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INSIDE THE BEAT:
• What's New?! --- McDonalds, Valentine’s Day, Fair Trade Month, 2005 Annual Report
• Fair Trade Friends --- USFT Conference, Africa Trip, Supermarket Campaign, Faith news
• From the Farmers --- Spotlight on CEVOVASA coffee cooperative in Peru
• Superstar Supporters --- Campus victories, local coalitions, cool campaigns
• Fair Trade and You --- Where to buy Fair Trade products, how to support our work
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NEWSFLASH!!!
TransFair USA just released our 2004 Annual Report, detailing our work and documenting our progress. It's a great read and looks beautiful, check it out here! Download the PDF (5MB) > |
Impressive Milestone of the Day:
TransFair USA has certified 100 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified coffee from inception in 1998 through the 3rd quarter of 2005. Now that's a fair trade! |
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Fair Trade at Mickey D's -- We're Lovin' it!
McDonald's is now offering Fair Trade Certified coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters! The fast-food giant unveiled FTC coffee in 650 locations throughout the Northeastern US, and gave away free FTC coffee in October. Complete with in-store signage and plenty of publicity, McDonald's is helping millions of new consumers learn about and participate in Fair Trade!
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Have a Happy (and Fair) Valentine's Day!
The very first heart-shaped box of FTC Valentine chocolates is now available in the US! Manufactured by Sweet Earth Organic Chocolate, each box is filled with a dozen individually-wrapped pieces of FTC heart-shaped dark chocolates swirled with white chocolate, nestled in a recycled heart-shaped box and wrapped in biodegradable cellophane. Each box of .3 ounce chocolates includes a miniature eco-friendly gift tag and is accompanied by an "I love Fair Trade" iron-on. You can buy a FTC Valentine online here. |
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Fair Trade Month: A Stunning Success
The 2nd Annual Fair Trade Month last October was a huge success, with retail events, media hits, educational opportunities, in-store promotions, contests, and more. Read all about it here! |
Fatima Ismael (Soppexcca Coffee Cooperative in Nicaragua) with 6th Graders at Inter American Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois |
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Jovanny Coronel (El Guabo Banana Cooperative in Ecuador) with 3rd Graders at Academia Ana Marie Sandoval Elementary in Denver, Colorado |
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It's Fair Trade TIME -- Magazine, that is!
Equal Exchange and Fair Trade were featured in a Time Magazine article last December. "In Oaxaca, Mexico, residents ride a fleet of cooperative-funded buses on routes that take hours to walk. In La Libertad, El Salvador, children who used to walk past an empty school building now study inside with a teacher who is paid by the cooperative. In Chajul, Guatemala, a cooperative-funded health clinic is helping reduce child mortality. And in remote corners of Peru, growing numbers of children of uneducated farmers are pursuing university degrees, thanks in part to a predictable market for family-grown crops." Read the article here. |
Congratulations to Retail Display Contest Winners!
In celebration of Fair Trade Month, retailers nationwide, including major chains such as Sam's Club, Wild Oats, Giant Eagle and Whole Foods, along with many independent grocers, demonstrated their most creative and informative displays of Fair Trade Certified products in a Fair Trade Display Challenge. Winners will join representatives from TransFair USA a trip to Costa Rica, where they will visit Fair Trade farms to see firsthand the impacts of Fair Trade in farming communities. Read more >
Photo (Right): 1st place Retail Display Contest Winner in the 50+ locations Category: Giant Eagle in North Huntingdon, PA |
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Featured Partner: That's What Friends are For
Amigos de las Americas, an international, nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for high school and college students to participate in service projects in Latin America, has launched Café Amigos, a Fair Trade Certified organic coffee from the Alianza co-operative in Costa Rica. All proceeds from the purchase of this coffee help support AMIGOS volunteers and community development projects throughout the Americas. Read more about Amigos de las Americas > |
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Tabasco: So Much More than Sauce
In early December, TransFair USA led a group of chocolate importers and manufacturers on a trip to visit four cacao cooperatives in Tabasco, Mexico. This trip was sponsored by the Government of Tabasco as part of a collaborative project to help regional cacao growers build market access and obtain Fair Trade Certification. Welcomed enthusiastically by Mexican government officials and farmers alike, TransFair and the chocolate experts were impressed by both the potential impact for Fair Trade and the high quality of their cacao! Several of the project leaders and farmers journeyed north to San Francisco in January to participate in the Fancy Food Show, and will prepare for their Fair Trade inspections soon after their return. Stay tuned...
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"Buyer Be Fair" - a New Tool for Advocates
"Buyer Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification" is a one-hour documentary that takes viewers to Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, the USA and Canada to explore how conscious consumers and businesses can use the market to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through product labeling, with a focus on Fair Trade coffee and Forest Stewardship Council certified wood. "Buyer Be Fair" is an inspirational but balanced television special that presents the promise of product certification to a wide audience. Contact us to order a copy.
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Friendly Faces of TransFair USA
We at TransFair USA are delighted to welcome the following folks to our fast-growing family:
- Claire Hutkins Seda, Coffee Account Associate
Claire brings her background in the non-profit, legal, organic farming, and teaching arenas to support our coffee roaster partners in TransFair's Business Development Department.
- Irene Florez, Producer Events Assistant
Irene, a Colombian native, works in conjunction with Global Producer Services and the Marketing Department to coordinate the participation of our coffee cooperative partners in the annual Specialty Coffee Association Conference.
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 Hi Claire!
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 Hi Irene!
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Register TODAY for the 3rd Annual USFT Convergence
The 3rd Annual USFT Convergence is a unique opportunity to engage in powerful discussions, gain wisdom from remarkable leaders, and form new ideas. Based in Denver, Colorado, from February 17th-19th, the three-day conference is an opportunity for community youth activists to learn about fair trade, build solidarity, and develop progressive strategies to drive the fair trade movement. Sign up now! |
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Supermarkets Find Loving Fair Trade Homes
So far, 69 teams have joined Coop America's Adopt-A-Supermarket campaign to encourage local supermarkets to offer more Fair Trade products. Has your group signed up? If not, Adopt-A-Supermarket today! Sign up here>
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Youth-Led USFT Delegation Heads to Africa
This June and July, 20 fortunate students from the US will visit the Peace Kawomera cooperative in Uganda, and the KNCU cooperative in Tanzania. USFT hopes to recruit youth from diverse educational backgrounds (college, university, community college, high school, non-traditional, non-student), various organizing and activist histories (including no past experience), different ethnicities and faith backgrounds. USFT is committed to making the trip financially accessible to everyone. Apply today!
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Careers in Fair Trade
Lutheran World Relief and United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) are looking for talented Fair Traders to join their growing teams. Visit their websites to learn more about these paid positions: Lutheran World Relief and United Students for Fair Trade |
Catholic Bishops Praise Fair Trade
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has formally endorsed Fair Trade! The USCCB's International and Domestic Policy Committee issued the following statement after its November 30, 2005 meeting: "The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops supports fair trade programs through which disadvantaged artisans, farmers and farmworkers receive fair compensation for the goods they produce. We encourage Catholic organizations and individuals to purchase fair trade products (e.g., through Catholic Relief Services' programs) whenever possible." |
Lutheran World Relief Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Fair Trade Program
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) has been a leader in the Fair Trade movement in the U.S. since launching the LWR Coffee Project in 1996 and celebrates the tenth anniversary of its Fair Trade program this year! Since 1996 Lutherans have purchased more than 400 tons of Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, and cocoa products as well as more than $1.2 million in fair trade handcrafts. |
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CECOVASA was founded in 1970, when a group of Peruvian coffee farmers in the Lake Titicaca region of Peru came together to find a better way to sell their coffee. Today, the cooperative is so strong that intermediary traders no longer work in the area. CECOVASA, comprised of eight cooperatives, has participated in the Fair Trade market for ten years. Its members are primarily from the indigenous Quechua and Aymara tribes.
With Fair Trade revenue, CECOVASA has been able to build a cupping laboratory and institute a quality control training program, establish a Committee for the Development of Women, which provides a forum for discussion and training on such topics as first aid, leadership, gender roles, and animal husbandry, contribute funds to the construction of a hydroelectric plant that will supply energy to the region, and purchase eight computers, five printers, and three photocopiers for its office. CECOVASA has also invested in farming equipment, including 40 depulping machines, 1,000 pruning saws, and three humidity scales. |
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Campus Victory! Brandeis Graduates to Fair Trade
The Fair Trade Brigade at Brandeis University secured overwhelming passage of a Fair Trade referendum, with 70% of the student body voting YES. Such a high voter turnout sends a strong and united message to the university administration that students want Fair Trade! Special thanks to Dan Mauer and Lauren Abramowitz for all their hard organizing work. Read More> |
Fair Trade Fest at Luther College
What started as a pilgrimage of nine Luther College students to Chicago for the Fair Trade Futures Conference ended in an event that brought together Luther students and the larger Decorah, Iowa community. With the help of over forty students and faculty, Fair Trade Fest presented an alternative to holiday consumerism that was both educational and entertaining. Students raffled off a plethora of donated goods, raising over sixty dollars in good-will donations. Nice work, organizer Bethel Ann Erickson! |
Fair Trade Fest at Luther College |
Still More Campus Campaigns
Students at Davis University in California, Ithaca College in New York, Washington State University, University of Washington and the University of Maryland are all leading hot campus Fair Trade campaigns. Kudos to the awesome Fair Trade organizers at these schools. If your school is engaged in a Fair Trade campaign, let us know! |
Cool Californians
- Kate McMahon, of Moraga, California, convinced the owner of her local coffee shop, Caffe Terzetto's, to switch her entire stock of coffee products to fair trade.
Read about it here.
- Greg Burton, of San Francisco, California, worked with the decision-makers at his Fortune 500 Silicon Valley firm to make sure Fair Trade Certified coffee from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is offered everyday to all 3200 staff members. You go, Greg!
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Photo (Left): Bass player "House" hobnobs with fellow celebrities in Osaka, Japan, and promotes Fair Trade in the process. Tommy Guerrero, drummer Charlie Hall, keyboard and guitar player Quinn Luke, Chuck D, and Fair Trade advocate House (Anthony) on bass, sporting "I Heart Fair Trade" T-shirt) |
Puget Sounds Off
Read this excellent educational piece in the Seattle Times on Hurricane Stan, foreign aid and Fair Trade as a sustainable model of international development. Read more>
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New Model of Fair Trade Community Organizing: Fair Trade Coalitions
Local Fair Trade Coalitions are booming! Formed by fair trade supporters just like yourself, these groups are coming together to pass Fair Trade resolutions in their cities, raise awareness and build demand for Fair Trade, expand Fair Trade availability and visibility at local cafes and grocery stores -- and have fun! Check out their links and blogs to get involved. And if there's not a Fair Trade Coalition in your home town, start one ! Read more about Fair Trade Coalitions here: Boston, Seattle, Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco. |
7th Graders Really Heart Fair Trade
After learning about Fair Trade in a research project, a group of 7th graders at the San Francisco Day School felt strongly enough about it to lobby their teachers to purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee for the school. Today, all the coffee at their school is Fair Trade Certified.
Pictured Right: teacher Tom Keller, students Cindy Dzib, Monica Rios, Thea Walsh, Granger Tripp, Penn Morgan, Joey Wong, Hansen Tang, Sam Molke, and Fair Trade supporter and manager of the Day School's local Starbucks, Michael Scribner. |
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But...Where to Buy?
We're working hard to expand our web database of places to buy Fair Trade Certified products. If you find a retailer, grocery store or cafe in your area that offers Fair Trade Certified products that's not on our list, please enter the information here |
Support our Work - Donate to TransFair USA
Your tax-deductible contributions to TransFair USA make it possible for us to continue working to empower farmers and farm workers in some of the poorest communities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia with the tools and resources for uniquely sustainable economic and community development. Read more> |
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