TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES – NEW FAIR TRADE PRODUCT AT OUR EAST STORE!
We are continuing to grow our selection of fair trade products at the East Store, and recently we’ve done that by adding Ten Thousand Villages (TVV) as a new vendor. TTV describes themselves as “a global maker-to-market movement that addresses economic injustice.
Because every handcrafted object has a life of meaning behind it. We’re a way for you to shop with intention for ethically-sourced handcrafted wares - and to share in the joy of empowering makers in ten thousand villages.” As with our other fair trade vendors, they are relieving poverty in under-resourced communities across the global south through fair, sustainable opportunities instead of charity.
Ten Thousand Villages is also the birthplace of the global fair trade movement. In 1946, Edna Ruth Byler bought some embroidered fabrics in Puerto Rico and took them home to sell. What started as one person selling products from the trunk of their car eventually became the oldest and largest fair trade importer in North America. Today, TTV works with small, independent producer groups in over 20 countries and also has their own retail stores across the US and Canada.
In our store you will see kaisa grass baskets from Bangladesh, some which are wrapped with recycled sari fabric. We also have ceramics from Vietnam, the Be Still incense line wooden chopsticks, and the bicycle pizza cutter from India, and soapstone dishes from Kenya. And there’ll be more to come!
To learn more about Ten Thousand Villages, their work, and artisan groups they partner with, visit:
https://www.tenthousandvillages.com/pages/history
https://www.tenthousandvillages.com/pages/impact