Check out our website for the whole list of actions, or follow us @gxfairtrade or on Facebook where we will deliver your daily action each morning at #fairtrade31.

Fair Trade Successes in Rural India: From Cycles of Drought to Cycles of Reuse

There was no water filtration plant in Barmer, Rajasthan when the Austin-based Fair Trade business Handmade Expressions started in 2005, with the goal of improving the economic livelihoods and social standing of artisan communities in rural India. In fact, there was and still is very little water at all there.

Rich art traditions run deep in Rajasthan, unlike the wells, and access to capital for infrastructure and technology improvements is limited. Geographically isolated and characterized by a harsh, arid climate, many people in Rajasthan struggle to make more than $1 a day. But from the start, Manish Gupta, the founder of Handmade Expressions, was interested in doing more than simply getting local people to sell him their products at a better price—for him and the local NGOs he has partnered with, Fair Trade has always been about holistic development.

The traditional block-print fabric bags the artisans in Barmer began to produce for Handmade Expressions quickly became one of their best-selling items. However, hand block-printing requires an immense volume of water to dye and print the fabric. This issue of resource management in the face of environmental and economic adversity is one that many underprivileged communities face—use water to support an income generating project at the expense of other survival needs, or suffer economic hardship?

Instead of leaving this question alone, Handmade Expressions has sought to make it obsolete by paying attention to local practices and needs, and putting the increased income made possible by Fair Trade to task.

This year, in partnership with a local NGO called SETU, the Society for Empowerment & Trade Uplift of Artisans, Handmade Expressions sponsored and helped install a water treatment plant in Barmer that allows for the recapture and reuse of the water used in block-printing and dyeing. The plant, inaugurated August 28^th, has the capacity to filter 2,000 liters of water each hour and each batch of water can be filtered and reused 15 times!

In addition, what is truly rewarding about this news is learning that Global Exchange has been able to have a direct impact on the success of Fair Trade and sustainable development in Rajasthan through our ongoing support of Handmade Expressions. Over the years, we have ordered hundreds of those very same block-print bags to give out to new members as our way of saying thank you. How inspiring then, for us at the Fair Trade stores to see the real changes we are supporting, and for our grassroots supporters to be able to look at the bag they got maybe even years ago, when they first became a member, and know they’ve been a part of such a successful movement for social and economic justice. It takes time and a lot of effort, but the accomplishments prove to us why we want to continue our work around Fair Trade—we all benefit and get to grow together, in solidarity.

TAKE ACTION!

Join Global Exchange for $35/year and we’ll send you a gorgeous customized Global Exchange tote bag from Handmade Expressions women’s cooperative in India, a No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy, Globalization or International Development and a bag of Equal Exchange chocolates!

Check out our website for the whole list of actions, or follow us @gxfairtrade or on Facebook where we will deliver your daily action each morning at #fairtrade31.

This is a re-post of a blog from November 12, 2011when Equal Exchange staff Beth Ann Caspersen and Lynsey Miller visited coffee producers in Uganda.To read more about their travels, visit Equal Exchange’s blog series.

Portrait of a Gumutindo Coffee Farm

Lynsey describes walking through a coffee farm on their fifth day:

 Looking Up

There is so much to take in on Jennipher’s small farm in Nasufwa. Banana trees tower above us, as if keeping watch over the activity below. The bunches of bananas are still to green, not yet ready for harvest to sell, not yet ready to mash into matoke and enjoy.

Eye Level

The coffee trees look good, the first red cherries will soon be picked. Many more green cherries will ripen in the coming weeks. We pass an older coffee tree and Beth Ann and Jennipher talk about options for replacing this old tree with a new seedling. A new tree will produce at least three times the coffee that this aging tree is mustering, but there is a trade off: the seedling will take a few years to get to that peak level of production. When is the right time to cut your losses on the aging tree, forgoing its small harvest for several years of no harvest, but knowing you’re investing in a better future return? Every decision on this farm is thoughtful.

Waist High

I keep bumping into this intriguing plant. Its giant leaves sway slowly, and this morning’s rain still clings to it. I am surprised to learn that it’s a yam plant. What a showy display for a root crop.

Down Low

At first glance the lower plants look like a chaotic array of tropical weeds. Of course that isn’t so. A patch of chard is to the right, beans climb to the left. Just visible through the branches of the coffee tree is a patch of brown the size of a small room. The lumpiness of this unassuming plot is a giveaway for the potatoes growing underneath.

The Soil

The ground itself gets as much attention as the plants that sprout from it. Jennipher composts her family’s food waste. She has a trench to capture soil during floods, to later redistribute it instead of losing it. She has a whole system for turning her cow’s manure into organic fertilizer.

The Sounds

I’ve never strolled through a coffee plantation, where rows and rows of coffee are all that the eye can see. I’m told they are silent, devoid of animals, birds, and even of most insects. This farm is raucous: cows are braying, birds are chirping, bugs buzzing and – best of all – the family who lives on this farm tells us all about it, proudly.

TAKE ACTION!

Join Global Exchange for $35/year and we’ll send you a gorgeous customized Global Exchange tote bag from Handmade Expressions women’s cooperative in India, a No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy, Globalization or International Development and a bag of Equal Exchange chocolates!

CHECK OUT THE WINNERS OF THE HERSHEY BRAND JAMMING CONTEST
Contest entries mock Hershey’s refusal to crackdown on controversial labor practices.

The Raise the Bar, Hershey Campaign – sponsored by Global Exchange, Green America, and the International Labor Rights Forum – announced on April 28th, 2011 the winners of their “brand jamming” contest in order to bring attention to Hershey’s failure to crack down on child labor and other abuses in its cocoa supply chain.

The grand prize winner is Jason Pearson of San Clemente, CA for his mock advertisement Brand Jam, a one minute video that tells the real story of where Hershey’s cocoa comes from.

Why not watch it right now? It’s pretty awesome:

The announcement of the Hershey “brand jamming” winners coincided with Hershey’s Annual General Meeting for shareholders in Hershey, PA. Thousands of people nationwide voted to choose their favorite entries for best slogan, best video and best poster.

Here are the other winners:
Best Video: Behind the Hershey Smiles submitted by Aaron Thurman: Indianapolis, IN

Best Slogan: “Hershey: Sweet Chocolate. Bitter Story” submitted by Tyson Weems of Portland, ME
Best Poster: Children Behind Bars submitted by Jason Pearson of San Clemente, CA

Find out what the winners received and what the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign folks plan to do with the mock ads on the campaign website.

Oh, and by the way, there’s going to be a Raise the Bar Hershey Rally in NYC’s Times Square on June 8, 2011 at 10:30 am. More details to come.

TAKE A FAIR TRADE COFFEE BREAK ON WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY
World Fair Trade Day coordinating organization Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) and sponsors (including us!) are reaching out to inspire 100,000 people to take a break from our busy lives to increase awareness of Fair Trade, by taking a Fair Trade coffee (or chocolate or tea or music, etc) break.
Here are three ways you can participate:

1. Enjoy a Fair Trade coffee break in the comfort of your own home or office, and register it on Global Exchange’s World Fair Trade Day Coffee Break page, so your participation can be counted.
2. It’s even more fun if you organize a small or large coffee break in your workplace, school, or community. If you do, register your event on Global Exchange’s World Fair Trade Day Coffee Break page. If it’s open to the public please register on Fair Trade Resource Network’s webpage too.
3. Attend a World Fair Trade Day event in your area. Dozens of Fair Tradetastic events nationwide are listed on FTRN’s website. Celebrate with Global Exchange at events in Berkeley, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Shirlington, VA, and Washington, DC, listed at the end of this email.

MOTHERS DAY EVENT ON SUNDAY, MAY 8TH IN SAN FRANCISCO
If you’re in the Bay Area this weekend, stop by our San Francisco Store for an in-store event. Fair Trade treats, live music, and a wide selection of Fair Trade gifts made by mothers for mothers. Find out more details here.

CRAFTING CHANGE: A FAIR TRADE TOUR
Hear Peruvian artisans Yody Moran and Sonia Anahue’s compelling stories of their turbulent lives and learn how Fair Trade has helped them achieve economic and social stability.
Get free Fair Trade resources and learn how you can use your purchasing power to impact the world.
When: Wednesday, May 11, 7 pm
Where: Global Exchange, 2973 16th Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA
When: Saturday, May 14, 12:30-2:30pm
Where: Global Exchange Fair Trade store, 2840 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA
Brought to you by: Fair Trade Towns USA, Global Exchange, Green America, Partners for Just Trade
Also: Fair Trade crafts available for sale!
For more information CALL: 415 255 7296

100% FAIR TRADE STORE GOES 100% SOLAR!
How cool is this? Kimberly and Marco of Made By Hand International Cooperative sent out an exciting message earlier this week. The news? That their 100% Fair Trade retail store, Made By Hand International Cooperative located in South Bethany, Delaware, now runs 100% on solar energy! Thanks and congrats Kimberly and Marco for leading by example.

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Graphic Credit: www.benjerry.com

BEN & JERRY’S FREE ICE CREAM CONE DAY
Today is the day. Tuesday, April 12, 2011 from Noon-8pm it’s free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cones for everyone! As their way of thanking customers for their support and to celebrate 33 years of scooping  deliciousness, Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops are giving away free ice cream cones.

Why am I mentioning this in our weekly Fair Trade Roundup? Because of Ben & Jerry’s growing commitment to Fair Trade, which you can learn more about here.

Graphic Credit: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

CNN’S FREEDOM PROJECT INTERVIEW WITH THE DARK SIDE OF CHOCOLATE FILM MAKER

CNN’s Freedom Project posted an interview with U. Roberto Romano about The Dark Side of Chocolate which you can watch here. This riveting documentary goes undercover to reveal the bitter truth about child slavery in the cocoa industry. To host your own screening, visit our website.

Graphic Credit: Partners for Just Trade

2011 ARTISAN TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
Partners for Just Trade announced their 2011 artisan tour that will visit the Pacific Northwest. Sonia Anahue Uscamayta from the Munay Rumi jewelry cooperative in Lima and Yody Gladys Moran Trillo from the El Mercurio knitting cooperative in Huancavelica, Peru will be traveling to the United States to share how Fair Trade has impacted their lives. The tentative artisan tour schedule can be found here, though date changes are possible, so you might want to double check the dates before making plans.

If you’re around Berkeley on Sat. May 14th (World Fair Trade Day!), this exciting artisan tour will be at our own Fair Trade Store!

NEW CHANGE.ORG ACTION CALLS ON HERSHEY TO FAIR TRADE THEIR EGGS
Change.org just launched a new action calling on Hershey to extend Cadbury’s commitment to Fair Trade cocoa to Cadbury Crème Eggs in the US. Go here to learn more and to sign the petition.

Teakwood Platter from Global Exchange Fair Trade Store

CURRENT AND FUTURE EFFORTS TO FAIR TRADE YOUR PASSOVER:
Passover is almost here. You can find Passover Fair Trade Ideas here. Already looking to next year, Fair Trade Judaica is launching a new initiative called Next Year – Fair Trade Kosher for Passover Chocolate to encourage Kosher manufacturers to source Fair Trade cocoa beans for Passover products.

(To purchase the beautiful teakwood piece pictured visit our Online Fair Trade Store.)

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
Article: Sustainability of West African cocoa growing questioned
Article: A ‘divine’ fair trade policy for chocolate
LinkedIn Group Discussion: Is Criticism of Fair Trade Justified?
Events: World Fair Trade Day Event Listings (find events or post your own)
Resource: Easter and Passover Fair Trade Ideas

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Check back here on our Fair Trade blog for more Fair Trade News Round-Ups…your one-stop shop for current Fair Trade news and events. And if you’ve got big Fair Trade news to share, email me!

This documentary reveals shocking and disturbing new evidence that child labor, trafficking, and slavery are continuing in the cocoa industry, nearly ten years after the cocoa industry pledged to end it.

If you’re in the D.C. area tonight (Tue. Oct. 26th.), the film will be shown at Bus Boys and Poets at the 1025 5th St NW location from 6-8 pm. Expect to hear wonderful speakers and take part in discussion following the film. Divine Chocolate, Fair Trade Federation and Global Exchange (that’s us) staff will be in attendance.

If you’re interested in organizing your own showing of this important (and timely given that Halloween is almost here!) documentary, check out our action center.

Filmmaker Roberto Romano has generously offered for you to screen this film for free; participants will be asked to pay only to cover the cost of DVD replication and postage, which will be approximately $3-5.

“The spookiest thing about Halloween should not be the chocolate.”
~anonymous

Global Exchange’s Sweet Smarts campaign is a national network of individuals, from young children to senior citizens, whose simple, creative actions to educate and advocate for Fair Trade certified products transform communities and corporations to support small farmers’ efforts to build a better future for their families.

With Sweet Smarts, we’re binding together to build the next generation of social justice and environmental leaders.  We have developed new activity guides, which offer a step by step process to become a Fair Trade advocate and help end poverty, child labor, and environmental degradation by raising awareness about Fair Trade.

Here’s a message from our Fair Trade Cocoa Campaign Director, Adrienne Fitch-Frankel that is included in your Youth Power Party activity guide talking about the importance of educating your community about Fair Trade.

Cross-posted from the FairTradeUSA blog:

October is Fair Trade Month and Global Exchange wants you to get involved. It’s a month when we can celebrate the power that the Fair Trade movement has had around the world, linking you the consumer to the producer and their community. Throughout the years, Global Exchange has highlighted the importance of building the Fair Trade movement by making people-to-people ties in communities locally and globally.

This Halloween, get out your Fair Trade banana costume and participate in Reverse-Trick-or-Treating. The goal is for trick-or-treaters to switch it up and go door to door passing out informational cards attached with Fair Trade chocolate to raise awareness in their communities about poverty alleviation and economic justice for cocoa farmers around the world. Hear (and see) what last year’s participants had to say about this fun and creative action.

Can’t wait until the end of the month to help build the Fair Trade movement? Throughout October, you can participate in Global Exchange’s scavenger hunt which will bring you from the supermarket to the classroom and even to your Congressperson to promote an economic system that is better for workers and the planet. One clue will bring you to Global Exchange’s Fair Trade stores, where you will learn more about the producer groups we work with. One group of artisans we recently connected with in Rajasthan, India has been using an ancient technique of mud-block-printing to preserve a practice that is slowly disappearing while employing both men and women and strengthening the community.

Besides the incentive of spreading the Fair Trade word, participating in our scavenger hunt will make you eligible to win up to $200 in Fair Trade prizes. Build the movement and win.

With October well underway, it is time to reflect on the reasons behind making our purchases matter. With over 2.6 billion people in the world living in poverty, Fair Trade makes a difference in the lives of farmers, women and the environment. But only if people know about it.  Only 30% of Americans know what Fair Trade is—and we need your help to grow the movement this month. Join Global Exchange, Fair Trade USA and hundreds of other organizations and advocates out there to create a system of fairness, equality and sustainability.

Get more information of Global Exchange’s Fair Trade campaign: www.globalexchange.org/cocoa.
Pick coffee in Nicaragua, chocolate in the Dominican Republic, tea in Nepal or olives in Palestine on a Reality Tours Fair Trade delegation.
Visit our Fair Trade stores.
And of course, read our Fair Trade blog for the latest news and views of the movement.

This morning as I sat down at my desk, I flipped the page of my Fair Trade calendar and was greeted with a Happy Fair Trade Month! Every year, October is designated as Fair Trade Month where we come together to spread the world about how Fair Trade is benefiting small-scale producers and artisans and why Fair Trade matters to us all.

FairTradeUSA (formerly TransFairUSA) has set up the Fair Trade Month website where you can find out about Fair Trade events taking place all month, hear from farmers and workers around the world, and find fun and creative ways to get involved and build the Fair Trade movement in your own town and all over.

FairTradeUSA CEO, Paul Rice talking to the crowd.

A few nights ago, yours truly spent the evening with the FairTradeUSA crew in San Francisco at their Fair Trade Month kick-off party. The event was filled with fellow Fair Traders, delicious treats ranging from delicious truffles from CocoZen, hummus made with La Yapa Quinoa, AlterEco chocolate and then some. Yours truly also was the lucky winner of the raffle going home with a bottle of vodka made from Fair Trade quinoa. Win! It was a truly Fair Trade event even with a Fair Trade DJ with Corinne from Global Exchange’s San Francisco Store on the ones and twos. Great event.

Fair Trade win!

Happy Fair Trade Month everyone from Global Exchange! Get involved and take action all month long. Start with signing up for Reverse Trick-or-Treating! Then register your Fair Trade Month event. I will use this weekend to enjoy my Fair Trade prizes from the other night. Happy weekend all.

We asked readers what they’re doing to celebrate Fair Trade month. Here’s what bayctygrl said:

I am going to hand out some choc. to adults! well to a few because I don’t have a lot of money, I think I should print up some leaflets too and have my daughter give them in exchange for her goody. that way (they) both get a “treat”.

Thanks to all of you who shared comments with us about how you’re celebrating Fair Trade month. Keep up the great and have fun!