Justice-Gingerbread-houseHappy wintertime (just about),

In this Fair Trade Roundup, you’ll learn about actions you can take to encourage chocolate companies to go Fair Trade. Don’t forget the “News to Peruse” section towards the bottom to get caught up on the latest Fair Trade news from around the globe.

Happy New Year to you!

Roundup Sections:

  1. Featured Fair Trade Update: Green America Challenges Godiva to go Fair Trade
  2. Global Exchange Update: 2013 Highlights & What’s Next for 2014
  3. Fair Trade News to Peruse

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Cocoa beans Photo Credit: Green America

Cocoa beans Photo Credit: Green America

1) FEATURED FAIR TRADE UPDATE: Green America to Godiva: Protect cocoa workers and West African children by going Fair Trade
Green America is urging folks to sign a letter telling Godiva to go Fair Trade. Here’s more about this from Green America’s website:

One thing that hasn’t changed in recent years is Godiva’s failure to protect vulnerable workers at the beginning of its supply chain.  While other high-end chocolate companies use third-party certification to ensure that their products aren’t tainted with child slave labor and the exploitation of cocoa-producing communities, Godiva does not.  

The company insists that it requires its suppliers “to be in compliance with labor laws,” and donates some of its growing profits to organizations providing charitable work in cocoa-producing nations, but these efforts are no substitute for actually building a fair supply chain.  For this reason, we are urging Godiva to go Fair Trade.  No West African child should be forced to endure grueling cocoa-field labor for low or no pay so that American children can enjoy Godiva-coated Oreos.

What YOU can do:
Please sign Green America’s letter to Godiva telling them to go Fair Trade.

Color-in postcard to send to Ghirardelli's

Color-in postcard to send to Ghirardelli’s

2) GLOBAL EXCHANGE FAIR TRADE UPDATE: 2013 Highlights & What’s Next for 2014

In 1988, four friends co-founded Global Exchange to fight a worldview based on greed, domination, and unvarnished worship of power. We envisioned building a robust U.S. movement capable of creating change from the grassroots, powered by people-to-people ties. This year we celebrated our 25th anniversary, and we are proud to honor the dedication of people like you who have sweated and sacrificed to forge a working alternative from the ground up.

Your continued pressure on Hershey’s after it announced it would buy 100% certified sustainable cocoa by 2020 last fall, paid off, when it announced a third of its supply would be Fair Trade certified.

And you took that energy and continued to advocate for Fair Trade through October – Fair Trade month – taking action daily from our Fair Trade Your Halloween calendar. Then you also wrote to both World’s Finest Chocolate and Ghirardelli to urge both companies to go Fair Trade certified, and trust us, your voice is being heard.

Here’s what YOU can do next:

  1. To keep the pressure on Ghirardelli, download this color-in postcard to send to Ghirardelli’s CEO, Marty Thompson demanding the company let us know where its cocoa comes from and to make it Fair Trade.
  2. We’re proud of what we’ve done together. But to achieve the visions we set out all those years ago, we’re going to need your continued support. Please consider donating to Global Exchange so we can continue working to make trade fair.

Fair-Trade-News3) FAIR TRADE NEWS TO PERUSE

pointing-fingerTHE FAIR TRADE ROUNDUP AND YOU!

• Subscribe to our Fair Trade blog to receive new Fair Trade blog posts automatically.

• News to share? If you’ve got big Fair Trade news to share, email Tex Dworkin.

• Enjoy this Fair Trade Roundup? Then click the Like and Tweet buttons on the top right of this post to share with others. Thanks!!

Beilul protesting to end sweatshops June 2013 Photo Credit: Global Exchange

Beilul Naizghi protesting to end sweatshops June 2013 Photo Credit: Global Exchange

The following Fair Trade Roundup was written by Global Exchange Fair Trade Summer intern Beilul Naizghi.

This issue focuses on Global Exchange’s World’s Finest Campaign and reminding you to vote in the Fair Trade Resource Network’s photo contest, plus the vetted list of Fair Trade related articles below in the “News to Peruse” section.

Roundup Sections:

  1. Featured Fair Trade Updates
  2. Global Exchange Fair Trade Update
  3. Fair Trade News to Peruse

Fair-Trade-Calendar1. Featured Fair Trade Update:

You have one week left to vote in the Fair Trade Resource Center’s Photo Contest! The 12 winning photos will be featured in the 2014 Fair Trade Calendar, with the most voted photo on the cover. The contest ends Tuesday July 9.

WorldFinest_color-in450px2. Global Exchange Fair Trade Update: World’s Finest Campaign

For the past few years Global Exchange has been working with schools, churches and community groups from around the country to pressure World’s Finest to stay true to its fundraising legacy by purchasing at least five percent of its cocoa from fair trade cooperatives.

With an estimated annual sales of over $110 million, World’s Finest ranks among the eight largest chocolate companies in the U.S. and has sold nearly six billion bars. Meanwhile, approximately 66% of children working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast don’t attend school because they’re busy toiling in unsafe conditions.

If World’s Finest were to start buying Fair Trade cocoa, our hope is that more Fair Trade cocoa farmers would be able afford to send their children to school and pay adult workers instead of employing children.

What can you do? Help us send World’s Finest a message by signing this online petition urging World’s Finest Chocolate to go Fair Trade!

Fair-Trade-News3. Fair Trade News to Peruse:

THE FAIR TRADE ROUNDUP AND YOU!

• Subscribe to our Fair Trade blog to receive new Fair Trade blog posts automatically.

• News to share? If you’ve got big Fair Trade news to share, email Tex Dworkin.

• Enjoy this Fair Trade Roundup? Then click the Like and Tweet buttons on the top right of this post to share with others. Thanks!