Fair Trade the Holidays

Are You Ready for the Holidays?

I know it's a little early to be thinking about it, but what are your plans for holiday shopping? Do you plan to go out early on Black Friday and wait in line for the good deals? Or are you going to skip Black Friday and just head out late Thanksgiving night? Maybe you're the Cyber Monday kind of person and don't even want to touch a mall or brick-and-mortar store.

I am planning to give Fair Trade gifts for Christmas (and Hanukkah). I already have a list of things I want to buy from Mira Fair Trade for family and friends, even a few of my professors.

Global Exchange is having a Holiday Gift Challenge, with "Six Fabulous Reasons to Give Fair Trade":

1. Each gift empowers farmers and artisans with dignified work, and adequate incomes to access nutrition, health care, education, etc. for their families.
2. If all of us Give Fair Trade this year, our collective purchasing power will have an enormous impact on lifting families out of poverty.
3. Great Fair Trade gifts are available for everyone on your list, both kids and adults (even coworker/corporate gifts, like bags of Fair Trade coffee).
4. Giving Fair Trade gifts is an easy way to shift some of your purchasing to Fair Trade.
5. You will educate the person receiving the gift about Fair Trade.
6. Make holiday shopping a breeze…walk into a Fair Trade shop (or online store) with your holiday shopping list and walk out with your holiday shopping complete!

I want to provide a list of places where you can buy Fair Trade, either in person or online. Since I am based in Pittsburgh, that is where I have focused my research.There are a few Fair Trade gift fairs, holiday bazaars, craft shows, and other holiday shopping events around the Pittsburgh area through the end of November and early December. 

• Arts & Crafts Holiday Spectacular - November 22-24, 2013 at the Monroeville Convention Center (Mira Fair Trade will be there!)

• Fair Trade Marketplace - November 23 and December 6-8, 2013 at the Environmental Charter School

• Fair Trade Week/Marketplace - December 2-5, 2013 at Duquesne University

• Building New Hope - non-profit working with coffee co-ops, based in Pittsburgh, PA (http://www.buildingnewhope.org/where-to-buy.html)

• Mira Fair Trade - Upper St. Clair-based Fair Trade business specializing in handmade scarves, bags, home decor, and other accessories from India

• Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide 2013 - Fair Trade Federation, list of online and physical retailers

• Ten Thousand Villages Pittsburgh - Ten Thousand Villages started in 1946 and was the first retailer to offer Fair Trade products (online and in-store)

• Equal Exchange - Fair Trade coffee, tea, food products and other items (Online)

• Give Fair Trade Blog - List of retailers in-store and online who partner with Global Exchange

In any case, I would like for you to attempt to buy at least one thing that is Fair Trade this holiday season. You can buy it for yourself, a family member, significant other, a friend, a teacher, your boss, or a co-worker. There are so many Fair Trade items on the market ranging from coffee to clothing. Everything is unique, and you can begin the process of buying Fair Trade with one gift. Pass it on and teach others to buy Fair Trade. 


http://www.globalexchange.org/sites/default/files/FTResolution.pdf

Fair Trade Around the Nation

Trouble in Paradise

As I continuously research Fair Trade issues to gain a deeper understanding of the movement, I learn more about the bureaucracy behind the scenes. 

For instance, there has been some controversy over the Fair Trade USA organization and their labeling and certification standards for products and businesses. Equal Exchange, along with the other Fair Trade organizations, put out a letter detailing the struggle in the Fair Trade system. A small excerpt from the letter shows how Fair Trade USA is undermining the principles of Fair Trade:

Fair Trade USA (formerly known as TransFair USA) has slowly but steadily chipped away at our principles and values, only recently taking the final steps in building their strategy. They have taken the name Fair Trade USA, then proceeded to leave the international Fair Trade System (FLO International/FairTrade International), lower standards, eliminate farmers from their governance model, and invite large-scale plantations into coffee and all other commodities.

This is not Fair Trade and we are asking you to join with us in differentiating TransFair's model from the authentic small farmer Fair Trade that we are collectively building. (Equal Exchange, Background Summary)

In response to TransFair USA's plan, the United Students for Fair Trade issued a boycott and called on the public to support USFT's standards. USFT underlines five different issues regarding the changes in TransFair USA's standards.

Equal Exchange has initiated the Small Farmer Campaign with the support of other partners and organizations. They ask:

Buy only Fair Trade products that come directly from small farmer organizations. Enter into dialogue with the stores where you shop that sell Fair Trade products with the TransFair seal on their products to explain to them that authentic Fair Trade means support for small farmers, not plantations and corporations.

I have educated myself on the differences between the Fair Trade organizations, have read the evidence and reviews from both sides, and have come to the conclusion that I will not support TransFair/Fair Trade USA products. I hope that when it comes to something that you are invested in, not just Fair Trade or activism, you will look at both sides and make a conscious decision for yourself.


Articles, links and more:
"The Fair Trade Controversy You Didn't Know About" - http://www.good.is/posts/the-fair-trade-controversy-you-didn-t-know-about

NY Times "A Question of Fairness" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/business/as-fair-trade-movement-grows-a-dispute-over-its-direction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Equal Exchange "Background Summary - January 2012" - http://www.equalexchange.coop/sites/default/files/import/pdfs/downloads/FTBackgroundSummary.pdf

"Co-operatives: The Heart and Soul of the Fair Trade Movement" - http://www.equalexchange.coop/sites/default/files/FWPCo-opHeartSoulofFT.pdf

"First Coffee, Now Fashion" - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/printthis/229444.html

University of North Carolina - FLO (Fair, Local, Organic) Food http://flofood.weebly.com/

Membership Organization list:
http://fairworldproject.org/overview/certifiers-membership-orgs/

Committed Fair Trade brands:
http://fairworldproject.org/get-involved/committed-fair-trade-brands/

Fair World Project Fair Trade Friends:
http://fairworldproject.org/get-involved/fair-trade-friends/

Members of the Domestic Fair Trade Association:
http://www.thedfta.org/who-we-are/current-members-2-0/

Making Waves: Fair Trade at Greater Allegheny

     I recently met with the Environmental Club on my campus, and introduced the idea of bringing Fair Trade to Penn State Greater Allegheny. The response I got was positive, and now the club president and the members and I are trying to make it happen.

We sat down and talked about how we would get our campus Fair Trade certification started. We are using Penn State Brandywine as an example, because they are located in Media, PA (the first Fair Trade city in the US) and were awarded Fair Trade certification in May 2012. They have everything listed on their website, including the process they went through and their proposal for certification. They continue to update their site whenever they have special events.

This is a small pamphlet of guidelines from Fair Trade Colleges & Universities explaining the guidelines and criteria for becoming certified: http://fairtradeu.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/FT-Colleges-Universities-Intro-Criteria.pdf

The overall mission of the Fair Trade Colleges & Universities campaign is stated as:

The mission of Fair Trade Colleges and Universities is to inspire institutions of higher learning to support the Fair Trade movement in its efforts to seek equity in trade and promote sustainable development. Fair Trade Colleges and Universities harness the power of higher education in the United States to both raise awareness among students, faculty, and staff about the benefits of Fair Trade, and leverage the significant institutional buying power to purchase Fair Trade products. Achieving Fair Trade status means securing institutional commitment to embed Fair Trade principles and practices within administrative/procurement policy and the social and intellectual fabric of academic communities.

One of the first things I have in mind for our Fair Trade goals is to host a Holiday Bazaar in the Student Community Center at Greater Allegheny. I want to show people what Fair Trade is about, that it's not expensive, that it's better for your health, and overall, it's better for the world. Getting people to buy Fair Trade for the holidays is difficult when they don't know where to go to make purchases, so I plan to bring Fair Trade to Penn State Greater Allegheny. The Environmental Club members are already excited and want to order from the Equal Exchange fundraising catalogs I brought in.

This past weekend, I was at an event for my internship, and managed to take some pictures of an Equal Exchange booth that was selling Fair Trade coffee, tea, chocolate, and fruit products. I tried some coffee and it was yummy!

Front of the table: Sign up sheets, gift baskets, and info cards.

Side of booth: Different coffees, dried fruit and snacks.

So this is something that I want to replicate, to make students, staff and faculty interested in on campus. Beyond that, our plan is to bring Fair Trade bananas, coffee, tea, and other products on campus and feature Fair Trade in the curricula of some courses, as part of the ongoing education of the movement. 

It will take a lot of work, talking to different people, approval from different administrators, but hopefully we will be able to move forward to becoming a certified Fair Trade campus. Greater Allegheny is known as one of the most diverse campuses in the Penn State system, and this would go towards bringing Pittsburgh around as a Fair Trade city.

October Overview: Fair Trade Month

Trick or Treat?

October was Fair Trade month, and there were many campaigns led by different organizations that were devoted to raise awareness of Fair Trade.

One that I was somewhat involved in was the Buy Fair, Be Fair Campaign from Fair Trade USA. I ordered free educational materials to share with students and faculty on my campus, including posters, stickers and catalogs.

BeFair.org

A prominent player in Fair Trade is the partnership between Global Exchange and Equal Exchange, and their 31 Ways and 31 Days to Fair Trade Your October. There were many resources available online, including a calendar of events and ideas for October and how to incorporate Fair Trade concepts into each day.

Every Purchase Matters

Something that I would appreciate if everyone would do and share is the virtual Plant A Tree project hosted by Equal Exchange. At the time of this post, 363 cacao trees have been planted with a goal of 10,000 trees. This is completely free. If you click on this link and share on Facebook and Twitter with your friends and family, we can make a huge impact.


More articles and links:

October Fair Trade Month - Survey Reveals Fairest Cities in America, October 1st, 2013.
http://www.fairtradeusa.org/press-room/press_release/october-fair-trade-month-be-fair-survey-reveals-fairest-cities-america

Great Coffee, Good Vibes, Choose Fair Trade. Green Mountain Coffee
http://www.choosefairtrade.com/