Retailer Profiles
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Four Corners- An Alternative Trade Organization
CLWR works with partners around the world in providing emergency relief, refugee resettlement, and community development to those in need.
Started in 1946 by Lutheran churches in Canada, CLWR was a response to the refugee and relief needs of post World War II Europe. “During these early years, clothing, bedding, blankets and food were shipped to displaced persons in Europe while thousands of refugees were assisted in finding a new home in Canada. Since that time, CLWR’s history has moved in four directions: Emergency Relief, Refugee Resettlement, Community Development, and Alternative Trade.”
Integrated into the three regional offices across Canada, Four Corners – An Alternative Trade Organization is a testament to CLWR’s hard work in selling and promoting fair trade. These stores, as well as the numerous consignment sales CLWR hosts, give consumers a means to support international communities through their purchases.
CLWR’s aim is to enable Canadians to engage in simple acts of compassion that can make a difference for thousands around the world
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Fresh Option Organic Delivery
Marnie and Kevin Feeleus are two former chefs who found that raising children and working restaurant hours were not compatible.
Because they still loved to feed people, they created a business dedicated to providing high quality food with an environmental and ethical pedigree.
Fresh Option Organic Delivery is an alternative localized food system for Manitobans. F.O.O.D. delivers ethical groceries right to the consumer’s front door.
In promoting and selling organic, vegetarian, vegan, local and/or fair trade products, they are dedicated to providing consumers in Winnipeg with a new alternative for accessing food. They are driven by a philosophy of sustainable environmental practices, community stewardship and socially conscious action.
F.O.O.D. uses “as many fair trade products as [they] can get [their] hands on”. Among their wide variety of fair trade items are chocolate, teas and coffees, and select produce whenever it is available.
They also work locally trying to implement fair trade criteria for local farmers, ensuring that consumers have the option to support local producers as well as international.
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Ten Thousand Villages
As part of the Mennonite Central Committee’s international effort, this popular non-profit fair trade organization offers a wide variety of ethical products from Palestinian cross-stitch needlework to Nubian baskets straight from Uganda. Based on the belief that all artisans globally should receive respect, dignity and hope from working hard and earning fair value for their work, this program offers an alternative, ethical choice for Canadian shoppers.
Ten Thousand Villages began in 1946 when Edna Ruth Byler, an MCC worker, visited volunteers in Puerto Rico and brought several pieces of embroidery home to sell to friends and neighbours. This initial effort continued to expand as Byler eventually sold fair trade products from her basement, and then came to create SELF HELP CRAFTS, an official MCC program. As SELF HELP flourished from the support of thousands of loyal customers and volunteers, it became known as Ten Thousand Villages in 1996.
Ten Thousand Villages is a member of the International Fair Trade Organization (IFAT) and operates over 40 stores across Canada – each of which is a unique global experience, ensuring fair wage and fair work for artisans internationally.
