Home » Health » Natural Remedies » Why Buying Fair Trade Shea Butter is Vital

Why Buying Fair Trade Shea Butter is Vital

Published: Last Updated on

Shea butter is a complex fat that has been used in Africa for centuries; in both hair and skin care, as a waterproofing wax, in medicinal treatments and even in cooking.  Only in recent years have the wonderful healing properties of shea butter been discovered and profited from by the West.  Shea butter is composed of various fatty acids such as oleic, stearic and linoleic, and has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  In layman terms: This means that shea butter can help to decrease irritation, wrinkle and dark spot causing inflammation, and helps kill off the bad actors on your skin!

 

These days, shea butter has become the darling of the multi billion dollar beauty industry.  Shea butter is now in everything from  shampoos to  body and hair creams.  The popularity of shea butter makes buying fair trade shea butter more important than ever.

 

What is Fair Trade Shea Butter?

Fair trade is commerce in which fair prices are paid to the producers in developing countries.  Fair trade ensures that those who work extremely hard—and often in poor and impoverished conditions—are paid an equitable wage for their efforts; a wage in which they can support and educate their families, sustain their livelihoods and economically liberate their communities.

 

Buying fair trade products helps to support and empower workers, and to protect the environment from which purchased goods are obtained.  Buying fair trade ensures a sustainable income and helps to support the well-being of both the individual worker and their community.  Fair trade means that if I pay $25 for a jar of shea butter in Detroit, the hard working women in Ghana who produced it get more than a  dollar to divide amongst themselves!

 

Why Fair Trade Shea Butter Matters

Shea butter is typically derived from the nut of a tree found largely in West Africa, called Vitellaria paradoxa.  The processing of the shea nut is extensive and very labor intensive.  The making of the shea butter is long and tendious.  It requires hours and days, and back-breaking work.  Here is a video from the Peace Corps Ghana which shows the strenuous labor involved in making only a small amount of shea butter.

 

 

Buying Fair Trade Shea Butter

Once you know where your shea butter comes from, and once you understand the incredible effort that went into producing it, you’ll likely agree that it’s our global responsibility to make sure that those who produced it are taken care of economically.  To do otherwise would be nothing less than exploitation. One fair trade shea butter to consider is Alaffia shea butterAlaffia produces unrefined, fair trade shea butter, and is a company that is committed to fair trade and empowering the communities from which it gets its products.fair trade shea butter

The information contained on this website is made available for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice. By accessing this website, you understand and acknowledge that there is no physician-patient relationship between you and us.  Some links on this website are affiliate links from which we may receive a small commission from sales. The website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and as an Amazon associate the website earns from qualifying purchases.

©2024 MDhairmixtress.com – All Right Reserved.

Better Life. Better You.

Sign up to receive VIP updates, discounts and special offers to your inbox