Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) & Survivors Connect (SC) announce the launch of iSpotFairTrade, a web-based map that allows anyone to identify where Fair Trade goods are bought and sold throughout the United States and Canada! iSpotFairTrade is crowd-sourced, so anyone can post information on the interactive maps about products associated with any of the widely accepted recognition/certification systems.“This easy-to-use tool will help conscious consumers find thousands of Fair Trade products at tens of thousands of locations near their homes or when they travel, thereby helping marginalized farmers, artisans and workers in poor countries get a better deal”, says Jeff Goldman, Executive Director of FTRN. “Shoppers won’t have to settle for conventional products and brands that often exploit producers and the environment in a race to the bottom.”
Founder of Survivors Connect, Aashika Damodar, is excited about the initiative; “Our goal at Survivors Connect is to empower activists with innovative technologies like this. iSpot allows individuals to send an email or submit via the website information about where they see fair trade goods. Their submission is then marked on an interactive map, and visitors can search by town, product category, or keyword, and share with their friends and family. By doing so, we hope that visitors will stimulate demand for more Fair Trade throughout the continent!”
For more information about this project, please visit www.ftrn.org/ispotfairtrade, or both www.survivorsconnect.org & www.ftrn.org.
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