Fair Trade Program

Get Involved

We live in an era of unprecedented economic interdependence. More than ever before, the decisions we make here in the United States about what we eat, drink, wear and buy affect the lives of people overseas who we may never meet, from textile workers in Asia to farmers in Africa to artisans in Latin America.

Conventional Trade

Unfortunately, the conventional trading system has unleashed a “race to the bottom” in which abusing weak labor standards overseas, eroding environmental regulations and suppressing commodity prices are the surest paths to profitability. That means that without even knowing it, we may be contributing to the exploitation low-income producers abroad and degrading the environment with our purchases through our everyday purchases of certain conventionally traded goods.

Fair Trade

The CRS Fair Trade Program creates opportunities for you to make trade fairer for poor people overseas through the choices you make about what you eat, drink and buy. Fair Trade is a new model of international trade built on right relationships between us and the people overseas who create the items we consume, relationships that respect human dignity, promote economic justice, and cultivate global solidarity.

There are two easy ways for you to get involved. The first is through the Work of Human Hands. Catholic Relief Services and A Greater Gift (formerly SERRV International) bring you high quality, fairly traded handcrafts and gourmet food items from low-income producers all over the world through the Work of Human Hands program.

What does it mean to say that these items are fairly traded? It means that the people who produce them earn a fair price, get access to credit and training, and maintain long-term relationships with A Greater Gift rooted in the principles of human dignity and economic justice. So when you participate in Work of Human Hands, everyone wins- you get high-quality one-of-a-kind handcrafts and the people who created them get hope for a better future for themselves and their families.

The second way to get involved is through CRS’ Fair Trade Coffee. Most of our coffee comes from companies that know very little about the farmers who grow it, or the struggles they face every day. But Fair Trade coffee, we enter into a network of human relationships. We know the people who sell us our coffee. We know the farmers who grow it. And we know our decision to buy Fair Trade coffee ensures they will earn a fair price and live with dignity.

The third way to get involved is through CRS’ Fair Trade Chocolate. Chocolate is made from cocoa. But the farmers who grow the cocoa in our chocolate are usually far removed from the chocolate companies who sell it to us.

Divine chocolate is different. The cocoa in Divine chocolate comes exclusively from more than 45,000 cocoa farmers in the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana. These farmers handpick the Fair Trade cocoa beans that go into Divine chocolate, and they own one-third of the company! That means that they are involved in the business decisions that affect their lives, and they share in the company’s profits.

When you buy Divine Fair Trade chocolate, you are enjoying one of the world’s best chocolate products and supporting the world’s first farmer-owned Fair Trade chocolate company at the same time.

For more information on CRS’ Fair Trade programs go to www.crsfairtrade.org.