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Monthly Archives: December 2008

Palestinians to Sell First Fair Trade Product

December 29, 2008
- buzzle.com Guardian News & Media

Fair trade olive oil will hit the shops in 2009, while the occupied territories see economic growth and a drop in unemployment. The glimmers of an economic revival for Palestinians will grow early next year with the launch of their first fair trade product.

Fair trade olive oil will hit the shops in 2009 as tourist numbers in Bethlehem reach their highest levels for a decade. Israeli and Palestinian officials report economic growth for the occupied territories of 4-5% and a drop in the unemployment rate of at least three percentage points. (more…)

Posted in Business Blog, International News Comments (0)

Fair Trade wine now available in US stores

December 24, 2008
- bostonherald.com Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. - Coffee, tea or … fair trade wine?

TransFair USA, the Oakland-based group that has certified everything from coffee and tea to bananas and flowers as being ethically produced, now is putting its seal on wines from Chile, Argentina and South Africa.

The wines - which are available nationwide this month at grocers and liquor stores nationwide, including Whole Foods Market [WFMI] and Sam’s Club - are a first for U.S. consumers. (more…)

Posted in Business Blog Comments (0)

Scotland could become Fairtrade trailblazer in 2009

December 23, 2008
- news.stv.tv stv.tv

Green Party chief Robin Harper has called on Scottish Ministers to buy ethically traded products.

Scotland could be a Fairtrade nation by next Christmas if the Scottish Government and other bodies acted, it has been claimed

Green MSP Robin Harper urged all public bodies to consider buying Fairtrade products when making purchases. (more…)

Posted in Activism Blog, International News Comments (0)

Ballston Spa supports Fair Trade effort

December 10, 2008
- Schenectady Gazette, NY Stephen Williams

If you get a cup of joe or pot of tea here, the village wants the people who picked the coffee beans or tea leaves thousands of miles away to have gotten a fair deal.

The Village Board is backing a campaign to declare Ballston Spa a “Fair Trade Town” by the standards of the international Fair Trade Towns movement.

“I think it’s truly the right thing to do. The principles and concepts of fair trade are admirable,” said Mayor John P. Romano. (more…)

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San Rafael mom creates safe and fair-trade baby goods

December 9, 2008
- Marin Independent-Journal, CA Nancy Isles Nation

Hillary Sciarillo is a young San Rafael mother whose business is making a difference in the lives of hundreds of women on the other side of the globe.

Her three-year-old enterprise, Yellow Label Kids, is a line of toys, clothing, accessories and party supplies that has been growing quickly with sales of as much as $200,000 anticipated for 2008.

All of the items she sells - in retail stores, online and by catalog - are made by women from two collectives in Bangladesh. Sciarillo designs all of the concepts and has patterns made and sent to the organizations. (more…)

Posted in Business Blog, Fair Trade Making a Difference Comments (0)

In the business of fair trade

December 9, 2008
- Petaluma Argus Courier, CA Cheyenne Kent

In Lebanon, Noelle Marshall says people are warm and giving, that front doors are always open and children can go off on their own for several towns over. She takes these childhood principles and pours it into her new store, Petaluma’s first exclusively fair trade establishment. (more…)

Posted in Fair Trade Making a Difference Comments (1)

World record of the World’s Largest Fairtrade Coffee Break to Finland

December 9, 2008
- Fairtrade Finland

Finland broke the record for the World’s Largest Fairtrade Coffee Break on 21.10.2008 between 2 - 3 pm. The aim was to collect more than 50 000 participants and break the record set by Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns USA: 12 158 participants in the United States in May 2008. The population of Finland is merely 5.3 million people but Finland easily broke the record with 52 061 people enjoying Fairtrade products. The event was the launch and main event of Fairtrade Weeks 2008. (more…)

Posted in International News Comments (0)

Green, fair trade gifts grow more popular this holiday season

December 8, 2008
- Chicago Tribune Ann Meyer

Forget slashing prices. What picky shoppers want this holiday season are gifts with meaning.

So merchants are scouting for items that are environmentally or socially responsible, whether that means produced locally, often with recycled material, or made in accordance with fair trade standards, which require that workers are paid a living wage in safe conditions.
(more…)

Posted in Fair Trade Making a Difference, Media Headlines Comments (2)

From natural fibers to fair-trade

December 5, 2008
- New Mexico Business Weekly, NM Carrie Seidman

All good things must come to an end.

At least, that’s how Melinda Rand Kenefic was feeling two years ago when she saw a precipitous drop in sales at Celebro, the Nob Hill clothing store she and her husband, George Kenefic, opened in 1991.

The business, which featured natural fiber clothing — originally for larger-sized women, and later, for men and children — had steadily been producing about $375,000 in annual revenue for more than a decade. Equally important to Rand Kenefic, the loyal consumers who frequented the shop had become “a sort of support group,” one that shared everything from births and divorces to job changes, she says. (more…)

Posted in Business Blog, Fair Trade Making a Difference Comments (0)

El Cerrito man helps coffee farmers blossom

December 1, 2008
- San Francisco Chronicle Freda Moon

El Cerrito resident Paul Rice stands at the edge of a dirt road, overlooking the volcanic peaks and adobe homes of this small Nicaraguan town near the border with Honduras.

“Twenty years ago, on this road - at this time of day, at this time of year - I would be worrying right now. You wouldn’t want to be here,” Rice said.

Rice arrived in Nicaragua in 1983 at a time when the U.S.-sponsored Contra war (1981-1988) was raging against the leftist government of the National Sandinista Liberation Front. A 23-year-old college graduate, he came to study land reform and cooperative organizations in the northern city of Chinandega. (more…)

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