Fair Trade Blog

I can’t wait for Saturday!  Viroqua’s first ever arts festival will be right outside our door in historic downtown.  The Viroqua Partners (Chamber of Commerce) is sponsoring the first Main Street Arts and Crafts Crawl on Saturday, May 31. 

Nearly 20 artists and craftspeople will build a little community to showcase their work.  Court Street will be closed for the day turning our street into an arts and crafts block party!  We’re looking forward to quite a diversity of work from hand-painted milk cans, to landscape paintings, to hand-woven rugs.   Photos by our artist of the month, Jack Knowles, will be on display as well.

One of our goals at Driftless Fair Traders is to support local artists so we are one of the sponsors of the crawl.  The single-day event is just the kick off to an annual crawl we hope builds into something unique and special.  

Stop by the shop for an event map, coupons to local businesses, and some fair trade shopping.  Hope to see you Saturday!

Keep shopping your good values!

If you are like I am, you want to support local business as much as possible.  We are blessed here with some wonderful locally-owned places to shop, but that leads to a dilemma.  Where do I spend my dollars?  

We have a co-op and a home-town grocery in our village.  There is a co-op in the town where we work as well as a little general store.  In summer there is the added choice of a farmers market.  I want them all to thrive, but my dollars are limited. 

In our little village of 654 souls, business survives on very little.  Every dollar counts.  If a small percentage take their money elsewhere, I could quickly lose some of my choices.  So, I want to spend my dollars more wisely. 

After thinking about this lately, my shopping decisions are admittedly random and have more to do with convenience than purpose.  Sometimes the hours don’t fit my schedule, sometimes it is not on the way to where I am going. 

It is up to me and you to make our local businesses sustainable.  We have to make intentional choices to accomplish that goal.  If we simply think a little more and plan ahead, we can all spend more dollars with our local merchants. 

Here are some ideas for you to think about.  

1. Go to your farmer’s market.   It doesn’t come any fresher, unless you pick it yourself.
2. Ask your local merchant to carry items that you want or need.  Trust me, we love to know what you want, rather than try to guess.
3. Spend dollars where you know they will come back to you.   If you sell your milk to the local cheese maker, shouldn’t you buy their cheese? 
4. Look for locally made products wherever you shop.  Sometimes even big boxes have locally made products.
5. Move your money to a neighborhood bank or credit union.  Most local financial institutions have competitive services and returns.  Focusing your money on local lending may not cost you a thing.  

What are your ideas about keeping your dollars local?

Keep shopping your good values!  

The world celebrates fair trade today, May 10th.  More than ever, the world needs the solutions that Fair Trade offers.  Achieving and sustaining a clean environment is one of the benefits of Fair Trade. 

Ecology is this year’s theme.  It’s a natural focus that fits perfectly with the goals of all of us involved in Fair Trade.  From the web home of the World Fair Trade Day:

Fair Trade is a force for protecting the environment while promoting sustainable development. Fair Trade favours the sustainable use of natural resources and production methods that are not capital and oil intensive, favouring hand production and organic agriculture - to reduce the carbon footprint.

Events are happening all over the world, including right here in Viroqua, the town we call home.  Our friends at Kickapoo Coffee are participating in the World Fair Trade Day Coffee Break.  They hope this will be the largest coffee break the world has ever seen as millions sip a cup of Fair Trade brew to honor the accomplishments of the Fair Trade Coffee Industry.  

Fairly traded coffee is still the largest component of Fair Trade business around the world.   We sell our fair share of coffee here at Driftless Fair Traders, along with our teas and other gourmet items.

If you would like to know more about this special day, follow this link to World Fair Trade Day. 

Keep shopping your good values! 

While a customer was in our store, she happened upon the perfect gift for a friend of hers.  Mother’s Day is, of course, for mother’s, but this customer’s friend has no children of her own.  She wanted to give her a gift anyway.  ”My friend is one of the most generous people I know,” she explained.  

They say that blood is thicker than water, but I think that kindness and generosity are thicker still.  There are many women without children who’ve taken to mothering.  One of the owners of the building our store calls home taught several generations of local kids, but never had any of her own.  Like my customer’s friend, she found other ways to nurture.  

The founder of our modern Mother’s Day – you may be surprised to learn – never had any children either.   Anna Javis took over her mother’s work in establishing a national day of celebration for moms by convincing her church to hold a special service for mothers once a year.  The practice quickly spread and moved Congress to pass a resolution in 1914 proclaiming the 2nd Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.  

So we should remember and honor the mothers in our lives, whether they bore us or not. 

Because she loves to sew, my customer’s friend is receiving a beautiful abalone thimble from Mexico.  We have all sorts of gifts a mother will love, but it’s not the only way to honor your mother.   A simple phone call, card, or visit can be just as lovely. 

Keep shopping your good values!