Ten Thousand Villages - Lincoln

This is a non-profit, fair trade enterprise, located in the Lincoln Hay Market.  Another first for me.  I didn't know about the fair trade effort around the world.  It's a very uplifting effort seeing all the merchandise from all over the world, created by local craftsmen.  Here's a definition:  

Fair trade is an approach to business and to development based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seeks to create greater equity in the international trading system.  To improve the lives of farmers and workers in developing countries by ensuring that they have access to export markets and are paid a fair price for their products.

There are a tremendous variety of goods here.  

It's not just ceramic bowls and cups.  There are decorative items, spices, clothes, shelf-stable food items, jewelry, and more.  Some of these things are quite intricate in design and creation.  I'm not a craft person so it's hard for me to comprehend how many of the items here can be made by hand.  

When you get here, plan on spending some time looking around.  I found Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Israel and Cindy found some little candy bars from Germany.