Each year, FTRN assembles and disseminates tools for Fair Traders in communities around the country to use in organizing events to raise awareness about Fair Trade.  We will soon begin to post resources for 2008, so watch this space!   

WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY RESOURCES - 2007

Here you find ideas for activities you can undertake with your family, community, class, or business to celebrate Fair Trade in coming weeks – or the whole year round. And, no matter what activity you plan, use the tools in the toolbox to the left to help make your event a success.

Activities with children or in schools
Community activities
Activities for Fair Trade retail locations
Faith-based activities

Activities with Children or in Schools

In line with this year’s WFTD theme, “Kids Need Fair Trade,” there are many activities that can educate children and the community of adults around them about the benefits of fair trade.

• Enter the “Kids Need Fair Trade” Art Contest by May 15, 2007.
• Conduct a lesson on fair trade with your class, club, or troupe, using any of the following:
  • Catholic Relief Services’ 8 modules on Catholic Social Teaching and Fair Trade for grades 5-12.
  • Global Exchange’s Cocoa Activity Books for grades K-HS.
  • TransFair USA also offers a list of various curricula available online.
• Help your school, church or club to raise funds by selling fair trade goods, such as Divine Chocolate or Equal Exchange chocolate, coffees, & teas, or lobby your current fundraising supplier to sell fair trade items.
• Work to bring Fair Trade Uniforms to your school.
• Make sure all your sports teams play Fair Trade Sports.
• Help your students and children to access fair trade bananas from Oké USA.

Community Activities

Use these resources to raise fair trade awareness in your village, town, city, or university. Some activities are one-day events, which can take place in the weeks around May 12. Other activities are longer term and can be initiated on or around World Fair Trade Day. Consider ways in which to involve all generations in the fun.

• Work with the theme “Kids Need Fair Trade” and host a Global Trade Soccer Game, using Oxfam’s guidance for rules (pdf) and discussions.
• Host a Fair Trade discussion, using an excerpt from Jacqueline DeCarlo’s Fair Trade: A Beginner’s Guide, including discussion questions at the end of the chapter.
• Organize a fair trade bake sale or cook-off, accessing recipes from Divine Chocolate, Equal Exchange or Oké Bananas.
• Increase the number of fair trade products available in your supermarket, using the tools provided in Oxfam’s Check Out Fair Trade Toolkit .
• Launch a longer term fair trade campaign in your community, using the Fair Trade Futures Action Guide or Global Exchange’s complete Campaign Toolkit .
• Bring fair trade to your campus, with guidance from Lutheran World Relief’s Campus Campaign Guide, resources offered by Oxfam through its CHANGE Initiative, or numerous resources available from United Students for Fair Trade.
• Remember to patronize your local fair trade businesses and support their efforts to sell 100% fair trade products. Find Fair Trade businesses near you.

Activities for Fair Trade Retail Locations

If you run a fair trade business, order free WFTD posters and use them to publicize events at your location. Ideas for ways to commemorate the day in your store or workplace:

• Host a special sale or promote a new product line the weekend of May 12.
• Initiate a fair trade raffle, with offerings from your store/product line and other fair trade businesses near you.
• Initiate a postcard contest, using guidance from IFAT’s “Kids Need Fair Trade Manual”
• Refer your customers to other fair trade businesses in your area.

Faith-Based Activities

Faith-based communities have played a key role in fair trade’s growth in the US and often sponsor community activities such as those listed above. Resources listed here focus on the link between faith-based values and fair trade.

• Integrate fair trade into your Seder this year, with guidance from Global Exchange.
• Organize a sharing circle or teach-in about Fair Trade and Catholic Social Teaching (pdf) or FairTrade and Human Rights (pdf).
• Use your community’s newsletter or bulletin to educate about Fair Trade, using:
  • Catholic Relief Services’ “The Essentials” bulletin insert or other handy tools
  • Lutheran World Relief’s Coffee, Chocolate, or “Fair Trade Fair” bulletin inserts.

More Resources

To access even more resources, go to the resource pages of any of the following organizations:

Fair Trade Resource Network
Catholic Relief Services
Fair Trade Federation
Lutheran World Relief
Oxfam America
TransFair USA