It's a noble pursuit and a grand dream -- for every pair of shoes manufactured by TOMS, one pair is made and given to a person (man, woman, and child) without footwear in any given part of the world. Africa, Asia, South America... all these developing nations are receiving quality footwear thanks to TOMS which in turn, creates better opportunities for these people to work, play, travel and live. It helps prevent disease and infection from walking barefoot in rocky, polluted areas and garbage dumps.
However...
With people like Barak Obama and Bono behind this social entreprenership, thousands are jumping on board to help. Good! Great! We need more entrepreneurs willing to risk all to make the world a better place rather than focus on the bottom dollar. Yet with the increased demand for TOMS shoes and the stalwart "One For One" slogan, this creates and HUGE need for manpower to manufacture these shoes.
So far... TOMS has admitted that it hasn't gone Fair Trade (yet). It claims:
"We require that the factories operate under sound labor conditions, pay fair wages and follow local labor standards. A code of conduct is signed by all factories. Our production staff routinely visits these factories to make sure they are maintaining these working standards. We also have third parties audit the factories at least once a year to ensure they adhere to proper labor regulations. http://www.intertek-labtest.com/services/auditing/intertek_compliance/?lang=en"
'Local labour standards' is pretty broad... and it is also misleading. The local labour standards in Thailand are NOT the local labour standards in California (TOMS HQ). You might ask: "Why be so picky? Aren't they doing good enough work already without you making it more complicated?"
How would you like to received a 'free' pair of shoes that you just made last month in a factory forcing you to work 18 hours/day without food or pay? I'm not saying that TOMS operates as such, but I want you to see the need for companies to be held accountable for their actions, even when those actions are GOOD... ESPECIALLY when those actions are good! We want to take these programs from GOOD to GREAT. It would be hypocritical to be the great benefactor and hand out good shoes to the poor, when all along the poor are the ones making all the trendy kicks.
Is this a great idea? I believe so. Should you purchase from TOMS? I would say this: keep encouraging them to pursue a Fair Trade certification. Having that third party accountability can be a tremendous way of ensuring slave-free environments. Does TOMS seem better than Nike or Adidas in terms of how they treat people??? It would seem so.
I still find it a whole lot better to snag a pair of shoes from the Salvation Army knowing my dollar is going towards an organization dedicated to fighting trafficking. But if you're hell-bent on buying new... TOMS would probably be a better choice than Wal-Mart.
