| The Fair Trade Beat is a monthly update from TransFair USA, the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that products were produced and traded in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible way. When you buy Fair Trade Certified products, you support the well-being of families, communities and the earth. |
June 2008 |
• Get Involved --- Start a Campaign in Your Town
• Tune in to Fair Trade --- Bella’s Chocolate Surprise Fair Trade Kid’s Book
• New Products and Places --- SLO Chai Launches Private Label Tea
• Winning Campaigns --- New Fair Trade Towns, World Fair Trade Day Success!
• Producer Spotlight --- Asociacion Aldea Global Jinotega, Nicaragua
• From TransFair USA --- Now Hiring, Donate Today!
Today there are more ways than ever to get involved in Fair Trade advocacy in your community. The Fair Trade Towns campaign encourages committed community members to increase the awareness and availability of Fair Trade products in their area. Student groups have been successfully lobbying for years to make their school cafes and cafeterias go Fair Trade Certified™. Faith-based groups have been organizing around interfaith councils, coffee programs, and faith-based humanitarian agencies to support and promote the Fair Trade movement. Don’t know how to get started? Order our event kit and invite some friends over to learn more about Fair Trade and talk about how you can impact your block, your town, your country and the world!
*Bella’s Chocolate Surprise* by Adam Guillain and illustrated by Elke Steiner (Milet Publishing, LLC, May 2008, ages 5-7) is one of the first children’s picture books to focus on Fair Trade. It stars inquisitive, adventurous heroine, Bella Balistica, and takes readers from Bella’s home in London to Ghana, West Africa. In Ghana, Bella befriends a group of children who work in the cacao fields to make chocolate as part of a Fair Trade Certified™ collective. *Bella’s Chocolate Surprise* is a lively, fast-paced read, mixing magical elements and realism, underpinned by positive messages about cross-cultural friendship, working together, and the benefits of Fair Trade. Visit the publisher’s website to learn more about this fun book.
SLO Chai recently introduced private label organic, Fair Trade Certified chai tea to cafes, restaurants, caterers, distributors, and food service businesses across the country looking for a chai that meets consumers’ demands for an ethical cup. “SLO Chai is committed to working closely with our partners to market their brands while providing the highest quality chai on the market,” says Joel Pace, President of SLO Chai. Made from all-natural, raw ingredients, several characteristics set SLO Chai tea products apart from other chai brands. Their uniquely versatile latte mix can be used to make hot, cold, spicy, sweetened, and blended drinks. In addition, SLO Cha is committed to reducing its carbon footprint by microbrewing chai in the regions where it is distributed.
Congratulations to the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition for organizing a Fair Trade Town declaration ceremony in Delores Park in San Francisco on World Fair Trade Day, which include speakers from TransFair USA, Global Exchange, Alter Eco, and Adina World Beat Beverages. Adina was also on hand to give out 3,000 Fair Trade Certified beverages! San Francisco became the latest city to declare its status as a Fair Trade Town, in accordance with the standards established by Fair Trade Towns USA, and it joins Media, PA; Brattleboro, VT; Miwaukee WI; Amherst, MA; Taos, NM; and Northampton, MA in the group of seven declared Fair Trade Towns.
World Fair Trade Day Success!US Fair Trade advocates set the record for largest coffee break this Wolrd Fair Trade Day! On May 10, 12,128 people in more than 150 communities nationwide together raised their mugs to Fair Trade. Watch this great video to see the faces of some of the people that joined in this unique action organized by the Fair Trade Resource Network. The record has been set. Next year, let’s break it!
Fair Trade International Marketplace ProjectLots of very cool stuff going on at Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, CA this past semester! Three teachers put together a very creative and challenging Fair Trade curriculum for 10th graders enrolled in the Int'l. Hospitality and Tourism Academies program, and over 11 weeks, students working in teams of four did the following: wrote a paper on a developing country, developed a Fair Trade product following seven key Fair Trade principles, did a comparative market analysis, built a three-fold display to market the product, and presented a 5-minute Power Point presentation to five independent judges, including a representative of TransFair USA. Impressed by the students' efforts and achievements, the judges awarded commendations for excellence in every category. For more information on this innovative project, contact info@transfairusa.org
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Asociación Aldea Global Jinotega is a Nicaraguan coffee producer cooperative founded in 1992 by 22 Chorotega farmers in mountainous northern Nicaragua in order to promote sustainable agricultural practices that would help protect their environment and improve their quality of life. Today, with almost 1,000 members, the association focuses on the growth of the cooperative by promoting efficient commercialization, solidarity, and alternative credit services, while maintaining a commitment to the environment. With Fair Trade social premiums, Aldea Global has invested in several programs, including a mobile health clinic that provides subsidized medical care to rural families and promotes early cancer detection. |
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