Eco-Lingo: Fair Trade

TransFair USA

Eco-lingo is being tossed around left and right these days. We're demystifying common terms to help you figure out which words are the real deal... and which are just green jargon.

Today's word: Fair Trade

Definition: Swapping your favorite design book for a throw pillow? Yep, that's a fair trade. But capital-F Fair Trade is all about rewarding manufacturers who produce things sustainably by paying a higher price. You've probably noticed that at the supermarket, Fair Trade coffee or bananas cost more than the run-of-the-mill kind and it's because the fair trade versions are grown and produced in situations where the labor conditions are safe and harmful chemicals are prohibited. And your dollars go to farms that invest in local scholarship programs and organic certification.

TransFair USA is the US' non-profit third-party certifier that determines which products can be listed as Fair Trade after an intense auditing. Right now they only provide certification for coffee, tea and herbs, cocoa and chocolate, fresh fruit, sugar, rice and vanilla. So if you see other products, like wood or cotton or crafts, that are labeled Fair Trade, you might want to do a little digging. If they're not certified by TransFair USA, who's declaring their product Free Trade?

Verdict: The Real Deal. But watch out for imposters. Anything called Fair Trade should have the Fair Trade Federation logo (above) on the package and you can find a list of certified products on their site.