7:58 a.m., Feb. 2, 2010----What does “fair trade” in the apparel industry really mean? How does fair trade benefit workers in developing countries? And how do we know whether a product is fair trade or not?

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The University of Delaware's next FIBERcast -- an audio program delivered over the Internet -- will bring together experts to explore these and other questions on Thursday, Feb. 4, from 11-11:45 a.m. Eastern. Register for the program now on this Web site. Listeners may e-mail their questions for discussion during the live event.

FIBERcast is a free, audio program broadcast live over the Internet. It has been developed by the Fashion International Business Education Response (FIBER) project, which is led by the UD Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies. The project is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The goal of the project, according to Hye-Shin Kim, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies and principal investigator, is to share the insights and knowledge of leaders in business, academia and government on timely issues of importance to the international fashion and apparel industry.

The next FIBERcast will feature Pushpika Freitas, founder and president of MarketPlace: Handwork of India, which supports fair trade products made by artisans in India, and Renee Bowers, buyer for Ten Thousand Villages, the largest fair trade retailer in the United States. Marsha Dickson, professor and chairperson of the UD Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies and member of the board of the Fair Labor Association, will serve as host.

Freitas began her career by founding and directing the Leprosy Rehabilitation Center in Mumbai, India. Because of the passion she found in empowering women, she later founded SHARE (Support the Handicapped's Rehabilitation Effort), a non-profit organization in Mumbai that works closely with MarketPlace. SHARE currently works with 14 cooperatives, primarily composed of women artisans. In 1986, Freitas founded MarketPlace: Handwork of India, in Evanston, Ill., to create markets and promotional campaigns to support fair trade products made by artisans in India.

Bowers is a buyer for Ten Thousand Villages, the largest fair trade retailer in the United States. In this role, she builds long-term, sustainable relationships with artisans who lack employment opportunities and market access. She works primarily in India, where she partners with artisans to develop and produce product within the framework of fair trade. She also has diverse experience within the international crafts sector.

As a senior research fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, Bowers worked closely with traditional puppeteers and puppet carvers in Karnataka, South India. She also has lived and worked in Latin America, where she conducted workshops on the use of low-cost, locally available arts materials.

For more information, visit this Web page.

Past FIBERcasts focused on social responsibility in the apparel industry, global sourcing trends, and environmental sustainability. You can listen to past FIBERcasts at any time at this Web site.