Some of my Favorite Fair Trade Organizations

Threads4Thought

FabricAndArt

Fair Trade Federation --General information

Fair Trade USA

Fair Trade

I have really been delving into finding out where our products come from. I think it is important that our clothes be organic (seriously check out all the chemicals in what you wear).

I also really think that who is making the clothing is getting paid fairly. I find it hard to believe that children are still subjected to working (in horrible conditions) to help support their families.

We put our stamp of approval on child labor and using mass quantities of cancer causing pesticides when we purchase items. This year I am making it my goal to not purchase items without knowing how the item came to be. Yes, it takes more time, but I feel it is worth 5 minutes of my time.

Do you know if your clothing was made using children or poorly paid workers? It is tricky to determine, especially when there are so many processes.

www.greenamerica.org

www.notforsalecampaign.org

Both of these sites also have apps you can download to help you determine a products origins. NotForSaleCampaign grades companies on Fair Wages.

I really think it is time for Americans to start using their buying power for good. Claiming ignorance is morally wrong.

Food

I feel like I have pretty much addressed all of the things like cleaners and soap I make at home. Since I have been using some of this methods for over three years, I feel like continuing to address these issues is redundant.

Since I last talked about food on here, our family has made leaps and bounds of progression. My husband is now at home every night, and we don't have to struggle to find healthy food for him while he is in hotels.

We have tried a few different eating styles (GAPS, Whole foods, Vegetarian, Gluten-free) all in the last 8 months. I was basically a vegetarian before I met my husband, and really struggled the first few years we were married to come up with ways to include meat in meals that I didn't gag over.

After finally getting a little accustomed to eating meat (the Gluten free diet will do that to you), we watched "Forks over Knives" a documentary that I really enjoyed. Again, we re-evaluated our diet, and decided to make our own version.

(as a quick recap, we had already omitted High Fructose Corn Syrup, All food colorings, MSGs, and we have slowly moved towards a whole food diet, ie if God didn't make it, we don't eat it)

So, after that long intro here is our plan. Since I do not enjoy meal planning or grocery shopping when I have no idea what to eat, we have basic meals planned for every day of the week. I tried to make it a little generic so I could mix it up, but not so vague that I wandered the grocery store wondering what to buy.

Sunday

B: Smoothie

S: Granola (homemade)

L: Peanut Butter and Banana with a little honey Sandwich and a salad

S: Hummus

D: Squash of some sort

Monday

B: Eggs

S: Fruit

L: Rice and Veggies

S: Hummus

D: Mexican (Beans, rice, homemade salsa, homemade tortillas)

Tuesday

B: Oatmeal

S: Fruit

L: Leftovers

S: Salsa

D: Stir fry

Wednesday

B: Eggs

S: Fruit

L: Leftovers

S: Yogurt

D: Soup and Homemade bread

Thursday

B: Oatmeal

S: Fruit

L: Leftovers

S: Yogurt

D: Rice and Veggies

Friday

B: Smoothie

S: Granola Bars (homemade)

L: Peanut Butter and Banana with a little honey Sandwich and a salad

S: Dip

D: Italian (spag squash and spag sauce or homemade pizza)

Saturday

B: Smoothie

S: Granola Bars (homemade)

L: Peanut Butter and Banana with a little honey Sandwich and a salad

S: Dip

D: Rice and Veggies