March 24, 2014

The Slow Fashion Movement: Bringing Jobs Back to America. ~ Alok Appadurai

0 Boost Score Alok Appadurai (1,510,185)

1.8k

The Organic Seed-To-Garment USA-Made Fashion Movement

The Farm-To-Table food movement is sweeping the nation as more people choose to source their food locally, to reconnect to the farmers who grew their food and to value restaurants and markets that proudly offer locally grown produce.

The next and most logical progression is the Organic Seed-To-Garment movement.

While less known, the underlying questions are the same:

Who grew the cotton that my clothing was made of?

What type of cotton did they use?

Where was it made?

Who made it?

In recent years, as fast fashion has taken hold of the national consciousness, clothes shoppers have opted to value low prices over everything else and, like in the world of food, that championed a growing chasm between shoppers and the farmers and tailors who make our clothing.

This is beginning to change. Companies are connecting to the Organic Seed-To-Garment USA-made movement and are on the verge of launching fabrics that are organically grown, spun into yarn, knit into fabric, dyed and will eventually be cut and sewn into garments without leaving the United States.

This may not sound remarkable, so let me explain: in recent years, some companies have shifted to 100% American-based tailors for all of their clothing manufacturing. They’ve opted to cut and sew only sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, recycled plastic bottles and repurposed wood pulp.

A truth, however, is that most sustainable organic fabrics have elements of production overseas. For example, USA-grown organic cotton may be shipped abroad to be spun into yarn, knit into fabric and then returned to be cut and sewn. And to be honest, this can seem like a larger problem than most small, family-run businesses are able to solve.

Until now. Fed By Threads and other similar companies are teaming up with inspiring American organic farmers and are cultivating supply chains where all six stages of production will occur inside America.

So, what does that mean?

1. American jobs will be supported at every stage of production.

2. The carbon footprint of such fabrics will be lower because of lowered transportation requirements.

3. Demand for GMO + Pesticide cottons will be reduced.

4. Organic farmers will be able to rely upon increased and sustained demand for their farming practices and products.

5. The American garment manufacturing base will see a boost.

6. Most importantly, the national consciousness about Farm-To-Table eating will extend to Organic Seed-To-Garment options to clothe our families.

If you want to see an inspiring video about the organic seed-to-garment movement, click here.

As we say at Fed by Threads,

“Wear The Change You Wish To See In The World.”

A few months ago, Waylon talked with Alok Appadurai, co-founder of Fed by Threads, about mindful fashion, baby steps and not getting aggro about one’s activism: