Tell everyone that you “choo- choo- choose” Fair Trade for Valentine’s Day!

Make Valentine’s Day sweeter for cocoa farmers by buying fair trade chocolate and demanding that Nestle switch to Fair Trade certified cocoa!

Hand this Valentine out to your friends and classmates, and help promote Fair Trade!
During Valentine's Day companies like Nestle USA take the opportunity to appeal to people's desire to show their affection to those they care about by purchasing chocolate. Unfortunately, the chocolate that we often enjoy is not so sweet for the hundreds of thousands of child laborers involved in the harvesting of cocoa to make that chocolate, many of whom toil as slaves.

The US chocolate industry committed to ending abuses such as child slavery by July of 2005, but has not kept its promises. It is up to the consumers of the world's largest chocolate companies to hold them accountable. Let them know that this is not acceptable!

Here's what you can do:

*Send a fax or Call Nestle USA 1-800-225-5570 and demand that they take their share of the responsibility for ending forced and abusive child labor on their farms by using Fair Trade Certified cocoa.

*Join the Valentine's Day Fair Trade Chocolate Campaign by ordering "I Choo- Choo- Choose Fair Trade" valentines from Global Exchange. Have your friends send them to Nestle to demand that they treat cocoa farmers with dignity by switching to fair trade cocoa. Send an email to fairtrade@globalexchange.org or call 415.575.5538 to let us know how many you would like. Also let us know if you are planning a Valentine's Day event and would like help turning it into a fun fair trade educational opportunity!

*Purchase Fair Trade gifts for Valentine's Day and show others that it is possible! Visit the Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store to see our selection of chocolate and other gifts. This year, for the first time ever, you can order heart-shaped fair trade, organic chocolates, wrapped in environmentally-friendly packaging. The Valentine's Day Action Kit is also a brand new item and includes a set of 24 valentines (with Nestle action postcard on back), a chocolate heart box, an "I Love Fair Trade" iron-on complements of Transfair USA, and a soapstone heart from Kenya in an organza bag.

* Talk About Fair Trade in Your Classroom! Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion to talk with children about where their chocolate comes from and what they can do to help their peers on cocoa farms around the world. Global Exchange has lots of resources available for teachers and children of all ages to learn more about how fair trade is helping farmers and their children build a better life.

Thousands of children participate in our Fair Trade chocolate campaign every year by writing letters to chocolate companies and staging events in their communities to educate their parents and peers about fair trade. Visit our children's education page for lesson plans, activity ideas and other materials to help you make your school fair trade.

For more information on how your school, church or community group can get involved or to order additional materials to promote fair trade in your home this Valentine's Day, please contact Allison Hart at fairtrade@globalexchange.org or 415.575.5538.

Fair trade is on the rise! According to the Fair Trade Resource Network, the world market for Fair Trade products is expanding at 10 to 25% per year, with about 60% sales coming from a small number of food products, such as chocolate and coffee. Be a part of this movement that is giving an increasing voice as well as financial sustainability to the farmers and primary producers themselves. Show the cocoa farmers of West Africa that you stand in solidarity with them and will exercise your buying power to help break the chokehold of the large corporations in the chocolate industry!