A fair trade purchase isn’t just any purchase. It’s an action that can empower an entire community. As the Fair Trade Federation states, fair trade supports producers in developing countries who are socially and economically marginalized. That could mean wood carvers in Kenya or Mayan weavers in the highlands of Guatemala; it might mean silver artisans in Tecalpulco, Mexico, or coffee growers in war-torn Congo. It’s an approach to business based on transparency and respect that seeks to cut down on middlemen and create greater equity in the international trading system.

The concept of fair trade dates to 1946 when a Mennonite volunteer, Edna Ruth Byler, visited a sewing class in Puerto Rico and was struck both by the beauty of the handiwork and the impoverished conditions in which the seamstresses lived. Byler started bringing their work to the U.S., selling it and returning the money to the women directly. This practice evolved, and in 1958, became Ten Thousand Villages, now the largest fair trade retailer in North America.

Plowsharing Crafts, a nonprofit and a ministry of the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship, partnered with Ten Thousand Villages to open its first St. Louis store more than 30 years ago. Now, with locations in Kirkwood, the Delmar Loop and Town & Country, it provides meaningful, fair income to artisans and farmers in more than 40 developing countries. “The beauty is that we know we are impacting lives in a direct way,” says executive director Rich Howard-Willms. “Fair trade allows people to live with dignity—to have food on their tables, roofs over their heads … the basic rights everyone deserves.”

Howard-Willms says coffee is a big seller in the store, coming from places like Colombia, Congo, Ethiopia and Tasmania, and so is chocolate from Ghana and countries in Latin America. Rice comes from the Philippines, tea from India, jewelry from all over the world.

Meanwhile, down on Grand Boulevard, another store is making a difference in the world. Julio Zegarra-Ballon, a native of Peru, began his business small, carting beautiful, hand-crafted fair trade items from place to place in six plastic bins. “I went to farmers markets and events around the city, but there was a limit to how much I could sell from a 10-by-10-foot tent,” he says. “People wanted more.” In November 2014, Zegarra-Ballon opened Zee Bee Market, an 850-square-foot space with more than 800 fair trade items. Here, not only are customers given an opportunity to help the artisans who make the products, but also to protect the environment. Many of the gifts are made from repurposed, recycled or reusable materials.

Zegarra-Ballon says the items in his store “stand for dignity, equality and beauty,” and this ethos clearly can be seen in products like Good Paper greeting cards and bags and wallets from Malia Designs. Good Paper’s cards are made by women who have escaped sex trafficking in the Philippines and young Rwandan adults orphaned by disease. Malia Designs, Zegarra-Ballon says, was formed to increase economic opportunity for women in Cambodia. “It also aims to help victims of human trafficking by donating to organizations working in this arena,” he explains. He adds that he also supports local artists whenever he can and stocks FORAI (Friends of Refugees and Immigrants) handicrafts made by St. Louis immigrant women. “It’s about creating a better world. It’s about giving talented artists a chance for a better life,” he says.

From April 25 to 28, Zee Bee Market partners with FORAI for Giving Back Days. During this four-day initiative, 15 percent of all in-store and online sales will be donated to resettled refugee artisans in St. Louis. For more information, visit zeebeemarket.com.

The following area stores either exclusively stock fair trade items or offer a selection:
The Bridge
418 S. Main St., St. Charles
636.493.9733

OSO: A Style Lab
6321 Delmar Blvd.
314.467.0436

St. Louis Cathedral Basilica
4431 Lindell Blvd.
314.373.8243

Plowsharing Crafts
6271 Delmar Blvd.
314.863.3723

137 W. Jefferson Ave.
314.909.9401 1228

Town & Country Crossing
636.220.1877

Saint Louis Zoo Treetop Shop
One Government Drive
314.781.0900

Whole Foods Market
Town & Country Crossing
636.527.1160

Brentwood Square
314.968.7744

4577 W. Pine Blvd.
314.474.7300

Zee Bee Market
3211 S. Grand Blvd.
314.932.1000