Fair Trade Improves Lives by Protecting the Planet.
Fair Trade USA™ is building an innovative model of responsible business, conscious consumerism, and shared value to eliminate poverty and enable sustainable development for farmers, workers, their families, and communities around the world. Fair Trade allows sustainability for our environment, planet, growers, and workers. With every Fair Trade Certified purchase, additional funds go to a worker - controlled Community Development Fund. They vote on how to spend the fund to improve their lives and meet their unique social, economic, and environmental needs of their community.
What is Fair Trade?
Fair trade is a global movement made up of a diverse network of producers, companies, consumers, advocates, and organizations putting people and planet first. At Fair Trade USA™ they believe that everyone wants to do what’s right — for their families, fellow global citizens, and the planet. That’s why Fair Trade USA™ is committed to making the right choices the most obvious ones. Based on the simple idea that the products bought and sold every day are connected to the livelihoods of others, fair trade is a way to make a conscious choice for a better world. A choice for Fair Trade Certified™ goods is a choice to support responsible companies, empower farmers, workers, and fishers, and protect the environment. In other words, it’s a world-changing way of doing business.
Fair Trade Certified provides retailers, traders, and consumers with an assurance that their products come from farms with sustainable social and environmental practices, as well as an opportunity to give back to the farming communities that grow their products.
Fair Trade is a neutral third party sustainability certification program. It focuses on social accountability and fair trade in agricultural, manufacturing, and trading operations. The certification supports our values of sustainable production and social responsibility at all stages of production. It ensures fair and positive relations throughout the distribution chain. To qualify, growers and their packing facilities have to undertake a formal audit and meet specific criteria.
Certification Benefits
- Ensures fair wages and good working conditions
- Improves livelihood of farmers, workers, and their communities
- Funds local education, healthcare, and wellness programs
- Supports sustainable environmental practices
- Fair Pay Towards a Living Income
- Protecting the Planet and People with Fair Trade
- Enhancing Education Access
- Safe Working Conditions
- Gender Equity and Women’s Empowerment
Fair Trade
Education, health care, and wellness programs for workers and their families are funded through the Fair Trade program. For a small cost added to each carton of Fair Trade certified fruit, money goes directly into the account of a social program established by the worker community.
The balance offsets related costs incurred by the grower, ensuring profitable returns and enabling them to continue to produce crops sustainably. Each of our participating growers has established a unique social program as part of their Fair Trade certification.
Meet our growers to learn more about how they are making meaningful changes in their communities.
Fair Trade Certification as a Sales Tool
We understand that Fair Trade certification is an optional add-on for Awe Sum Organics products. We think the benefits outweigh the cost. Social awareness and corporate responsibility are becoming increasingly important to consumers. Your participation in the program can become a differentiator that gets their attention and drives sales.
Our Sustainability Initiatives
At the root of organic agriculture is sustainability — working toward an "awesum" future!
Non-GMO Project Verified
We chose for our products to become Non-GMO Project Verified because we respect people’s right to know what’s in their food. One of the reasons we prefer organic farming is that organic growers are prohibited from planting genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
GMOs have never been properly tested for human safety. They are engineered with bacteria and viruses to produce insecticides that survive heavy doses of herbicides. In more than 60 countries, including the entire European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs.
When people buy products with the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal, they can rest assured that the food you’re putting into their bodies is GMO-free.
Certified Green Business
We’ve taken our love of the planet deep into our operations. Our Santa Cruz offices received a Green Business Certification Award. Some of the features include:
- LED Lighting
- Energy Management Systems for HVAC
- Big skylights to reduce energy use
- All Energy Star certified office equipment
- 100% recyclable carpet tiles
- Oxygen producing Breathe Walls
We’re always looking to improve. We work with Santa Cruz County to prevent pollution, reduce waste, conserve water, better manage our energy use, and more.
Reversing Climate Change
Farm like the Earth matters. The soil has an innate ability to reverse climate change, but only when soil health is maintained through organic regenerative agriculture.
Sustainable Transportation
We have always been carbon conscious. It takes 88% less fuel to ship a container by water from New Zealand to the U.S. east coast than it takes to truck it all the way from the west coast. That’s why over 90% of our shipments are by water.