2) Fair Trade: In regards to fair trade shea butter, there frankly isn't any, unless you consider impoverished suppliers as those receiving fair compensation. Women work for countless hours to produce one kilo (2.2 lb.) of shea butter. Their pay is very nominal. Any true profits go to the middle man. Shea Terra Organics purchases our butter at twice market value to maintain a high quality of butter. We know that there can not be a fair wage for these women who toil for hours making this butter. Instead of telling you that we offer fair trade (again not overseen by any agent), we send money back to the women and are concentrating on providing their children with the education they will need to get out of poverty. Claims of fair trade are painful knowing that even if these women do get a share it is still so nominal that it amounts to a continuous life of poverty. They are not sharing in the profit of the butter sold in the US. They are simply receiving pay for what they make, just as all producers do. As a consumer you should ask for proof of fair trade claims. Global organizations currently overseeing fair trade cocoa butter, coffee and tea, have not yet added shea butter to their list. We have contacted US certifying agencies on several occasions over the last few years so that we can have our butter certified "fair trade". We are told that there are no set standards for this certification at this time. At one time we believed in and promoted "fair trade". We are pleased that there are organizations are trying to get "more fair" deals for producers. We applaud their first steps towards "fair trade", however are assured that fair trade does not exist. We have in past used certified "fair trade" ingredients such as cocoa butter for our products but will no longer be doing so. We feel that when producers are allowed to ask for true prices that reflect their hard labor rather than their urgent need, then we will again support such organizations. 3) Animal cruelty: We are dedicated to using cruelty free products. Emu oil: We are often asked by emu oil. To us, emu oil is chicken fat; one big bird raised and killed for its chicken fat. Emu are friendly, loving birds. In fact, we intend to add some to our family farm this year (shhh- my husband doesn't know that yet). They love people. Take a look into their deep brown eyes. They don't deserve to be in your skin care products. Does emu oil do all the things companies claim? We wouldn't know. We would never put bird fat on our bodies. We prefer pure oils like shea butter. Silk: Silk is obtained from silk moths. Sadly, once the caterpillar spins itself into a cocoon it is then boiled. Wait a minute. We fast forwarded a crucial step. They are boiled while the live silk moth is forming inside! This is to save the few weeks that the moth will take to emerge a new man (or woman) so to speak. We would never consider using such a cruel ingredient in our products. Instead, we use specially harvested silk that is humanely farmed to allow the moths to emerge, mate, lay eggs and die happily! This means that we go through extra laborious steps to extract our own silk, but aren't you and the moths worth it? Tallow: Tallow is cow fat, very often used to make soaps due to its cheap price. We would never taint our pure products with cow's fat and don't think you would want to wash your body with it either. |
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