HAE NOW is a producer of Fair Trade T-Shirts, and for Saint Patrick’s Day HAE t-shirts decided to go green! But the t-shirts were not the only thing that was hot during the holiday. Alter Eco, has a dark mint chocolate to help create refreshingly intense Fair Trade Certified organic chocolate grown exclusively by small-scale farmers. Also, Choice Organic Tea’s have a Irish Breakfast Tea! This black herbal tea is fair trade with a side of caffeine punch to go along with it!

http://fairtradeusa.org/blog/celebrate-st-patricks-day-the-fair-trade-way

Contributed by Joe Sweeny

I read the article on Fair Trade USA’s website, “Will the World Ever See Fair Trade iPads?” by Keith Wagstaff from TIME, that asks if electronic devices will ever be Fair Trade. Wagstaff finds that it is very possible to make Fair Trade electronic devices, but it is only going to happen if there are enough people asking for them. Since electronic devices are more expensive than a cup of coffee the extra money you pay is much more noticeable. In the example the Wagstaff uses it would cost the consumer $100 dollars more to buy a Fair Trade iPad if one existed. I think that it’s ridiculous that consumers even have to think about this. They shouldn’t look at this as paying extra money they should look at this as the standard. If iPads were made in America then they would cost way more money. Why is it that a Chinese worker’s time is not as important as an American’s? Plus who really needs an iPad? It’s a luxury. If someone really thinks they have to have one in their life shell out the money and make someone else’s life more livable.

Contributed by Louis Donaghue