Human Rights Awards Fair Trade Models Jocelyn, Rae, and Zarah

Here’s your roundup of Fair Trade news and updates:

FAIR TRADE MODELS A BIG HIT AT HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS GALA

The Ninth Annual Human Rights Awards was a great success!  The sold out event included inspirational speeches by three incredible honorees, witty banter by event emcees Ben & Jerry (in tuxedos!), and the participation of the entire Global Exchange staff, board, and community. Guests in attendance included folks from Ben & Jerry’s, Dr. Bronner’s, Fair Trade USA, Thanksgiving Coffee, and World of Good.

Check out photos from the evening!

Models donned Fair Trade outfits & accessories and “Ask Me About My Outfit” sashes or swatches. They strutted their stuff on the big stage to showcase some of the Fair Trade goodies being auctioned off during the silent auction, while guests enjoyed Fair Trade Certified Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream.

All in all, the 9th annual Human Rights Awards Gala was a great time. If you weren’t able to make it, we hope to see you there next year!

“RAISE THE BAR, HERSHEY!” RALLY IN TIMES SQUARE, NYC

The “Raise the Bar, Hershey!” Campaign is planning a rally in front of the Hershey Store in Times Square happening Wed! Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and Lee Cutler, Secretary Treasurer of New York State United Teachers Union, will both be there, along with school children and social justice, Fair Trade, labor rights, and faith based organization representatives. They’ll be calling on Hershey to stop child labor in its cocoa and start supporting Fair Trade.

When: Wed, June 8th 2011, 10:30am – 12:30pm
Where: In front of the Hershey Store in Times Square (1593 Broadway; Northwest corner of Broadway and 48th Street, Manhattan)
RSVP: On Facebook

Follow Rally Updates: Follow the hashtag #HersheyGoFair on Twitter for live tweets from folks at the rally (including us @gxfairtrade!)

More info: www.raisethebarhershey.org/rally
Read the Op-ed Why I am Marching at Hershey’s Store in Times Square by Ariana Taveras, a student in the class of 2012 at the Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Check out the post Kerry Kennedy to Join Youth in Rally to Demand That Hershey ‘Raise the Bar’ to find out more details about the rally, including who will be there.
Sign the petition telling Hershey Interim CEO John Bilbrey to Raise the Bar Hershey!

SAVE THE DATE: FAIR TRADE TOWNS & UNIVERSITIES NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The first ever Fair Trade Towns & Universities National Conference is happening this Fall. The conference will bring together Fair Trade campaign organizers who are promoting and advancing Fair Trade in their communities and on campuses across the country.

When: Friday-Sunday, September 9-11, 2011
Where: The Hub Conference Center, Philadelphia, PA
Registration: FREE!
More Info: www.fairtradetownsusa.org

WEBINAR: CHURCHES & COMMUNITIES ENGAGING THROUGH FAIR TRADE

Hear from pastors, theologians, Fair Trade experts and the Fair Trade Towns leadership on why and how churches are becoming powerful partners in the Fair Trade movement.
When: Tuesday, June 14 • 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Info:  Here
Register: Here

Coldplay's Chris Martin

FAIR TRADE NEWS LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

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Check back here on our Fair Trade blog for more Fair Trade News Round-Ups…your one-stop shop for current Fair Trade news and events. And if you’ve got big Fair Trade news to share, email me!

Berkeley bikers on Fair Trade tour

Here’s your roundup of Fair Trade news and updates:

BERKELEY, CA SHARES ITS WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY CELEBRATION

Thanks to Lauren, Fair Trade Berkeley’s steering committee Chair, for sharing news about Berkeley’s World Fair Trade Day happenings. Berkeley hosted/co-hosted 3 events to celebrate World Fair Trade Day on May 14, 2011. Here’s her report:

The event of our own making was Tour de FAIR. Tour de FAIR was co-sponsored by the East Bay Bike Coalition and was an 11 mile ride, touring 6 of Berkeley’s 7 commerce districts, stopping at select stores (including the Global Exchange store on College Ave!) and restaurants where Fair Trade products are served/sold. About 20 cyclists spent three hours seeing Berkeley by bike, learning about Fair Trade and sampling Fair Trade coffee, chocolate, skin care products, tea, ice cream, quinoa, and visiting with Sonia, a Fair Trade jeweler, on tour from Peru. It was a great, great day!

You can see pictures of Tour de FAIR here.

Here’s more on the other two World Fair Trade Day events they held in Berkeley:

Berkeley kids hear about Fair Trade

The Fair Trade tour visited The Berkeley School, grades K-8th. Sonia, a visiting Fair Trade artist from Peru, demonstrated jewelry-making and spoke with the bi-lingual students about her life and work in Peru.

Fair Trade artisan demonstrates her craft at Berkeley HUB

Fair Trade Wine Down: The group celebrated, along with Sonia, at the Berkeley HUB’s weekly “wine down.”

 

SIGN PETITION: “FAIR CHOCOLATE AT PENN STATE”

There’s a new petition launched called Fair Chocolate at Penn State that is aimed at getting Pennsylvania State University to offer Fair Trade chocolate.
You can read and sign the petition here or here.

Even if you don’t go to Penn State, you can sign the petition to show your solidarity.

Here’s an excerpt from the Fair Chocolate at Penn State petition:

Penn State is a major purchaser of chocolate. If Penn State were to switch to buying fairly made chocolate, more farmers in the developing world will be free from modern day slavery and be guaranteed a fair price for their labor. The undersigned agree to purchase fairly made chocolate as it is available on campus.

We request that Penn State:

  • Commit to buying slavery-free chocolate
  • Prioritize companies that are doing more toward tracking the welfare of cocoa farmers
  • Making slavery-free practices a priority when picking new candy vendors

The signature goal is 10,000 and they’ve got a long way to go, so take 1 minute to sign your name. (I did and it literally took me 58 seconds, I timed it.)

Sign the Fair Chocolate at Penn State petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/fair-chocolate-at-penn-state/

FREE POWERPOINT ABOUT FAIR TRADE JUST UPDATED

Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) has updated its free PowerPoint show, Overview of Fair Trade in North America. Thousands of people download and use the show each year.

This PowerPoint presentation provides an introduction to Fair Trade in North America. The file is free to download and view. 39 slides are shown in an 8-minute show. Get your copy by visiting FTRN’s website.

REMINDER: HERSHEY RALLY IN NEW YORK CITY IS HAPPENING JUNE 8th

Spread the word about Raise the Bar Hershey Campaign’s upcoming rally in NYC’s Times Square, Wednesday June 8th at 10:30 AM.  Join folks in front of the Hershey Store and ask Hershey to make the switch to Fair Trade.

Who will be there: Local NYC social justice groups, students, schools and faith groups that care about this issue. Raise the Bar Hershey Campaign groups (Green America, Global Exchange, International Labor Rights Forum) and other allies will be there as well.

For more information about the rally visit: www.raisethebarhershey.org/rally.

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LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Article: Fairtrade sales in South Africa reach over R18 million
Statement: Novel Joint Statement Issued by FLO, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ
Blog Post: Does Fair Trade have a future?

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Check back here on our Fair Trade blog for more Fair Trade News Round-Ups…your one-stop shop for current Fair Trade news and events. And if you’ve got big Fair Trade news to share, email me!

Have you heard about Raise the Bar Hershey Campaign’s upcoming rally in NYC’s Times Square happening on Wednesday June 8th?

The purpose of this rally is clear; to encourage Hershey to go Fair Trade.

You are invited to join us at this rally in front of the Hershey Store and ask Hershey to make the switch to Fair Trade.

EVENT DETAILS

When: June 8 2011, 10:30am – 12:30pm
Where: In front of the Hershey Store in Times Square
1593 Broadway (Northwest corner of Broadway and 48th Street, Manhattan)

Who will be there: We are reaching out to local NYC social justice groups, students, schools and faith groups that care about this issue. Raise the Bar Hershey Campaign groups (Green America, Global Exchange, International Labor Rights Forum) and our other allies will be there as well.

For up to date info about the rally visit www.raisethebarhershey.org/rally or contact info@raisethebarhershey.org.

To download the event flyer click here. (Great for printing out and sharing with others; 2 fliers per page)

Saturday Aug 14, 11am-4pm
Global Exchange Fair Trade Store
4018 24th Street @ Noe Street, San Francisco

Bring your kids out to the Global Exchange store in San Francisco to join in the making of a mural that follows “Fair Trade Chocolate’s Journey from Bean to Bar”.

A fun educational neighborhood activity to foster learning about Fair Trade and a time for parents to taste FREE Fair Trade Divine Chocolate!

The cocoa for Fair Trade Divine chocolate is grown in the southern regions of Ghana by a farmers’ co-operative called Kuapa Kokoo. Most Ghanaian cocoa is grown on small family farms, and is usually intercropped with other plants and trees, such as plantains, maize and spices.  Cocoa trees grow to between 12-15 meters high and produce blossoms which when pollinated turn into cocoa pods.  Each pod contains 40 seeds which become cocoa beans.  It takes one tree’s whole crop for the year to make three big bars of Divine.

To harvest the cocoa, the pods must be cut from the trees, split open and the slimy pulp containing the beans scraped out. The bitter cocoa bean is subsequently wrapped in plantain leaves to ferment and then dried under the sun.

The beans are then shipped to Europe where they are roasted, crushed, and ground into a rich cocoa butter.  The cocoa butter is combined in varying proportions with sugar and milk and stirred continuously over several days, then cooled and molded into the delicious chocolate bars we enjoy at home!

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Fair Trade Sun Dress by Mata Traders

Fair Trade Summer Dress Celebration & Iced Tea Tasting

Celebrate summer with Fair Trade sun dresses at all Global Exchange store locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, Washington D.C. and Virginia!

Saturday July 3, 11am-4pm
Come enjoy a cool glass of free Fair Trade iced tea while you check out our full line of Fair Trade sun dresses. 100% cotton, colorful, block printed dresses handmade in India.

All of our Fair Trade clothing and accessories are handmade by members of women’s cooperatives and artisan groups. Livable wages, good working conditions, no assembly line factory production – that’s what you’re getting when you shop Global Exchange.

Our summer dresses are made with care by members of two women’s cooperatives in India that employ over 600 economically disadvantaged artisans.

  • Both groups are democratically structured organizations that provide benefits including childcare, annual medical checkups, overtime pay, and retirement plans.
  • Artisan members come from rural, tribal, and urban slum areas and have little or no work skills when they join the cooperatives.
  • The production process is completely managed by the cooperative members, and many become socially and politically active in their larger communities.

Perfect for July 4th barbecues! Let’s celebrate together what independence means to our Fair Trade producer groups!