2008 Woodie Awards
Store promotes Fair Trade
Global Folk Art offers goods from around the world
Lucas Beechinor, Staff Writer
Issue date: 11/14/06
Last Updated: 12/26/07
Located at 35 W. Main, Global Folk Art is a small non-profit, Fair Trade store that offers customers a variety of unique, hand-crafted gifts from various artisans around the world.
The mission of the store is to promote fair trade with foreign, low-income craftsmen and guarantee fair wages, safe working conditions and steady trade relationships for those who make the goods they sell.
Inside Global Folk Art, shoppers find a hodge-podge of high-quality products. The walls are lined with colorfully woven bags, hats, gloves and mittens. Racks of trendy clothing fill other parts of the store, while decorative trinkets and statuettes are displayed near the entrance.
The front of the room is filled with beautifully woven baskets, bone flutes and whistles, decorative masks and an odd assortment of toys.
Senior Kathryn Robinson first learned about Global Folk Art after returning from the Central America Study Program.
"My eyes were opened to many things in Central America," Robinson said in an e-mail. "I learned that because of the interconnected nature of the world, many of the decisions I make on a daily basis affect people outside our national borders."
Robinson described the atmosphere of Global Folk Art as very cool and unique. Bob Marley and other exotic music usually plays in the background as shoppers browse through the clean and homey environment.
"It was cool to walk around the store and see many of the items that I saw in the markets in Central America," Robinson said.
Robinson volunteered at Global Folk Art for the past two summers. She enjoyed the alternative merchandise shoppers can purchase there, instead of being forced to buy faceless, cheap products from larger chain-stores such as Wal-Mart.
"It's important to remember that there is a face behind the products," Robinson said. "By shopping Fair Trade you can support a family and a community towards self-sufficiency and a greater future."
Freshman Aden Coleman is another former volunteer at the store.
The mission of the store is to promote fair trade with foreign, low-income craftsmen and guarantee fair wages, safe working conditions and steady trade relationships for those who make the goods they sell.
Inside Global Folk Art, shoppers find a hodge-podge of high-quality products. The walls are lined with colorfully woven bags, hats, gloves and mittens. Racks of trendy clothing fill other parts of the store, while decorative trinkets and statuettes are displayed near the entrance.
The front of the room is filled with beautifully woven baskets, bone flutes and whistles, decorative masks and an odd assortment of toys.
Senior Kathryn Robinson first learned about Global Folk Art after returning from the Central America Study Program.
"My eyes were opened to many things in Central America," Robinson said in an e-mail. "I learned that because of the interconnected nature of the world, many of the decisions I make on a daily basis affect people outside our national borders."
Robinson described the atmosphere of Global Folk Art as very cool and unique. Bob Marley and other exotic music usually plays in the background as shoppers browse through the clean and homey environment.
"It was cool to walk around the store and see many of the items that I saw in the markets in Central America," Robinson said.
Robinson volunteered at Global Folk Art for the past two summers. She enjoyed the alternative merchandise shoppers can purchase there, instead of being forced to buy faceless, cheap products from larger chain-stores such as Wal-Mart.
"It's important to remember that there is a face behind the products," Robinson said. "By shopping Fair Trade you can support a family and a community towards self-sufficiency and a greater future."
Freshman Aden Coleman is another former volunteer at the store.
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