Shop at Global Gallery and Change the World
By Stephanie Fortener-Atwood |
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I just got back from Starbucks and I'm sipping on a $3 tall nonfat hazelnut latte. Earlier today, I learned that 80-percent of people worldwide live on $10 a day. And, according to Connie De Jong, Executive Director of the non-profit marketplace Global Gallery, most of the Gallery's products are purchased from artisans earning just $3 or less each day. I suddenly feel kind of stupid sipping on overpriced . . . well, milk.
So what is Global Gallery? Eighteen years ago, five area churches got together with a noble goal and opened the first store in the Short North. They wanted to connect economically challenged artisans all around the world with the market right here in Columbus - and be ethically responsible while doing it. To this day, they believe in paying artisans a fair price for their handcrafted products.
I asked De Jong how the Gallery finds its artisans. "We build relationships with trading partners, and those partners connect us with over forty countries around the world," she explains. Trading partners aren't just "middle men."
"They are partners committed to working ethically as we are," says De Jong.
What does "ethical trading" mean, anyway?
"It's hard to boil down," De Jong begins, "but in a nutshell it means practicing all of the parts of trade in an ethical way, on every level. From our volunteers to our artisans abroad." She continues, "Fair trade means earning a wage you can live on. It means engaging in sustainable practices." The impact on the artisans is undeniable.
Take Bolivian alpaca weavers as an example. Global Gallery has developed a bond with the weavers through its partnership with Handicrafts Loreto, a Free Trade organization. Most of the weavers are women who must provide for several children and extended family members. De Jong, along with volunteers, has visited Bolivia several times to talk directly with the artisans. They aren't faceless pieces of the industry: De Jong considers them family.
Because of this trading partnership, the Bolivian artisans can finally buy vegetables for their families. "All of their daughters have a higher level of education," says De Jong. "Maybe it's just an extra year at elementary school, but it's more. These mothers can now have the hope that their daughters will go to university. They aren't getting rich, but they are able to take care of their family's needs."
Photo: Christopher Atwood
The community benefits don't stop there. Handicrafts Loreto, like most fair trade organizations, donates a portion of its profits to community development projects. In Bolivia, it developed an orphanage to care for eighty children in the communities surrounding Cochabamba. De Jong and other Columbus volunteers have helped to bring the orphanage to life.
So buying a fair trade product obviously has cultural significance, and the quality of the product is noteworthy, as well. But what does the buyer take home? Well, you get a higher quality, handcrafted product for a reasonable price. More importantly, your money is going to the person who created your product. This instantly connects you with another culture, one you are helping to improve. When you buy a scarf at Target, the worker gets about one percent of the proceeds, but when you buy a fair trade product, between 20- and 50-percent of the purchase price goes directly to the artisan.
The fair trade system also fights human trafficking. Human trafficking targets a vulnerable population: usually women and children with limited income. These victims have no other feasible option to provide food for themselves and their families. Fair trade provides the alternative. It enables a mother (who could otherwise be forced to turn to prostitution) to earn a sustainable income.
The most exciting part of this is that you can make a difference. Redirect that stupid $3 you spent (I spent) on a latte to buying coffee at Global Gallery. Turns out $3 really DOES make a difference.
"We can learn a lot from someone who earns $3 a day," says De Jong. And she's right.
Global Gallery
Short North
682 N High St.
(614) 621-1744
Easton
148 Easton Town Center
(614) 478-8007
Clintonville
3535 N High St.
(614) 262-5535
Originally Published: October 1, 2009
