You already know that buying Fair Trade is good for farmers and good for the earth, but here’s yet another reason to feel good about your Fair Trade purchases: by making traditional small-scale agriculture in the developing world more profitable, Fair Trade helps farming families stay on their land. As big commercial companies encroach on the land that was once farmed exclusively by small family operations, it becomes extremely difficult for these families to compete.

Fair Trade helps small farmers successfully participate in the global market by facilitating direct trade relationships. Importers purchase from Fair Trade producer groups as directly as possible, eliminating unnecessary middlemen and empowering farmers to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Additionally, Fair Trade provides farmers with the market information necessary to be savvy producers. The Fair Trade minimum price gives farmers market information, financial stability, and access to credit, all of which contribute to farmers’ market success.

With each Fair Trade product you buy, you help a family hold on to their home. What better reason do you need?

This post is reprinted from TransFair USA, www.fairtrademonth.org.