How buying certified organic cotton changes the lives of farmers in India.
In a world of “fast fashion” and unrealistically cheap clothes, how often do we stop and think where our t-shirt came from? If a dress costs $10, you can safely assume that two-thirds of that is the price of fabric, and another 10% constitutes the cost of transportation. So, just how much does that leave for the person who made the item?
The vast majority of cotton grown in India is now genetically modified, meaning farmers have to spend money they do not have on cultivating these crops. Pesticides are not only expensive, but also damaging to the environment, with pesticide poisoning causing hundreds of deaths every year in India.
Since the late 1990s, over 250,000 farmers have committed suicide, unable to bear the costs of GMO farming.
Chetna Organic is working to help farmers grow and sell organic cotton, collaborating with over 8,000 growers across India. As consumers, we have the power to help people who grow the cotton that makes our clothes change their lives for the better, and paying the Fair Trade premium is the first step in signaling to the industry that it’s time for a change.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.
Photo Credit: Africa Studio / Shutterstock.com
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