Dear City Council Members,

We at the Fair Trade Certified Coffee Coalition would like to thank you for the opportunity to work with you to support a Fair Trade Certified coffee purchasing restriction for our city. We feel this purchasing restriction strongly represents our city's ethical stand to ensure that the products we purchase were created under decent working conditions.

Most small coffee farmers receive market payments for their harvest which are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Intensive coffee farming also leads to environmental problems, such as the contamination of air and water supplies through pesticide poisoning, which also affects farmers. Industrial coffee farming also contributes to deforestation; the Smithsonian Institute has documented that the eradication of the natural environment of songbirds (trees providing shade to coffee) is a major contributing factor in songbird extinction.

Fair Trade Certified coffee works to correct these imbalances by guaranteeing stringent international criteria; paying a minimum price per pound of $1.26, providing much needed credit at fair terms to farmers, and providing technical assistance such as help transitioning to organic farming. Fair Trade means community development, health care, education, economic independence, and environmental stewardship for coffee farmers around the world.

The concept of Fair Trade labeling was first developed in the Netherlands in 1988. To date there are seven Fair Trade labels in use in 13 countries. Labeling groups certify bananas, cocoa, coffee, honey, sugar and tea from some 300 producer partners in 29 countries, with coffee accounting for the majority. Independently certified coffee with the TransFair label is served in the European Parliament and several national and state legislatures, numerous city councils and university canteens, and corporate offices including Warner Bros. and Toyota Europe.

We call your attention to the enclosed materials which discuss the certification process as well as the local retail outlets and wholesale importers that offer coffee with the TransFair seal of independent certification.

We look forward to working with you to set an important national precedent by passing a Fair Trade Certified coffee restriction for our municipal offices and agencies. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

your name