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Domestic Fair Trade

Domestic Fair Trade

Why Planet One Gifts Supports the American Farmer From our founding as a nation, the roots of the American people burrowed deep into the soil. For at least the first 150 years of our history -- From the first colonial settlers to the Great Depression of the 1930s -- farmers and farming were the foundation of our economy and framed the American experience. Intrepid explorers like Lewis and Clark and Daniel Boone may have inspired restless citizens with visions of the promise “out West,” but it was the tireless farm families who made that promise a reality. The trailblazers were followed by pioneers who cleared and tilled the land, establishing farms and agriculture as the predominate way of life across vast sections of our country.

As cities grew, it was the American family farmer who fed their burgeoning populations. But now, in the 21st century, the family farm is in serious jeopardy. The National Family Farm Coalition estimates that between 1996 and 2001 — a 5-year period -- 100,000 American family farmers were forced off the land — land that, in many cases had been lovingly labored over by the same families for generations!

The juggernaut that has coalesced to threaten U.S. Farmers and destroy a way of life? It’s a combination of:

international free trade agreements, flooding the U.S. market with cheap food imports;

loss of local market share, because U.S. farmers can’t compete in price;

the rise and mushrooming expansion of huge, U.S.-based corporate agribusinesses.

The end result? The people who grow our food receive an ever-shrinking share of the money that we consumers spend on food.

Equal Exchange, a Fair Trade company, states that, from 1935 to 1997, the total number of U.S. farms fell from 6.5 million to just over 2 million. In 2003, there were 1.9 million working farmers. That sad statistic is less than our nation’s prison population!

Meanwhile, just 10 agricorporations generate more than 50 percent of the global food-retailing revenue.

One reason why the situation of the farmer is so disturbing has to do with this simple fact: if it is nothing else, farming is a labor of love. Many farmers have a deep, emotional, almost mystical connection to the soil they plow, plant and harvest with pride. With the economy in tatters and home foreclosures at an all-time high, we’re well aware of the pain and loss our fellow citizens experience when they have to give up their property or homes. But for most farmers, it is particularly heart-rending — literally, it seems, at times.

However, there is hope. Organizations such as Farm Aid, the Center for Rural Affairs, Organic Valley, the Farmer Direct Co-Operative and Dakota Rural Action have mobilized farmers and the public by bringing awareness of the problems small farmers face to the national level. The incoming presidential administration has promised to review and rethink existing free trade agreements with an eye to fairness to the nation’s small farm community. And a number of companies and businesses, among them Planet One Gifts, are working to ensure that their offerings, where possible, come from small American farmers.

Where and how we get our food is of concern to us here at Planet One Gifts. So, just as we support Fair Trade on the international level, we’re actively involved in promoting the concept here in the U.S., too. The home grown version — Domestic Fair Trade — links American farmer cooperatives directly to consumers, small distributors and local food processors, thus helping to ensure that farm families get a fair price for their crops and can continue to pursue their vocation.

For example, Planet One Gifts snacks are all-organic and all-American. The dried Montmorency cherries in our All Mixed Up selection are grown and processed in Michigan. The pecans come from a grower’s cooperative in Georgia. Our pistachios are harvested on a family farm in California. The tomatoes and other fruits in our salsas are either cultivated or wild produce harvested on a Michigan farm. And our Whale Tails tortilla chips are made in Hawaii with corn that is certified to be non-genetically altered and seasoned with a special Hawaiian sea salt.

We’ll continue to bring you, our customers, new and expanded food selections in support of Domestic Fair Trade.