The other week, I was prepping my Fair Trade mudpie recipe and realized I needed more Fair Trade sugar. It took me visits to three different grocery stores to actually spot that Fair Trade label on the pack of sugar. That’s what I get for not stopping at Rainbow Grocery first. It made me realize that while the Fair Trade movement is making lots of great progress like Ben and Jerry’s announcing earlier this year to go 100% Fair Trade by 2013 and TransFair USA’s ever-growing list of Fair Trade Certified products, there is still a need to get those products in more grocery stores around the country.
Well, action can be taken by you and I to make sure this happens. Global Exchange’s Fair Trade campaign recently partnered with Green America in an effort to Fair Trade Your Supermarket.
There are many actions that you can take to Fair Trade Your Supermarket. First, take stock of Fair Trade products in your supermarket—look for coffee, tea, chocolate, rice, sugar, honey, wine, fresh fruit, and olive oil. If you find Fair Trade options, buy them and thank the store for offering them. Then, you can encourage the store to stock more Fair Trade products by talking to the store manager as a loyal customer, providing comment cards to your local store and the national headquarters. …. Whatever actions you take, make sure you let the store know that Fair Trade is good for business and good for people the world over. The next time you are grocery shopping, try these simple actions to use your purchasing power for good!
The actions provided include:
- Filling our comment cards
- Talking to the store manager in person
- Leaving a message on the shelves and
- Giving out samples.
I really like the idea of leaving messages on the shelves because it targets the consumers directly to make a 
decision to go Fair Trade while they are mid-purchase, or just educates consumers that are unaware of Fair Trade products that can be made available. The Fair Trade Your Supermarket campaign has some great postcards that are shelf-ready for you to download. I know I’m ready with the postcards already.
Don’t forget to take photos of the actions you have taken and share them with the campaign. Be sure to check out the photostream of others who have already joined the campaign to Fair Trade their supermarket.
Join the campaign by asking for Fair Trade in your supermarket, choosing Fair Trade when you shop in order to support sustainable and just trade worldwide.
(photo: Fair Trade Your Supermarket)
