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Fair Trade Towns USA is an exciting grassroots initiative that gives you a way to extend your commitment to Fair Trade beyond just purchasing products. The goal of Fair Trade Towns USA is to grow a large-scale consumer movement which demands a system of global trade that supports equity, justice, the environment and human rights. For the past two years our initial phase has focused on reaching out to develop what are now 11 Fair Trade Towns across the country. As we move forward from this initial phase of the national campaign we want to ensure that the declaration process is seen as a first step, rather than a campaign conclusion. In order to build a long-term social movement, we have developed some new parameters that will allow each of our local campaigns to establish a permanent, entrenched platform in our communities to continue the fight to expand the Fair Trade movement. Please join us for the next Fair Trade Towns conference call on Wednesday, August 12th at 8:00pm eastern/5:00pm pacific to learn more about the campaign and ways that you can get involved. The call-in number is 866-939-8416 and the passcode is: 3200618#. Stay tuned for our new website, coming soon, where you can sign up for the Fair Trade Towns USA monthly newsletter, get regular updates and stay connected to activists around the country!
TransFair USA has joined a coalition of Fair Trade organizations, consumers and businesses to encourage the First Lady to join the Fair Trade movement and make the White House a “Fair Trade Home.” The campaign’s aim is to raise the profile of Fair Trade and urge the White House to show the country that buying Fair Trade products is easy, delicious and empowering for workers and farming communities in the developing world. We are joined in this effort by Green America, Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Resource Network and more than 65 other Fair Trade vendors, retailers and organizations. The campaign is projected to run through World Fair Trade Day in May 2010. To join this exciting campaign and sign the invitation to the First Lady, head on over to the Fair Trade the Whitehouse headquarters: http://www.fairtradewhitehouse.com/ After you have signed, extend awareness by inviting your family, friends and co-workers to sign the invitation. We need your help to make Fair Trade a national priority! Specialty Food Magazine highlights some new Fair Trade Certified products and categories. Learn more about Fair Trade Certified ingredients in composite products like your Fair Trade Certified Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Macadamia Nut ice cream. Helping Hands ponders how the Harry Potter Alliance might help promote social change by asking that all chocolate used in the merchandising of the books and films are certified Fair Trade.
Equal Exchange is honoring Hal Taussig, founder of Untours with his own celebrity brew! Hal started Untours over 30 years ago, and in 1999, through the Untours Foundation he helped bring the first container of Fair Trade coffee from Chiapas, Mexico to the United States. There were some issues with the Mexican military and a group of paramilitaries who tried to prevent the cooperative from shipping the coffee, but the cooperative prevailed and a second container was purchased several months later. As a result of this endeavor, Hal won the Newman’s Own/George Award as the “Most Generous Business in America”. It was Hal’s idea to make Media, PA a Fair Trade Town, and Fair Trade is a major focus for the Untours Foundation. Hal’s Blend will be available through Equal Exchange in September.
On a warm summer evening in June, more than 200 Fair Trade enthusiasts gathered in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the U.S. launch of Stellar Organics’ Fair Trade Certified™ wine from South Africa. The event was co-hosted by the South African International Business Linkages program (SAIBL), and guests included some of our allies in retail, non-profit organizations, government and, of course, the TransFair USA Board of Directors and Advisory Council. Attendees heard from several deeply moving speakers at the event, which included the South African Ambassador to the US, Welile Nhlapo; TransFair USA President & CEO, Paul Rice; and the Head of the Joint Body of Stellar Organics, Berty Jones. Jones shared the touching story of how he went from working as a concrete layer who couldn’t speak English to becomming cellar master at Stellar and head of the cooperative's joint body. During his speech, Jones shared, “You cannot imagine what it is like for someone like me to come all this way to tell someone like you about the impact of Fair Trade and the difference that [it] is making.” Read more about the event in our blog. In Brazil, Fair Trade Certified coffee farmers often grow high quality coffee, but lack the resources and infrastructure to make sure that their coffee cherries are hulled, dried, and processed correctly to preserve quality and earn top prices. Enter the Infrastructure Grant Program. As part of the Responsible Sourcing Partnership between TransFair USA, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., USAID and SEBRAE, the Infrastructure Grant Program is designed to address specific, self-identified infrastructure needs of Brazilian coffee growers. Producer Groups are responsible for designing their own project proposals, creating a reasonable budget, and effectively articulating their plans. So far the Grant Program has funded grants for five Brazilian producer organizations with a total value of $140,000. The groups have used these funds to construct 30 drying patios, install seven hulling facilities, deploy two mobile processing units and start three rotating grant funds! Read more about how the Responsible Sourcing Partnership is helping producers build skills and capacity in our blog! “Fair Trade has given us the ability to grow coffee the way it should be grown: sustainably, organically and with great concern for quality. Our families are fed, our children are in school, and now we can tend to the coffee and the environment.” --- Luis Adauto de Oliveira, Coopfam President
Cooperativa dos Agricultores Familiares de Poco Fundo e Regi, Ltda (Coopfam) is an association of small-scale farmers located in the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil. Coopfam was formed from a collective desire to improve the living standard of farmers and to reduce poverty and emigration. Coopfam is one of twelve Brazilian Fair Trade Certified producer groups participating in the Responsible Sourcing Partnership (RSP) project. The RSP project is a result of a partnership between USAID, TransFair USA, Walmart Stores, Inc. and SEBRAE-MG designed to improve the quality of Brazilian coffee, increase market linkages and raise producer capacity. Through participation in the RSP project, Coopfam has been able to improve available infrastructure and, in turn, the quality of their coffee. The cooperative has also benefited from training programs and increased contact with the U.S. coffee market. At the inaugural Brazilian Fair Trade Certified Cupping competition in 2008, Coopfam president Luis Adauto de Oliveira’s organic coffee received the first place prize in the natural category. The coffee was auctioned for $7.20 per pound, a price more than five dollars higher than that typically paid for Fair Trade organic coffee. Luis’ winning coffee was dried on a cement drying patio funded through the Responsible Sourcing Partnership project. The Fair Trade price has enabled Cooperativa dos Agricultores Familiares de Poco Fundo e Regi to establish various social and productive programs including computer education classes for children and the community, a storage and processing facility for member use, modern office technology and equipment to improve supply management and marketing and healthcare coverage for cooperative members and their families. We're growing! TransFair USA is an entrepreneurial non-profit organization that is the only certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. We seek talented individuals who are passionate about our mission and who bring a global perspective to our work. If this sounds like your recipe for success, please visit our job listings page and "be the change you want to see in the world". TransFair is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As a non-profit, TransFair depends on the financial support of friends like you to expand our work, empowering consumers, companies, and producers to build a more equitable and sustainable model of international trade. Click here to make a donation online, or contact our Development Department at (510) 663-5260 or via email at development@transfairusa.org for more information or to discuss donation options. Thank you! TransFair USA | 1500 Broadway, Suite 400 | Oakland, CA 94612 |
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