Beth Brown-Rinella is the owner and creator of Goddess I Am Botanicals and Adornments. She has sold fair trade baskets for the past four years at two farmer's markets in Florida. A question she is often asked is how she decided to sell fair trade baskets. She had been trying to find a source for french market baskets when she read an article in Marie Claire magazine describing the starving women weavers of Afghanistan. They had purchased baskets and were offering them for sale. Beth bought 3 of them and began asking herself, "who else needs our help?" After an exhaustive internet search, she found bolga baskets and a company committed to fair trade. She found many other sources for wholesale baskets, but few were actually fairly traded. "I didn't want to be part of problem by taking advantage of people in third world countries, I wanted to be part of the solution! It is high time that we ask ourselves how products come to be in America and how the makers of these products are treated and how much they are paid."

It allows us to vote with our dollars to slow down and possibiy end poverty in all corners of the planet. When you choose to buy fair trade products, you offer a hand up to a worker or a craftsperson and their lives improve-sometimes dramatically.

Beth has been making jewelry for 30+ years. She has found her niche with crystals, natural stones and pearls. She loves the feel and the energy of beads in their natural state, free of dyes and heat treatment. "I keep most of my designs simple in order to show off the beauty of the stones. I am always looking for unique and unusual stones and new ways to showcase them."

Custom designs are available.

Beth is wearing her amazonite and freshwater pearl

necklace and earrings.