Fair trade travel. I urge you all to think about it for a moment.
Your travels are intertwined with trading with locals no matter where you are. Buying a deep fried papa rellena down the side streets of Bogota, your vegetables from mama down at the local market in Luang Prabang or your fridge magnet you bought for your granny in Rome.
Your trading with locals. Haggling, bargaining, purchasing, buying, swapping, cashing in, cashing up. The locals feel the brunt of your actions. Their livelihoods depend on where and how you spend your money. Think about it...
But does it stop there. Your purchasing power stretches further. In an ever increasingly globalised world we buy goods that have an adverse effect on someone 10,000 miles away. Think about it.....
Your down at your local Tesco......swimming through the aisles blindly, hunting for those bargain stickers, 2 for 1, half price, whatever floats your boat at that particular moment usually gets waxed into your trolley. But do you stop and think about it?! You check the label, those blueberries you bought, have come half way round the world to land on your table. An Argentinean farmer feels the impact of your spontaneous purchasing decision. The locals in the banana plantations in Ghana feel the heat of your purchasing power.
Trade is so seamlessly intertwined into our every day lives we often forget the repercussions of it all. They sell, we buy. End of. Nope, not really. Think about it.
I urge everyone to think about trade and travel. It can make or break people. Your purchasing power is mightier than you think.
Have a positive effect on peoples lives. Think before you buy....
