Anti-Body Lavender Lotion
The first scent to hit my olfactory was lavender. As I stepped deeper into the energy-efficiently lit production center, I smelled subtle hints of ylang-ylang threaded through with the power of lemongrass. Walking through the room, I was led on my production tour by Tamara Johnston-McMahon, co-founder of Anti-Body. Anti-Body (anti-poverty, beautiful body), is an all-natural, fair trade body-care company. While the manufacturing headquarters are located in the heart of the Southern California foothills, the company supports fair trade communities around the world through purchases of fair trade ingredients. Fair trade shea butter, olive oil, marula oil, coconut oil, sugar and green tea have all found there way into body-care products created by Anti-Body.
Tamara speaks with a soft, soulful voice. Standing in front of an array of products neatly stacked and ready to ship, she expounded on her fair trade roots. “I got involved with the fair trade movement after the death of my fiance, Matthew (NEED LAST NAME), in 2005. He was killed in a freak accident and after his death, I really struggled with suicidal thoughts. I made a bargain with God: show me a way to have a meaningful life, or I will kill myself.”
Within a two-year period, Tamara and her twin sister and brother-in-law Shelby and Steve Moser, went from creating soap to sell to raise money for a memorial in Matthew’s name, to creating a fair trade body-care company: Anti-Body. The heart of the fair trade movement is focused on paying farmers and workers in developing countries fair wages; building direct relationship; abiding by environmentally wise stewardship; and seeing funds be invested back into the community. The development of Anti-Body had meant that each co-founder had left behind dream jobs to create products that might raise global community members out of the grind of poverty. Yet the effort alone did not quell the storm in Tamara’s heart.
“It was a visit to Togo, Africa in 2006, meeting the women who cultivate fair trade shea butter, that my life came to a tipping point,” Tamara continued as she reached out for a lotion bottle. Squirting a small amount in my hand, she pointed out the properties of shea butter while speaking of the women who help refine it. “These women all had equal stories of tragedy to share—children lost to starvation, husbands lost to AIDS, whole families wiped out. But here they were, leaders in their community because they had jobs and could properly care for their families.”
Shea butter is made by wildly harvesting shea nuts, and through an elaborate multi-day process, ground down, heated, and tempered to become a skin-enhancing, all-natural moisturizer. Meeting these women, Tamara had a personal revelation. “I had come to see these women and to document first-hand if fair trade did indeed change communities. I was greatly encouraged to find true change taking place. From women being able to afford sending their kids to school, to new housing, to stronger financial stability. Fair trade was working.”
Not only did Tamara get to see changed lives. Her own life was refocused. “The shea butter production manager pulled me aside during my visit. She told me that my work (in purchasing shae butter for use in body-care), was the answer to her community’s prayers. The more shea butter we purchase, the more jobs that were made. I could not walk away from my journey and doubt the fact that my life was of value.”
Today, Anti-Body is growing with the hope that indeed more jobs are created in America and around the world. The Anti-Body team is also heading up an audacious quest to bring the message of fair trade to the larger American public. Even while the U.S. has the largest fair trade market globally, and that American consumer awareness has grown an average of 33% a year since 2003, many people are still unaware of the movement’s power in bringing positive change. Enter the “Fair Trade the White House” campaign. Through a nonpartisan coalition of fair trade organizations, vendors, and consumers, Anti-Body seeks to cordially invite the First Lady to join the fair trade movement and declare the White House a “Fair Trade Home.”
“If Michele Obama gives her approval,” Tamara smiles with excitement, “the fair trade movement as a whole would be given a tremendous boost in the minds of American shoppers.”
With the tour complete, I walked out with hands smelling of fresh lemongrass, and with the knowledge that my consuming habits held meaning. Through the simple, everyday purchase of lotion, I too could bring positive change to the world. Each life, each purchase–they count.
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