In 2004 I had the privilege of visiting Bangladesh. I had just started working for the international relief & development organization for which I still work. In high school I had gone on a youth group mission trip to Costa Rica, and in college I studied for a summer in London, but I had never experienced anything like the month I spent in India and Bangladesh. It was like my eyes were opened.
The girls in the photo here stole my heart. They all work — either for relatives as maids or in the garment factories. The organization for which I work is helping the parents in the area of microenterprise and financial literacy so that they can afford to eat without sending their children out to work. They also run classes like these for the girls who work. They are held in the evening, after their working hours. This is still a sacrifice because that means they are unable to help out in their own houses while they are at this school. Luckily the parents have realized the importance of education. So while these girls don’t get to go to regular school, at least they get some education.
I was shocked at how young these girls look. And yet they said their ages were anywhere from 8-12. Our field staff told me that they look young because of malnutrition, but at the same time they don’t really know how old they are so they just guess. I visited this area around my birthday and couldn’t imagine not knowing how old I was!
Every time I buy clothes, I think of these girls in Bangladesh. I have no idea if they have made it or not. I have no idea where to buy sweat-free clothes. I did sew my own for awhile but then I realized that they probably work in the textile mills too.
So why am I telling you this story? I was struck by how many commented in this week’s Food & Faith Challenge that they had never heard about Fair Trade, or where to get it. I hope that you will be inspired to dig more into this issue. While it is important to support our local farmers, it’s also important to think about those who make our things that aren’t local.
This Week’s Winners
The winner of this week’s Food & Faith Challenge was Jen, who blogs at The Big Binder. Ironically enough, I know her! We are part of a West Michigan blogging group. Random.org surprises me sometimes.
The winner of Women Food and God was Abby S. She said, “This book caught my eye in the bookstore ā very catchy title! Iād love to win a copy, because Iām always interested in spiritual approaches to dealing with eating problems.”
Speaking of eating . . .
I was also struck by many of the comments in the Women Food and God giveaway. There are so many people out there just like me who struggle with weight and the reasons behind we eat. I’m going to try to explore this issue more in the future.
As always, thank you for reading and commenting. The issues are big. There are no easy answers. But I enjoy learning and sharing, and hope you do too!
Oh yes! I look forward to seeing how you explore the reasons behind why we eat.
It is always difficult for me to stop and think about the hands that put together the garments I wear. I try to pray for them because I know that God knows who they are, and I have started doing a little research on buying clothes ethically…it’s such a complicated mess though!
Thanks for posting this!
There are not many good options for purchasing ethical clothes in the United States … at least not yet. But here are a few ideas to get moving in the right direction.
For basics, try Maggie’s Organics (http://www.maggiesorganics.com/), or American Apparel (http://store.americanapparel.net/ … but be careful, American Apparel’s models are EXTREMELY scantily clad and provocatively positioned; don’t visit their site at work or around kids!).
If you need to look more “put together,” Fair Indigo (http://www.fairindigo.com/), which spun off from Land’s End, is the place to go. Their clothes tend to be out of my budget (I’m a grad student!), but for folks who buy clothes at malls on a regular basis, their prices are probably fairly typical. Also, they have GREAT out-of-season stuff on sale all the time.
New Balance makes some of their tennis shoes in the United States, and those factories are monitored by the US’s strict labor laws, so they are better than factories in non-regulated nations. Check the tag inside the shoe to find out where it was made.
I also think that buying clothing second hand is worthwhile — although the clothes may have been made in a sweatshop, you are not directly contributing to their production, and if you buy there exclusively, you are taking your support (i.e., your money) away from companies that knowingly use sweatshops.
Finally, there are TONS of fair trade clothing companies in England — just do a Google search for “fair trade clothes” and you’ll see lots of .co.uk sites in the list. Overseas shipping costs are insane — roughly $40-50 per package, but if you were really motivated, you could get a bunch of friends together and make an order from one of the British fair trade companies, and then split the shipping costs.
Companies are always coming and going, so doing a periodic Internet search for “fair trade clothes” or “ethical clothes” will be beneficial.
Good luck!
Thank you so much, this is great info!!!!!
I AM SO EXCITED! Maybe Random.org ‘knows’ that I follow faithfully but get completely overwhelmed when I try and write about a lot of these issues. This is one I can handle š
As far as clothes; I dont’ know what to do either. I try and buy used clothes as often as I can, just to decrease the demand for new production. It’s cheaper, and I don’t think I could afford a fair trade wardrobe, nor would it really fit my extremely bland sense of style.
Thanks again – so excited (did I already say that?) š