Modern-day slavery knows no bounds.

Many products that are distributed and sold in the United States unfortunately hold slavery's marks. With workers often exploited under forced or child labor when deriving raw materials for some products and services that are used in the West, supply chains are stained by slavery.

This reality is so widespread and rampant that the US Labor Department has articulated all the items produced by child labor and forced labor abroad, only to be sold and consumed domestically.

While approximately $120 million of charity is provided annually to antislavery organizations, modern-day slavery remains a criminal industry profiting at $150 billion annually; antislavery non-profit Made in A Free World estimates that $88 trillion are spent annually in the purchase of goods, making the marketplace a mechanism that can truly defeat slavery.

Consumer choices clearly matter. Therefore, one of the most immediate ways American consumers can ensure that they are not contributing to modern-day slavery abroad is through the purchasing of fair trade goods. Products that are certified Fair Trade by the Fair Trade USA non-profit organization guarantee that workers involved in the manufacturing of a product and sourcing of raw materials work with dignity and decent pay and under healthy, safe and desirable working conditions. Portions of fair trade revenue are put to use in struggling societies abroad, helping to support and better the lives of the local farmers, workers and their families through community empowerment programs that help further those cooperatives’ development in the realms of education (by building schools and sustaining their enrollment), public facilities and infrastructure, and health care access, just to name a few.

With a mission of promoting safe working conditions and empowering communities, Fair Trade USA certifies goods that do not only benefit working families and ensure no exploitation is involved in the supply chain, but that also better our planet, by guaranteeing that sustainable, eco-friendly practices are implemented in manufacturing and sourcing, protecting water resources and restricting the use of pesticides and slash and burn methods. Fair Trade goods are GMO-free and tend to be organic as well, making them mutually beneficial for consumers and workers alike.

Fair Trade Certified goods range from the realm of fresh produce, to clothing and beauty products, to coffee, chocolate and tea. A comprehensive compilation of certified brands under these categories and more and where to purchase these products can be found here. The manufacturers, brand-names and companies that are certified partners with Fair Trade USA are also listed.

In spite of the obvious benefits to purchasing Fair Trade (ensuring another individual is not enslaved, at the minimum), opposing perspectives exist - an unfortunately expected reality in a world which has permitted for this centuries-long sale and degradation of human beings. One of the most common critiques of fair trade goods, however, would have you turn the other way. That false notion claims that fair trade goods are expensive, costing much more than similar goods by name brands. While not all fair trade goods are necessarily more expensive than their counterparts, such (if any) price discrepancies would be indicative of the injustice itself; that price difference reflects the lack of wage provided to workers by many internationally-recognizable corporations. Alternatively, that price discrepancy is due to the higher costs incurred by companies that sell fair trade especially when transporting their products to market, as vertically-integrated multi-national companies, which are the ones that tend to utilize forced or child labor in outsourcing materials for the creation of their plethora of products and services, have lower transportation costs and more manufacturing and logistical capabilities.

It should also be noted that while numerous products claim to be “ethically sourced,” this is not a term synonymous with being fair trade, as “ethics” of this sort are wholly subject to the mission or definition imposed by the company manufacturing the good and are not necessarily reflective of the aforementioned Fair Trade USA standards. This is an important matter to pay attention to if intending to make a fair trade purchase as such goods must be certified with an official Fair Trade logo to have legitimacy for common ethical standards.

If the malady of modern-day slavery plagues our people and places a price-tag on human life, I hope that we will all have the willingness to counteract that economic immorality by going the fair trade route. With more slaves today than at any other point in human history, we should begin consuming with a conscience and turn to fair trade to better ensure freedom for all.

So the next time you make a purchase, remember that there lies a person behind every product.