A Local Boutique with a Global Mission
Posted on 27. Oct, 2009 by Peter Katz in Community
Humanitarianism does not have to take place in the context of Amnesty International or Revo—it can be a part of daily consuming.
Baksheesh, on Main Street in St. Helena, is a Fair Trade store with an emphasis on humanity over consumption. Managed by Katie Schnable, a sociology graduate from Washington D.C., Baksheesh is dedicated to creating sustainability by purchasing from artisans across the globe via fair trade.
“Fair trade” is a mode of business in which artisans are paid a “livable wage in their community,” according to Schnable, an amount which may vary from country to country, but ensures education, health care, sustenance, and shelter for the workers. The store seeks to “partner with artisans on long term” said Schnable, in order to ensure consistency in funding for the workers. Within the Fair Trade Federation – a collective of vendors dedicated to fair trade – Baksheesh contacts fellow vendors, who then contract with the artisans in order to ensure sustainability on a global, marketable scale.
Schnable founded the store because, to her, fair trade “just makes sense.” It is her goal to raise social awareness about the way consumers take consumption for granted, and to reveal the facets of social justice embedded in spending and shopping. For example, when one purchases something from Baksheesh, one is given the choice between a bag and a piece of chocolate. “Eventually we want people to take neither, but right now, the reward system works,” Schnable explains, but the point is to get people to think about things like from where their grocery and shopping bags come, and the global effects of such mass consumerism.
A good part of Baksheesh and Schnable’s mission is to provide access to information that bestows a “different way to see the world,” from maps that call into question the Euro-centric tradition by demonstrating that such a view of geography is not a given, or a particularly fascinating map that proportions country size by population. In addition, one can purchase the “Better World Hand-guide” similar to the text sold by David Bastone from the Not-For-Sale campaign that made waves at PUC through Revo two years previous. The handbook lists major corporations and companies in various modes of production, rating them on a scale of fair trade, slave labor, and other humanitarianly-minded aspects.
On top of all of the good intentions, Baksheesh has an eclectic and fantastic array of clothing, decorations, and artwork, from scarves to items one may never have before seen, but will make one wish that one had. Items come from Nepal, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Kenya, to name a few of the widespread locales. Pricing is quite affordable, and it always makes me feel better to know that, to quote Schnable, my money “is going to a family in Nepal for food, rather than a guy in Southern California for a Mercedes.”
As Christians, as intellectuals, as students of humanity at a liberal arts college, it is our duty to be conscious that, as Schnable puts it, “Where you spend your money is where you cast your vote.” Not only is this in part true in the bipartisan political sense, but more importantly, money spent for fair trade is a vote for humanity over consumption, for people over corporations, for sustainability over social stratification. So cast your vote for humanity through Baksheesh, and make some “good” purchases in every sense of the word.
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