• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Watch
    • Read
    • Listen
  • Be Involved
    • Visit the CFT Museum
    • Chicago-Chakouri Knitting Project
    • Volunteering
    • Conscious Closet Club
    • Membership
  • Shop Fair Trade
    • Coffee
    • CFT at the Galleria
    • Fundraising
Chicago Fair Trade Logo

Chicago Fair Trade

Educate, Activate, Celebrate

  • About
    • Business Members
    • Meet Our Board
    • Timeline
    • CFT + After School Matters
    • Rethink Ethical Podcast
    • In the Media
    • 2021 Year in Review
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Register
Two people viewing a wall of informational cards

Visit the World’s First
Fair Trade Museum in Chicago!

Wed-Sat from 12pm – 5pm at NEWCITY Lincoln Park

Learn more

Chicago Fair Trade cultivates a community dedicated to an economy that values the labor & dignity of all people.

CFT is the largest grassroots fair trade coalition in the United States. We increase support for economic and environmental justice through consumer education, advocacy, and promotion of local fair trade businesses.

We’re proud to be a local and national leader in raising awareness about and building support for fair trade and its principles of environmental sustainability, ethical production methods, fair wages, and safe working conditions.

Our Vision​

Think about how good it feels when you have an authentic, personal transaction: grabbing coffee at a locally-owned coffee shop, buying produce from your local farmers’ market, or shopping for gifts at Chicago Fair Trade’s holiday pop-up shop. Imagine having that feeling day in and day out when you spend money!

Get Involved

Chicago Fair Trade comprises a dedicated base of member businesses, educational institutions, congregations, non-profit organizations, and individual activists.

We’re supported by a strong network of passionate volunteers. Student groups, families, and individuals alike are invited to volunteer.

Become a Member
Become a Volunteer

Cheers to Fair Trade Coffee!

Have you tried Chicago Fair Trade’s coffee? We partnered with Metropolis Coffee, a Chicago-based award-winning coffee roaster, to create 4 custom blends that help to support fair trade coffee farmers in South and Central America.

Interested in selling CFT coffee at your next fundraising event for your school, congregation, association, or community group? Find out more about Fundraising With CFT.

Buy Coffee
Fundraising
Join us tonight, Wednesday, March 22, from 6-9 a Join us tonight, Wednesday, March 22,  from 6-9  at our first Conscious Closet Club meet-up of 2023! Sip, nibble, and mingle with fellow ethical fashion enthusiasts and professionals. Taylor McCleneghan spent many years working for a growing fair trade womenswear label. She managed full production, factory visits, and relations with both textile and cut-and-sew partners. Now ten years into the industry, she has worked as a freelance technical designer, launched her own womenswear line, Taylor Tall, and founded a product development and sourcing business, Small Shop LLC, which works to bring together buyers and makers who are focused on equitable long-term relationships. She’ll be talking about her latest collaboration with Delhi-based design house Indigene Craft. Attendees will have the chance to shop Indigene’s brand-new collection that is making it’s US debut at this event.

Hear from Jamie Hayes, voted Chicago’s best local clothing designer in Chicago  Reader’s poll. Jamie has worked in the fashion industry since 1999 and in the field of immigrant and labor rights since 2009. Her recent work merges these two paths: she has designed for fair trade organizations including SERRV, Intercrafts Peru, and Threads of Yunnan and has volunteered as a campaign leader for Chicago Fair Trade, helping to pass an ordinance mandating that apparel procured by the City of Chicago be sweatshop-free. She is the owner and designer of an ethically made line of clothing for men and women called Production Mode (a CFT business member) and co-designed the luxury slow-fashion lingerie line Department of Curiosities.

All taking place the world’s first-ever Fair Trade Museum! 

#fairtradefashion
#slowfashion
#chicagofashion
#supportgarmentworkers
#lincolnparkafterdark
Have you purchased your tickets yet for our Fair T Have you purchased your tickets yet for our Fair Trade Nowruz celebration this Saturday, March 25? We will be ringing in the Persian New Year and spring with a fabulous fair trade menu. The  Persian-inspired mezze menu includes tahdig (fluffy rice with crispy golden topping), paneer bereshteh (a Persian grilled cheese), kebabs, vegetarian aushak (an Afghan ravioli) made with fair trade spices from Heray Spice.  Mmmmmmmmmmm.  Plus drinks, music, dancing, and fascinating conversation all in a lovely setting. 6-9 at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum. #fairtrade #fairtradefarmers #chicagofairtrade #newcityexperience #lincolnparkchicago #lincolnparkafterdark #lincolnparkchamberofcommerce
Put your hands together for our new business membe Put your hands together for our new business member, @ecodunia! 👏 Cera Muchiri founded Ecodunia in 2018 on a mission to create the best quality products in her homeland, Kenya, in the most socially responsible and sustainable way possible.

All of Ecodunia’s products are handmade in the company’s very own workshop where every tailor is provided with dignified work and a nice working space, with daily lunches made by Cera’s mother. Ecodunia is committed to offering some of the best wages in Kenya, and in doing so, the brand has created a small community of highly committed, intelligent, and capable tailors. This is already lifting people out of the cycle of poverty by allowing them to save enough to send their children to school and have a better life than they otherwise would.

Cera has personally inspected the factories that produce Ecodunia’s high-quality cloth to ensure that the working conditions are up to the brand’s high standards. Ecodunia also believes strongly that the production economy is one of the most powerful ways to affect ecological change. By making durable, high-quality products, Ecodunia is reducing waste and using no plastic in their products or packaging.
.
.
.
#FairTrade #MadeInKenya #ChicagoFairTrade #CFTMuseum #SustainableFashion #EthicalFashion #ChicagoMuseum
We have not one, but TWO fantastic fair trade even We have not one, but TWO fantastic fair trade events coming up next week at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum - so don't forget to book your tickets at the link in bio! 🔗

On Wed Mar 22 from 6-9pm, all ethical fashion fans and professionals are invited to join the @conscious_closet_club for a friendly meet-up with wine, snacks, and short presentations from two experts in the field: Jamie Hayes of @productionmode and Taylor McCleneghan of @smallshopllc and @shoptaylortall.

On Sat Mar 25 from 6-9pm, join us for a Fair Trade Nowruz celebration to ring in the Persian New Year, with delicious Persian-inspired mezze, pomegranate cocktails and mocktails, live folk music, dancing, and presentations from activist Shadi Sherafat and fair trade business owner Mohammad Salehi of CFT business member @herayspice. This will be a night to remember!
.
.
.
#ChicagoEvents #FairTrade #EthicalFashion #PersianFood #Nowruz
There are only a limited number of tickets availab There are only a limited number of tickets available for our Fair Trade #Nowruz celebration, so don't wait up to get yours! ⌛Book now at the link in bio 🔗

Whether you've never celebrated Persian New Year before or it’s a long-held family tradition for you, all are welcome to join us at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum for an evening of delicious food, drink, music and dancing, all delivered with our signature fair trade flair!
.
.
.
#PersianNewYear #NowruzMobarak #FairTrade #ChicagoEvents #PersianCuisine
Yesterday, on International Women's Day, we were d Yesterday, on International Women's Day, we were delighted to welcome Jamie Hayes' Fashion Studies class from Columbia College at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum. Thanks so much all for your excellent questions and thoughtful discussion of the links between women's rights, fair trade, ethical fashion, and conscious consumerism!
.
.
.
#EthicalFashion #FashionRevolution #FairTrade #ConsciousConsumer #IWD #IWD2023
This International Women's Day, get knitting in so This International Women's Day, get knitting in solidarity with women! 🧶

Gender equity is a core component of fair trade, and this #IWD the (women-led!) team at Chicago Fair Trade is very excited to launch our new project with India Development Service: the Chicago-Chakouri Knitting Project, generously funded by @simmonsglobalchi. This cross-cultural project invites all interested Chicagoans to learn how to knit following the instructions of women knitters from the @himalayan_naari cooperative in Chakouri, India.

It's free to take part, and all materials will be provided at in-person sessions at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum at @newcityexperience (or you can take part from home and mail in your squares). At the end of the project, all participants' squares will be knitted together into a solidarity blanket.

Sign up today to show solidarity with women in fair trade! Link in bio 🔗
.
.
.
#WomensDay #InternationalWomensDay #EmbraceEquity #FairTrade #Knitting #Knit #Handmade
We have held a load of great events over the years We have held a load of great events over the years, but this one has us extra excited: join us for a Fair Trade Nowruz, the Persian New Year! Whether you’re new to Nowruz or it’s a long-held family tradition for you, all are welcome to join us at the Chicago Fair Trade Museum for an evening of Persian-inspired mezze, music, dancing, mocktails, and cocktails! – all served with our signature fair trade flair.
Nowruz, meaning “new day”, coincides with the first day of spring and is a celebration of the renewal of nature. Nowruz has been celebrated for 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and other regions, and today is celebrated by more than 300 million people around the world.
Chicago Fair Trade (CFT) is excited to welcome special guest Mohammad Salehi, founder of Heray Spice, a CFT business member. Mohammad will talk about his experience working directly with fair trade saffron and spice farmers in Afghanistan, whose exceptional-quality ingredients you can try for yourself in our delicious Persian-inspired mezze.

This event is at the new Chicago Fair Trade Museum. Guests can browse the exhibits. 

#chicagofairtrade
#fairtradefood
#cftmuseum
#saffron
#nowruz1402
#nowruzchicago
#fairtradefarmers

“Demand quality not just in the products you buy, but in the life of the person who made it.”

Orsola de Castro, designer and cofounder of Fashion Revolution

Footer

Get in Touch

  • ChicagoFairTrade
  • chicagofair
  • chifairtrade
  • Chicago Fair Trade

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • Become a Member
  • Fundraising with CFT

Get Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 Chicago Fair Trade · Log in · Privacy Policy