| The Fair Trade Beat is a monthly update from TransFair USA, the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that products were produced and traded in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible way. When you buy Fair Trade Certified products, you support the well-being of families, communities and the earth. |
March 2008 |
• Get Involved --- Have a Fair Trade Wedding!, Fair Trade Media Training in NYC
• Tune in to Fair Trade --- Online Shoppers: Celebrate World Fair Trade Day!
• New Products and Places --- Adina World Beat Beverages, LARABAR Fair Trade Kid’s Bar!
• Winning Campaigns --- Valentine's Day, CCC in Oakland
• Producer Spotlight --- ACOZC, Paraguay (Sugar)
• From TransFair USA --- Now Hiring, Awareness of Fair Trade Certified Continues to Grow!, Donate Today!
With the introduction of Fair Trade flowers this Spring comes the possibility of sharing the love around the world by celebrating your marriage with Fair Trade flowers! Fair Trade wedding packs are now available through Sam’s Club. This is too good of an idea to pass up. Talk to your friends, co-workers, and places of worship about making weddings more beautiful with these very special roses.
Fair Trade Media Training in NYCNew York area Fair Trade advocates: To empower local organizations to promote World Fair Trade Day this spring, Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns are offering advocates, as well as WFTD sponsors, a free day-long training in media outreach and social networking via Internet 2.0 portals (e.g. MySpace and Change.org). The training will take place on Saturday March 29th in New York City and will be provided by media professional Heather Mansfield. Meet and connect with other Fair Traders at this informative session.
World Fair Trade Day may not be until May 10th, but Ten Thousand Villages is already offering its online shoppers a special promotion in honor of the holiday. All orders will come with free shipping through the World Fair Trade Day celebration! Simply enter “fair trade” as the promotional code during checkout to take advantage of this generous promotion.
Adina World Beat Beverages has revealed four new drinks with Fair Trade Certified ingredients: Ethiopian Iced Espresso, Indian Iced Chai Latte, Mayan Iced Mocha, and Sumatran Iced Vanilla Latte. Adina, which means “life” in Wolof, was started with the idea of sharing traditional Senegalese drinks with the world. Adina continues to share products infused by the spirit of world cultures while being committed to the principles of health, sustainability and Fair Trade. As their motto says, “Don’t just taste good – do good!”
LARABAR Releases Fair Trade Certified Kid’s Bar!The wonderful folks at LARABAR are introducing two new healthy and delicious energy bars made for kids! The JamFrakas Banana Chocolate Blastocrisp and JamFrakas Chocolate Chip Cosmocrisp bars use all organic ingredients, including whole grains and Fair Trade Certified chocolate, and contain no gluten, soy or sugar.
Fair Trade flowers were a huge success this V-Day, selling out online and garnering media attention at brick and mortar stores across the country. Local Fair Trade advocates held events in eighteen cities from Los Angeles to Northampton, Mass. We had Fair Trade Valentine sidewalk sales in San Diego and fundraisers in Austin. The folks in Chico held a romantic middle eastern dinner with Fair Trade roses for all the attendees. Fair Trade flowers made a big splash in the media world as well, receiving coverage on dozens of local nightly news stations. In addition, our list of where to buy Fair Trade flowers continues to grow! Are you interested in bringing Fair Trade Certified flowers to your local florist? We can help! Contact Kazuko Golden, kgolden@transfairusa.org for more information or visit our site.
CCC in Oakland
TransFair USA recently hosted a successful meeting of the consejo consultivo de café (CCC), or Coffee Producer Advisory Council, in Oakland last week. The CCC is made up of representatives from coffee producer organizations who discuss the state of Fair Trade and provide feedback to TransFair USA. The meeting participants included eight producer representatives from around the world. This was the fourth meeting of the CCC and the first opportunity that CCC members had to meet with representatives from the coffee industry. CCC members took some time to visit some local cafes and retailers, including Whole Foods, where Tadesse Meskela poured delicious coffee grown by the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. Feedback from both producers and industry was positive.
|
The sugarcane farmers of Guarambare, Paraguay formed La Asociación de Cañicultores Organicos de la Zona Central (ACOZC) in 2002 in hopes of improving the living conditions of their agricultural community. The small-scale, family farmers favor traditional techniques, cultivating purely organic sugar. Their light sugar is sweeter than classic sugar. |
|
We're growing! TransFair USA is an entrepreneurial non-profit organization that is the only certifier of Fair Trade products in the U.S. We seek talented individuals who are passionate about our mission and who bring a global perspective to work. If this sounds like your recipe for success, please visit our job listings page and "be the change you want to see in the world". TransFair is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Awareness of Fair Trade Certified™ Continues to Grow!The results of our own online consumer survey confirm the results from past studies which show that consumer awareness of the Fair Trade Certified label has reached about 28%, which is a 53% increase awareness over the previous year! Part of this increase is due to all of the hard work that Fair Trade advocates like you have put into educating your communities.
Donate to TransFair USA today!As a non-profit, TransFair depends on the financial support of friends like you to expand our work empowering consumers and producers to build a more equitable and sustainable model of international trade in which all benefit. Click here to make a donation online, or contact our Development Department at (510) 663-5260 or via email at development@transfairusa.org for more information or to discuss your donation options. Thank you!
