,” will inspire conversations, deep thinking, and most importantly, self reflection.

Recently I was catching up with an old friend and he had asked me if I had been reading any good books. I responded by telling him that I had started this book called “Good News About Injustice.” My friend looked at me for a moment with confusion in his eyes, and asked me if there was any good news about injustice? I didn’t know how to respond.

The truth is, it would have been all too easy to just tell my friend what I had learned while reading the book. I could have easily reiterated points that Haugen makes in his book regarding hope and restoration in a world disillusioned by injustices such as poverty, disease, crime, and death. Instead, I recommended that he read the book because I believe that he would benefit far more from reading the book than I could provide in my meager description of it.

While I did refrain from telling my friend about what it was that I was learning whilst I was reading, that does not mean I wasn’t learning anything. Actually, quite contrary, I believe that I was learning more than I had felt equipped to share. It was as though I had eaten too much and was having trouble digesting it all.

A warning to all readers, Haugen’s book will challenge you. Within it there are stories of injustices that Haugen himself has seen firsthand. As an investigator in the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Director of the United Nations…

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As an undergraduate student studying humanities and fast approaching my fourth year, academic discussions of current world issues are all too common. In April I wrote a paper discussing human trafficking and the various methods in which non-profit organizations and fair trade companies alike are seeking the abolition of this form of modern day slavery. Little did I know that only two months later I would be participating in a conference, as an intern with Trade As One, whose purpose is to address the growing issue of human trafficking on both the international and the domestic levels. My academic discussion in the classroom suddenly became a reality through this internship.

For some attending the human trafficking conference at Congregation Netivot Shalom, a synagogue in Berkeley, California, this was their first introduction to the effects of human trafficking. Although Trade as One is all too familiar with slavery and its effects, the experience was new in one respect, this was the first time we’ve been invited to an event taking place within a Jewish community. This was special because it brought us into contact with a whole new community of people with whom we share so many values. We got to connect with them and share our common desire to fight slavery, and we also got to share one of our favorite producer stories, Thanksgiving Coffee. They are a coffee co-op from Uganda made up of people who have intentionally set aside the religious differences between Muslim, Jewish, and Christian neighbors and have united to combat extreme poverty, which plagues each individual group.

Upon arrival to the Congregation Netivot Shalom, attendees were given real stories of people encountering trafficking from around the world. Following the stories, the 8 organizations featured at the event, including Trade As One, shared about the work they are doing to bring an end to human trafficking. Trade as One is particularly concerned with the employment of people who have recently escaped human trafficking. Goods that Trade as One sells from producers such as: Hagar, Nightlight, and Rahab Bazaar, directly work with escapees from human trafficking.

As an intern, now more than ever, I have been forced to face this question: what is my responsibility towards problems that surround me? Issues such as human trafficking and poverty are indeed issues that are worldwide, but they are also here in our own backyards. What I have begun to understand is that while I am not from a poor household, I live under mandate to care for those who are poor and oppressed. My internship with Trade as One has opened my eyes to ways of alleviating poverty, and helping the oppressed through business venture. I am able to take part in a company that emphasizes social change and development around the world through the simple purchase of everyday goods. This is an opportunity that has shaped my purchasing habits, and has taken what was once an academic discussion, and made it personal and real.