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Quick Links
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Here are some of our new products for June
picnic basket from Laos
hammock from Nicaragua
 kiisi stone dominoes from Kenya
table runner from India
cowrie shell rattle from Kenya
puzzle from Sri Lanka
floor mat from Bangladesh
doll from Viet Nam
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Shopping for a Better World
We all know that we have choices when it comes to where we shop and what we purchase. Quality, price, value, esthetics - all of these things influence the decisions we make when we spend our money. Here at Ten Thousand Villages, our goal is to help consumers see that sustainability can also be a factor in our spending decisions. We are committed to providing you with handmade and fairly traded products that are not only beautiful and functional, but also support a more sustainable and equitable world.
Support fair trade and your purchase does make a difference!
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 Upcoming Events
Kerrville Folk Festival
June 1-3 June 8-9
June 8-9
Visit our booth at the festival.
Benefit Night: Austin Africa Network
Thursday, June 28 5pm-9pm
A percentage of the sales during the event will be donated to Austin Africa Network. Come shop and help support this local non-profit organization.
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| Fair Trade in Action
The December 7, 2006 edition of "The Economist" included an article entitled, "Voting with Your Trolley" that opened with the question, "Can you really change the world just by buying certain foods?" In response to a request by Wilson Tan, marketing director for Ten Thousand Villages in Austin, Texas, Doug Dirks, public relations in Akron, wrote the following:
I agree that our fair trade shopping dollars will not solve all the world's problems related to poverty, safe food supply and sustainable agriculture. However, I do believe that each of us has a responsibility to be concerned about the welfare of the people who make or grow the products we buy. At Ten Thousand Villages we make the effort to get to know the artisans we buy from well enough to be assured they are paid fairly according to standards that we set together. If this means we need to pay more than the current "market" rate we pay more so that people can live more comfortably. We have been doing this for 60 years and our business is growing, we are making a small surplus and artisans are making progress in their home communities.
 I recently visited small-scale coffee farmers in Colombia who supply fair trade coffee to Level Ground Trading, one of our coffee suppliers. Fair trade prices over the past five or more years have made tremendous differences for these farmers. They have been able to maintain and improve their coffee farms (usually farms that have been owned by one family for several generations) even when world prices were very low so low that many farmers had to sell their land and give up coffee farming. Fair trade premiums have provided opportunities for their children to seek higher education. A number of farmers are converting to organic practices and several pointed out that on their small farms of two hectares/five acres or less, organic coffee farming integrated with fruit trees, bananas, corn, sugar cane and yucca can actually be just as productive, and less costly, than "chemical" farming. For these farmers and many others, fair trade has made a better life possible.
| Each of us has a responsibility to be concerned about the welfare of the people who make or grow the products we buy. | Ten Thousand Villages puts emphasis on developing close relationships with the people from whom we buy, and in the context of this trading relationship we are able to determine what is a "fair deal" for them. We believe this is better than allowing the so-called free market to decide on prices that may end up making it difficult for artisans and producers to feed and clothe their families.
Doug Dirks
Public Relations, Ten Thousand Villages
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 Volunteer Voice
Shane has been volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages since February of 2006 and has been a great help to us in taking care of customers and keeping the store clean and organized. Here's what Shane had to say about volunteering:
Hello everyone! I volunteer here at the villages, and have been for a little over a year now. Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade store, and that interests me greatly. I originally became interested in fair trade because I am concerned with the economic disparity between the world's developed and lesser developed areas, and I feel that much can be done today to raise awareness and promote a more equitable world. The dominant trading model today is based on exploitation, not cooperation, and therefore is rife with injustice and inequality. I came to Ten Thousand Villages looking for a volunteer opportunity where I felt like I could be useful and make a difference in the world. I have found this to be the case and more. The crew here is a quality group of people from various backgrounds with all kinds of interesting stories. So there you have it. Today they are having problems keeping me away! You too could have this much fun, in your town, on a regular basis. Imagine that. Come join us, give of yourself, grow!
If you would like to find out more about how you can become a part of our volunteer team, please contact Polly, our volunteer coordinator, at volunteer@villagesofaustin.com. |
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