Whenever you plunk down your hard-earned cash you are making a statement. You are supporting something. You could be supporting a factory in a third world country or, you could be supporting a local business.
Why is this important? I’ll explain…
Do you remember when silk used to be expensive? It’s not expensive any more; in fact you can buy silk clothes at Wal-Mart. Do you know why silk has gone from expensive to inexpensive? Because it is no longer made in America-where factories have to pay decent wages, provide benefits and insure the safety of workers. Silk is now produced oversees, where manufacturers don’t have to worry about (or pay for) workers safety, benefits, or fair wages.
While in China I visited a silk factory. I watched as young women plunged their bare hands into a trench filled with boiling water. Grabbing the silkworm cocoons from the water, they untangled the strands and hung them to dry. Some of the ladies were too short to reach the sink so they balanced precariously on wet, slippery rocks to do their job. The stench of dead silk worms was nauseating. The young workers hands were red, swollen and cracked. They work longer hours and more consecutive days, while having fewer breaks and making far less money than American workers. Factory owners enjoy huge profits.
I also toured a cloisonné factory. Cloisonné used to be an artform. Craftspeople fashioning tiny bits of metal onto an ornament or vase or some other decorative object, in the shape of a design, maybe a flower or a insect. Enamel was then poured into the wire outline. After the object was fired, the enamel-now hardened-decorated the ornament.
In the factory I toured, 5 workers huddled around a table, one bare light bulb dangled above from on a wire on the ceiling. There was no ventilation. The workers had no face masks, no gloves, no protective gear of any kind. They spent their day soldering designs onto the ornaments and breathing in the toxic fumes.
At the time, we were in China adopting a daughter (we eventually adopted 4 kids from China.) When we opened our shop we thought about how easy it would be to sell things made in the Pacific rim-inventory is so cheap when it is made in a country that does not give workers fair wages, health insurance, safe working conditions and the like. But we were haunted by the thoughts of the people we saw, people who suffered so we could buy things inexpensively.
Our experience fueled our shop philosophy. When you buy at Bliss Farm Antiques you are supporting a local business…and fair-trade, sustainability, and gainful employment for artists and local workers.
We wish all things came with a tag that showed a picture of the person who made the product.
You can also find Bliss Farm Antiques here:
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/jacklynn4
Blog: blissfarmantiques.blogspot.com
Thanks Jackie!
