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Advent magic: Fair trade brightens Bad Driburg's Christmas market!
A volunteer group in Höxter sells fairly traded products and advocates for fair working conditions.
Advent magic: Fair trade brightens Bad Driburg's Christmas market!
In Cologne, a group of around twelve women and men are committed to fair trade on a voluntary basis. This committed group is based in a church and runs a small but nice shop on Langen Straße. The popular products of coffee, tea, chocolate and decorative arts from the Third World are offered here all year round. Advent not only conjures up a festive atmosphere, but also an idea of responsibility in consumers' purchasing decisions Westphalia sheet reported.
A harmonious shopping experience can be combined with the certainty that the products are manufactured under fair conditions. The range is particularly in demand at Christmas, as many people are looking for gifts that are both beautiful and ethical.
Background of fair trade
But what is really behind these fair products? Coffee, for example, is 80 percent grown by around 25 million small farmers, who often earn less than $2 a day - just above the poverty line, as it is TDH shows. These small producers are fighting not only against low prices, but also against the growing threat of climate change. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are endangering coffee production in many growing regions.
This makes fair trade practices that help small farmers to make a better living from their laborious work all the more important. Fair trade ensures a fixed minimum price and thus avoids the precarious situation in which these producers are often forced to sell their goods below market value. The fair trade premium, which is paid through the direct purchase of products, flows into the local infrastructure, be it in schools or health centers, and thus sustainably improves living conditions in the growing countries.
Tea cultivation and its challenges
But it's not just coffee that poses major challenges. Growing tea - the world's second most consumed beverage after water, with a staggering 15,000 cups drunk every second - also poses problems. Many pickers earn starvation wages, and the prevalence of child labor is all too common in countries such as India, Kenya and Uganda TDH reported. In the tea gardens, too, the workers are heavily dependent on the tea garden owners.
Both products, coffee and tea, are at the center of a responsible purchasing decision. If you have the opportunity, you should definitely stop by the small shop on Langen Straße. Here you can not only buy gifts for your loved ones, but also actively contribute to fair trading conditions and a better quality of life for producers.
It's not just a purchase; it is an investment in humanity and ethics. This season, give not only joy but also a little hope to those who work hard for the products we enjoy every day.