Jules, here in the US it is also difficult and expensive to find Fair Trade merchandise. Accidentally this morning while waiting in line to buy a phone card at a local store, I happened upon a reduced-price (April issue so allegedly out of date) American monthly magazine called Natural Health with an article on green buying and a heading called "Fair Traders". It says :

Purchasing fair trade products is an efficient way to support stuggling communities across the globe. You get premium goods while workers get a guarantee of adequate wages. Look for TransFair USA's "fair trade certified" seal on coffe, tea, rice, sugar, and fresh fruit--or find listings online at http://www.transfairusa.org and http://www.fairtradefederation.com. To better protect the rights of workers, seek out sweatshop-free products through suppliers like No Sweat (http://www.nosweatapparel.com) and Justice Clothing (http://www.justiceclothing.com). Consider these companies your partners in social consciousness.

GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS (http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com) serves up more than 20 fair-trade brews. Last fall this winner of the EPS's Green Power Leadership Award brought the movement further into the mainstream, partnering with Newman's Own Organics to roast and package a fair-trade java for McDonald's.

EQUAL EXCHANGE (http://www.equalexchange.com) has dealt exclusively in fair trade products like coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate since 1986, making it America's oldest for-profit fair trade company. Currently working with about 30 small farm organizations in 14 developing countries, Equal Exchange has helped fund ecotourism in Nicaragua, gender equality programs in Guatemala, and initiatives in Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico.

CHOICE ORGANIC TEAS (http://www.choiceorganicteas.com) has helped Indian & African tea farmers attain everything from college scholarships to propane stovetops....

ZHENA'S GYPSY TEA (http://www.gypsytea.com) sends all profits from Zhena's CodePink Raspberry Earl Grey tea to CodePink, a winen-initiated peace activist group. Its essential-oil-based fair trade and organic blends earned co-founder Zhena Muzyka the 2003 Socially Responsible Business Award presented at the Natural Products Expo.

AMERICA APPAREL (http://www.americanapparel.net) produces snug and stylish T-shirts in what's now the largest garment factory in the country. The company does not outsource to seatshops and pays the highest wages in its industry, offering emplyess benefits ranging from free ESL classes to onsite massage sessions.

All the above is from page 80 of the April 2006 issue of Natural Health. I

've not checked the sites yet.

It is really difficult to find fair trade products easily and they are expensive.

I am interested to see how the Red apparel plan will work because so far nobody's really got it right!! We want to support fair trade but what a struggle it is!! Evidently it's not easy in Britain either. Aaarghhhh!!!!!!! I think a store would be hard to run profitably. One would need a secondary income. I actually tried it in 1993 - 1996 and could not sustain it, went back to a "regular" job, as some days my "profits" were only my busfare.