ORLANDO, Fla. — Ralph Lauren — with his made-in-China U.S. Olympic uniforms — is learning what Christian retailers heard at their annual trade show last week in Orlando: Where and how items are made make a difference in the global economy.
Just because it’s cheaper to make American Olympic uniforms in China doesn’t make it right, critics say.
At the International Christian Retail Show, store owners learned how fair-trade products reflect their religious beliefs.
“What good is your Christian retail without considering where all this stuff is made and what system am I continuing to propagate?” said Christine Caine, founder of the A21Campaign.org, an anti-sextrafficking ministry.
It requires thinking about — and caring about — the working conditions of men, women, boys and girls who produce those inexpensive Jesus Loves Me T-shirts, religious trinkets and Nativity scenes.
“I don’t believe we value people. We value making my dollar go as far as it can at someone else’s expense,” said Caine, 46, an Australian writer and minister. “Just so you can buy something really cheap, are you going to allow somebody else on the other side of the world to go through pain and even torture?”
The fair-trade items don’t exactly fit the traditional merchandise mix of Christian bookstores and gift shops. They don’t come emblazoned with Scripture or crucifixes or images of Jesus. What they do come with is a back story of an orphaned child, a widowed woman, a girl rescued from prostitution, a boy freed from sweatshop servitude.
“Fair trade is providing a fair and living wage, good working conditions and no child or slave labor,” said Cynthia Glensgard, owner of Global Handmade Hope in Park Ridge, Ill.
Five fair-trade businesses represent only a tiny fraction of the 350 businesses at the International Christian Retailers Show at the Orange County Convention Center, but they belong to an emerging trend within the big business of Christian retail.
Beginning this year, Family Christian Stores started selling fair-trade items online and in 26 of its 282 stores nationwide. Less than 5 percent of the company’s sales are fair-trade items, but that number is growing, said company Vice President Steve Biondo.
“The bottom line is the products provide a way for people to make a viable living and give them choices they haven’t had in the past,” Biondo said. “There are girls trafficked for their sex who now have a jewelry operation. Having a steady income prevents them from being taken advantage of.”
This is the first time since the inception of the Christian Booksellers Association in 1950 that the trade association’s annual show has emphasized fair-trade products, said association Executive Director Curtis Riskey.
Providing economic stability for the poor and oppressed puts into practice Christian values, Riskey said.
“Fair trade for our stores is the sweet spot in that it aligns with our mission to love one another and how we can help others around the world,” Riskey said.
Religion, Pages 12 on 07/28/2012