Summer Fair Trade Finds

Hello to all our visitors to the East End of beautiful Long Island this Summer!  We hope you are enjoying all the pristine beaches, parks and restaurants to delight all your senses.  Have you had a chance to shop since you've been here?  We are proud to be Long Island's first 100% Fair Trade store filled with diverse color, sensual textures, robust coffees, and delicately designed giftware to create a global look for you, your home or your loved ones.  It's a great way to spend the day when the weather isn't so fair and even bring your children to experience the world without leaving the Hamptons. Did you know there are 35 countries represented at the World Village Fair Trade Market? To name a few, they are Cambodia, Nepal, Ghana, India, Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador. Walking through the store you'll see scarves, children's and men's batiked shirts, jewelry, handbags, chess sets, organic coffees, teas, chocolates and much much more. 

If you're not familiar with Fair Trade, our volunteers will be happy to let you know the benefits to you as well as the producer groups worldwide.  Fair wages make it easier to fight poverty, but there is also concern for the environment with recycling, re-purposing and re-using things as well as sustainable methods for farming, and lots of help to producers on the ground like providing resources, loans, long-term partnerships and building capacity for whole communities.  Wherever you see the Fair Trade logo(s), you will know that the product you hold in your hand is made with great care and concern for producers as well as for the planet.  In the world of food, you can see Honest Tea is new on the shelf as a Fair Trade product, but there are many beverages, foods, fruits and flowers now available in Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or a Wild By Nature grocery store.  Again, look for the label that says "Fair Trade Certified."  Presently, Fair Trade is experiencing growing pains in our country with different ideas on how best to grow the Fair Trade Movement, but at the heart of this discussion, you still find the producer and the planet at the top of the list, with profits following closely behind.

At the World Village Fair Trade Market in Hampton Bays, we celebrate our 10th year of providing 100% Fair Trade to the local community.  We enjoy the work we do as volunteers each week and look forward to the new products that will be coming each season, as producers keep up with the trends for handmade gifts.  One mission we have is to support, sell and advocate for Fair Trade as a better model for the lives of people and the planet, with an emphasis on alleviating all forms of slavery, sweatshop and global poverty.  In addition, our other mission takes us to Kenya or Zambia where we support hundreds of orphans with education and daily food through donations and fundraisers.  

We look forward to your visit at the World Village Fair Trade Market, 101 W. Montauk Highway, Suite 4, Hampton Bays, NY  11946, just east of the movie theatre parking lot in the Hamlet Green.  There is a large parking area behind the Hamlet Green just off Good Ground Road near the Railroad Station.  Our hours of operation are:  Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri & Sat from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Stop in and shop the world!