When Harvest Moon opened its doors as a gift shop in 1994 we wereso delighted to be trading in Hitchin because the town had such awealth of independent stores and specialists services, since then wehave become a part of the fabric of the vibrant and diverse community of Hitchin.

We have always promoted Fair Trade and environmental and personal awareness through the wide range of goods we stock and we have recently gained status as the first Hertfordshire member of the The British Association of Fair Trade Shops, one of only 107 nationwide, complementing Hitchin’s status as A Fair Trade Town gained over a year ago. We carefully source our products to ensure that the wholesalers we buy fromare either member of a Fair Trade organisation or can provide evidence oftheir Fair Trade and Eco policies. In addition to selling goods from producers in developing countries we also sell locally made Hitchin products and crafts from British Companies.

Our approach is that the future of all trade should be FAIR - SUSTAINABLE - RESPONSIBLE.

We aim to be transparent in our trading and are happy to provide customers with information about all our products. Our business was founded on personal experience and I am as passionate about it now as I was 13 years ago. My husband had worked abroad for many years surveying with mini-submersibles and had witnessed the unfair treatment of local people in developing countries and the devastation to their local economies caused by the oil industry. After being taken hostage by Nigerian fishermen in 1993 he returned home with deteriorating eyesight and it was clear that a change of occupation was needed. Hence Harvest Moon!

I believe that care for our personal and global environment goes hand in hand with Fair Trade. Global warming has forced people to re evaluate their carbon footprint, many people think Global Warming is a myth and either nothing to do with man or not happening at all. Actually I feel this isirrelevant. It shouldn’t take Global Warming to make us realise that in the west we are living an unsustainable, wastefull lifestyle showing little or no respect for our own bodies, other cultures and the animals we share theworld with.You can make a difference if you shop consciously, live consciously! Forexample fashion - What is your fashion footprint?Many of our suppliers work with people whose environmental footprint isthe smallest in the world.

Often people think Fair Trade clothes are “hippy” but our new selection includes both tailored and casual clothes, suitable for all occasions and even Fair Trade organic cotton underwear! It is clear that people of Hitchin care about their environment, nearly two years ago we stopped giving away plastic bags and asked customers to purchase a paper alternative for 10p. People were so supportive buyingour recycled and cotton shopping bags instead and so now we use only one quarter of the packing we use to.

We look forward to seeing you at Harvest Moon, not only to refill your empty, ECOVER cleaning products bottles thus saving you money and yet another plastic bottle, but also to explore our coming new ranges of FairTrade clothes, (many hand woven, organic cotton) and our array of recycled gifts!