On my way home from having my hair pruned the other day, I popped into Ten Thousand Villages on Danforth and noticed they were all kitted up for garden season. If you’re shopping for garden pots or decor this spring, browse around their fair trade goods and shop with a healthy conscience.
That lovely brown-on-brown Chulucanas vase [Update: in 2016, it looks like they no longer carry it]
at left above, for example, was made by artisans in Peru. You can read about the principles of fair trade here, but the general idea is fair treatment, fair pricing, and economic opportunities for disadvantaged people.
at left above, for example, was made by artisans in Peru. You can read about the principles of fair trade here, but the general idea is fair treatment, fair pricing, and economic opportunities for disadvantaged people.
Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit program of the Mennonite Central Committee, and has been practising fair trade since 1946, long before fair trade became trendy. The storefront and online retailer is a member of the World Free [oops!] Fair Trade Organization (formerly IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association). There is also a branch in the USA, which you can access here.
I have no association with any of the organizations above, but am a strong supporter of the idea of fair trade.
A few more images from the shop:
6 comments
What an amazing store.
I am forwarding your post to my family in Toronto
Gorgeous pots and lanterns. We have a store here – I shall check it out! 🙂
I have the BEST bird bath from them. Love love love this store.
It's wonderful reading about Ten Thousand villages in this context. We also have a store in Leamington which supports the work of artisans throughout the world.
Thanks for the reminder…I need to pop over to our Ten Thousand Villages and see what they have for the garden. I love supporting this store. gail
Some of my friends got me a beautiful terracotta pot covered in Bengali writing from Ten Thousand Villages for my birthday last year…