FAIR Talks Podcast Fair Trade LA

Join Elisha for a special episode of the podcast in honor of World Refugee Day, featuring Winston Bui, a refugee of the Vietnam War. Winston recounts his family's harrowing escape from Vietnam during the fall of Saigon in 1975, highlighting their dangerous journey amidst bombings and chaos. They eventually made it to America, where a generous couple in Oklahoma helped them resettle, securing housing and jobs for his parents. Despite the initial hardships, Winston and his brothers adapted by taking on odd jobs and learning English through television, leading to their eventual success. Returning to Vietnam years later, Winston experiences profound emotions witnessing the country's transformation and contributing to its development. His story underscores the resilience and tenacity of refugees, urging others to embrace courage and hope amidst challenges.
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Ever wonder what are the keys to building a business (or socks) that lasts? In this episode, Amie Farkas, Head of Supply Chain & Products from Maggie’s Organics shares with Elisha about their 30-year journey of setting the highest standards as a fair trade and organic apparel company. From moving cotton production across continents due to climate change to welcoming 3rd party certifier audits, this conversation gives important principles to creating longevity and sustainability in business. Finally, the industry has much to learn about its latest transition to employee ownership to ensure a good company can stand the test of time.
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Trade in your cynicism for some hope in this heartwarming conversation with Gretchen Huijskens, founder and CEO of Trades of Hope. She shares with Elisha her journey transitioning Trades of Hope from a charity to a direct sales model and how that benefits both the artisans and the sellers. Gretchen highlights her hopes for her new book and how she hopes Trades of Hope will expand in the future. Finally, they both share about how their work in Haiti and the importance of long-term economic solutions to grow a brighter future.
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Put on your dancing shoes–we’ve got a special treat for you today! Bethany Tran of the Root Collective walks us through the process of making fair trade shoes, from how the soles are developed to sourcing their materials. She also shares why the company made the switch to pre-orders for their shoes and how they incorporated pre-loved shoes into their overall business model. Finally, Bethany and Elisha highlight challenges facing small fair trade brands in a tough economy and share practical ways customers can support their favorite companies.  
Visit fairtradela.org/podcast for show notes and exclusive discounts.

Calling all tea-lovers! We’ve got a flavor-packed episode for you today. Elisha is joined by Paul Bain, founder and CEO of JusTea, to talk about their fair trade partnerships with small-holder Kenyan tea farmers. Paul describes how they were able to set up tea cottages after working to enact legislative change in Kenya and why they’ve worked with women’s cooperatives right from the start of the business. He also shares a surprising fact about where tea comes from and why purple tea is so rare. Finally, Paul talks about why getting JusTea fair-trade certified was so important to the foundation of their business.
Visit fairtradela.org/podcast for show notes and exclusive discounts.

We’ve got a sweet treat for you today! Hear from Abby Noel Davison at Tony’s Chocolonely about the company’s fair trade chocolate journey. She shares with Elisha how storytelling and raising awareness about human rights issues in the chocolate industry is baked into their branding and production decisions. They also talk about how addressing child labor directly and compassionately with producer groups leads to stronger supply chain relationships. Finally, Noel shares some encouraging and systemic changes that have happened in the West African cocoa industry in the last 20 years.
Visit fairtradela.org/podcast for show notes and exclusive discounts.