Our 31 Days of Fair Trade has begun!

Have you heard? Global Exchange along with our friends at Equal Exchange and Green Halloween have set up 31 days of fun ideas and activities (and a contest!) that will have you eating Fair Trade bananas, hosting movie screenings, baking delicious Fair Trade goodies, recycling Halloween costumes, and giving out Fair Trade chocolates to trick-or-treaters.

So far so good!

So far this month, we’ve had folks getting in the Fair Trade habit and watching a movie about Potong Cooperative Tea Garden in India. (With every viewing, Equal Exchange is donating a tea bush to farmers in India.)

And we’re just getting started…the month has barely begun, so there’s lots of actions still ahead to look forward to. Let’s take action together.

Here’s how to TAKE ACTION:

• Check out the calendar of 31 Days of Fair Trade Action activities so you can take action daily to support Fair Trade
• Visit FairTradeHalloween.org for the whole list of actions
• Follow us on twitter @GXFairTrade or on Facebook where we will deliver your daily action each morning at #fairtrade31.

Looking forward to taking action with you.

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.

Today is Action #22…Build Your Own Fair Trade Day of the Dead Altar!

Dia de los Muertos is a traditional Meso-American holiday dedicated to the ancestors. Rather than mourning death as purely tragedy and loss, Dia de los Muertos honors both death and the cycle of life. The celebration acknowledges that we still have a relationship with our loved ones whom have passed away.

In Mexico, on Dia de los Muertos families and friends gather in local cemeteries to be with their loved ones and construct private altars, which contain everything from photos, favorite foods, and other memorabilia, in hopes that deceased souls will journey back for the Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Stop by your local Bay Area Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores for all you need to build your own Dia de los Muertos altar!

The San Francisco (map) and Berkeley (map) Global Exchange stores are stocked with everything from retablos to sugar skull molds and meringue power to paper marigolds. Be sure to check out our colorful collection of beautiful skeleton statues, hand-made in Mexico; we have Fridas, DJs, soccer players, CEOs, skateboarders, and more!

This year we have a beautiful selection of retablos, boxes or shrines with hand painted doors which open to hold hand carved figures in colorful scenes of daily life in Peru- such as markets, shops, harvests, weddings and other ceremonies.   Our retablos are made by internationally renowned retablos maker Claudio Jimenez Quispe. Originally from a family of retablos makers in Ayacucho, Peru, where he has trained large communities of retablos makers, he now works in Lima.  Come check out the work of one of the finest craftsmen in the world!

In San Francisco, Dia de los Muertos has been celebrated in the Mission district since the early 70s with art, music, performances and a walking procession, which help us contemplate our existence and mortality — a moment to remember deceased friends and family, and our connections beyond our immediate concerns. This years’ celebration will be held on Friday, November 2^nd. Find out more about the procession.

For those in the East Bay, the Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos celebration will be held on Sunday, October 28^th in the Fruitville Village. More information is available on their website.

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!

For 31 days we’ll set out fun ideas and activities (and a contest!) that will have you eating Fair Trade bananas, hosting movie screenings, baking delicious Fair Trade goodies, recycling Halloween costumes, and giving out Fair Trade chocolates to trick-or-treaters.

So Oct. 1st, 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.

We’re thrilled to announce that Equal Exchange is selling organic milk chocolate minis and organic dark chocolate minis in bulk, so this Halloween you can support cocoa farmers (including children!)  by passing out delicious, socially responsible chocolate to trick-or-treaters. Equal Exchange will be taking orders starting October 1st.

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Also, consider joining me at the second National Fair Trade Campaigns Conference Oct 26-28! Fair Trade enthusiasts from all over the country will come together to share experiences and resources, sharpen leadership skills, and build momentum for Fair Trade. Register for the event.

Looking forward to working with you to Fair Trade your Halloween!

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!

Happy (still) summer everybody! This month in the Fair Trade Roundup, there’s lots to share. So sit back, grab a cup of Fair Trade tea (or coffee, or vodka:) and catch up on what’s going on in the world of Fair Trade.

NATIONAL S’MORES LABOR DAY ACTION MONDAY

September 3, Labor Day, is the National S’mores Day of Action. So this Monday, join us in blitzing Hershey’s Facebook page with photos of Fair Trade s’mores eaters holding messages urging Hershey to end child labor and poverty in the cocoa fields.

Click here for directions on how to post photos to Hershey’s Facebook page.

Leading up to this day of action, we’ve almost reached our goal of registering 1000 fair trade s’mores by Labor Day. (We’re at 823 and counting!) We need your help to reach our goal by Labor Day. It’s not too late to register your s’mores!

While our goal is to reach 1,000 registered Fair Trade s’mores BY Labor Day, our goal ON Labor Day is to see a Hershey Facebook page covered in Fair Trade S’mores photos. Won’t you join us?

Here’s how to take part in National S’mores Day of Action:

1) Share Photo on Hershey’s Facebook: Photograph your Fair Trade s’mores festivities anytime now, then post photos of your action to Hershey’s Facebook page on Sept. 3rd. Directions on how to do this are here.

2) How to Register Your S’mores: Simply go to this page and enter your s’mores count.

Chain stitch pillows from India, on sale now!

GLOBAL EXCHANGE STORES ROCK BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR

All Global Exchange stores are having a sale right now. Through Aug. 31 shoppers can save 50% OFF selected items. But it gets better. Saturday, Sept. 1st through Monday (Labor Day) Sept. 3rd the savings jump to 75% OFF!

What’s on sale? Oh, a variety of items, including housewares, bedding, decorative art pieces, handbags, jewelry and lots more. Our SF store posted some photos of a few of the sale items if you care to peek.

Why the big sale? To make room for all the new items coming in. So stop by any GX Fair Trade Store location now through Labor Day to save big. I’ll be there, grabbing some early holiday gifts while they’re on sale, cuz, you know, every bit helps when it comes to saving!

FAIR TRADE YOUR HALLOWEEN

Halloween, you say? But it’s barely September! Yes, it’s true, summer isn’t over, but autumn is coming up quickly, the kids are back in school, and Halloween will be here before you know it. This year Global Exchange is working with partner organizations to present to you, Fair Trade Your Halloween– 31 days of Fair Trade Actions!

That’s all I’m going to share at this point, but stay tuned for details about how together we can make October an extraordinary time to spread the word about Fair Trade.

Details about this exciting month of activities will be coming soon; Subscribe to our Fair Trade blog to receive updates about this and other Fair Trade news.

Graphic credit: Fair for Life

FAIR FOR LIFE RECOGNIZED BY FAIR TRADE TOWNS

In an email sent out earlier this month, Fair Trade Towns’ USA National Coordinator Billy Linstead Goldsmith announced:

On behalf of the Fair Trade Towns USA National Steering Committee I am happy to share the news with you that the Fair for Life label, certified by IMO (the Institute for Marketecology), will now officially be included in Fair Trade Towns USA’s criteria.

 After much research and careful consideration, the National Steering Committee has concluded that the Fair for Life program meets many rigorous standards that are crucial to Fair Trade. From delivering impact to producers and farmers to evaluating the business practices of the companies using its label, Fair for Life indicates that strict criteria have been met to empower producers and protect the environment.

GREEN & BLACK’S FIRST GLOBAL BRAND TO ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP WITH FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL IN THE USA

Green & Black’s, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of organic Fairtrade chocolate, just announced plans to partner with Fairtrade International in the USA.

From Fairtrade International press release:

Green & Black’s is the first major global brand to announce it will carry Fairtrade International’s FAIRTRADE Certification Mark in the USA. The move further emphasizes Green & Black’s commitment to Fairtrade which benefits farming communities in developing countries, including cocoa farmers in the Dominican Republic and Belize and sugar farmers in Paraguay.

Photo Credit: Fair Trade Federation

TWO UPCOMING FAIR TRADE CONFERENCES 

1) Fair Trade Federation Annual Conference 2013

The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) has announced the dates for the 2013 FTF Annual Conference.  FTF reports:

The FTF is headed south. Join us for three days of fair trade fun in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mark your calendars now, and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. Want a sense of what you can look forward to?  Notes from our 2012 conference are available online.

2) Fair Trade Towns Conference

Registration is now open for the Fair Trade Campaigns Conference 2012 taking place October 26 – 28, 2012 in Chicago, IL.

Fair Trade Towns USA describes the conference:

The conference will bring together leaders and organizers from Fair Trade Towns and Fair Trade Colleges & Universities campaigns at all stages, as well as newcomers to the Fair Trade movement. The goal of this conference is to deepen the local grassroots commitment to Fair Trade around the US and build partnerships locally that help facilitate life-changing benefits for farmers, workers and artisans in Africa, Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean.

Register here for the Fair Trade Campaigns Conference or click here for more info.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

• The Nation: The Brawl Over Fair Trade Coffee
• Fast Company: Fair Trade USA’s CEO On Being A Better Social Entrepreneur
• The Independent: Harriet Lamb: Fairtrade moves to next level: Head of the Fairtrade Foundation is signing up big business to her ethical fight
• Brandon Sun: Olympics go green and fair trade
• Co.exist: A GPS Social Enterprise Finder To Find The Best Businesses Near You
• Fast Company: Find The Child Slaves Hiding In The Grocery Store
• Fair Trade at Penn State Brandywine: Seeking Ethical Chocolate – A Fair Trade S’more Event!

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