Global Exchange's Fair Trade campaign is a national network of individuals, from young children to senior citizens, whose simple, creative actions to educate and advocate for Fair Trade certified products transform communities and corporations to support small farmers' efforts to build a better future for their families.
Participants support these courageous farmers from some of the remotest spots on the planet, who are standing up against exploitation by transforming trade, one cocoa or coffee bean at a time!
AND best of all... we do it all with CHOCOLATE and COFFEE!!!
What will YOU do if you join the Fair Trade/Sweet Smarts campaign??
Here are just a few examples...
Holiday Actions!
If its Halloween, we go Reverse Trick-or-Treating...giving candy back to people at their doorsteps...Fair Trade chocolate, attached to a card with information on problems of poverty, child slavery/abusive child labor, and environmental degradation in the cocoa fields and how Fair Trade makes a difference.
If it's the winter holidays, we go Fair Trade caroling, informing neighbors and communities about Fair Trade.
If it's Valentine's Day, we have valentine inserts that folks of all ages can put inside their valentines to let their loved ones know about Fair Trade.
Transforming Your Community...and the World!
You CAN change the world. WILL you?
It doesn't matter whether you're 6 or 86.
Fair Trade campaign members participate within our own circles of friends and family and/or more broadly in our communities.
On a regular basis, participants will receive modules...with a few pages of news and information about Fair Trade farming and craft communities and simple actions we can take each month to make a difference by supporting Fair Trade communities towards vibrant economies and environmental protection.
Year round, we will also have the opportunity to reach out in our own communities by going to fun events, tabling, doing outreach to individuals, schools, congregations, and youth groups and transforming our communities to Fair Trade.
Curricula!
Global Exchange's clever curricula excite students and youth group members about learning with Fair Trade chocolate!!! Global Exchange currently has an elementary school curriculum (a new revision is scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2008) and hopes to release a high school curriculum in 2009. If you are an educator or youth group leader, join our Sweet Smarts listserv to be kept up to date on services for educators.
Please join us!
To get involved, start by joining our listservs the Fair Trade listserv is open to all; join the Sweet Smarts listserv if you are an educator) and we will keep you apprised of the latest activities! We will keep you informed as we roll out new programming throughout the year. If you are interested in starting a Global Exchange Sweet Smarts in your community, school, or congregation, send an email to fairtrade@globalexchange.org with "Sweet Smarts group" in the subject line of your email.
