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November 2009 |
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Fair
Trade Prepares for the
Holidays
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Madison FT Holiday Festival
Becomes Local Institution
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 One of the
largest FT one-stop
shopping events in the U.S. started back in 1997,
before FT was a mainstream buzzword. The festival has
become an institution in Madison, WI, and could be
easily replicated in other cities or Fair Trade Towns.
The organizer, Community Action on Latin America, has
attracted over 50 vendors for this year's December 5th
festival. Plans include continuing its experiment
to exhibit some domestic FT vendors. Check out more details. |
Fair Trade Pioneer Seeks
Major Changes in FT to Overcome Crisis in the
Movement
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 Frans Van
der Hoff, a long-time Fair Trade promoter and
practitioner, who is best known for co-founding FT
coffee in 1988, spoke publicly in September on CBC Radio
in Canada about a "crisis" in the FT movement. Van der
Hoff co-founded Max Havelaar (precursor to FLO
International) and worked as a Catholic priest. He still
farms FT coffee in Mexico. He plans to launch a new FT label,
as he and others are very concerned that large
corporations' interests threaten to undermine the reason
FT came to be in the first place: to empower and protect
small-scale farmers. Download the
interview ... (fast-forward to 10:35
min) |
1st
Annual Fair Trade Calendar Now
Shipping
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 In time for
the holiday gift season, the Fair Trade 2010 Calendar is
now reaching retail outlets and customers. Winners of the first FT Photo
Competition, along with every photo entry from FT
activists, businesses, and enthusiasts, can be seen in
the first FT Calendar, produced by Fair Trade Federation
and Fair Trade Resource Network.
The 2010
Fair Trade Calendar features beautiful images of FT
celebrations, crafts, college events, commodities,
producer groups, retail stores, wholesalers and more.
Facts, figures, action plans, and a list of FT
businesses also fill the 24 pages. Consistent with FT
values, the calendar was designed by a worker-owned
cooperative, and printed by a green, union print
shop.
This historic publication retails for
$14.95. Bulk rates are also available. Buy single or
bulk copies.
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New
FT Store Opens in
Phoenix
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 (Photo courtesy
of Branden Eastwood, The State
Press)
Fair Trade Store held its
grand opening recently in Phoenix, AZ, featuring
storytelling and poetry. The grand opening also
hosted middle-school volunteers to hand out flyers and
answer questions from customers about products and about
FT. This nonprofit retailer sells Fair Trade goods
from handcrafted jewelry to clothing and all proceeds
are donated to Las Otras Hermanas and Karuna Village,
two nonprofit organizations. Check out the full
article on the grand opening of Fair Trade
Store.
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FTRN
Happenings
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FTRN LINKS TO LARGEST ONLINE
FT SHOPPING SITE
While expanding our "Where to
Buy FT" page for the holiday season, FTRN added a link
to WorldofGood.com's FT shopping site. Check out the
hundreds of products and scores of categories on this starting
page.
PUBLICIZE YOUR FT BIZ
BY SPONSORING WFTD
Promote your FT business,
and help increase consumer awareness about FT, by
sponsoring the largest FT event in N. America: World
Fair Trade Day 2010. Early-bird rates of $3000 for
major sponsors, $750 for regular sponsors are valid thru
November 30th. Smaller, local businesses may find
it more worthwhile to participate in our Partner Program, to be
announced in January. Email us
for details.
END-OF-YEAR GIVING TO
SUPPORT FTRN
FTRN depends on generous
individuals and organizations to fund our FT education
programs. So, please consider donating to
FTRN in 2009 so we can co-host the FT Futures
Conference, offer a children's FT book and other
resources, and organize a strong World Fair Trade Day
campaign.
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Other Fair Trade
News |
UK INVESTING $20 MILLION IN
FT
The UK government recently announced plans
to help increase the # of farmers in Fair Trade,
increase the premiums returned to farmers, and expand
market access. Check out details.
REVERSE TRICK-OR-TREAT TO
REACH 250,000 HOMES
The Reverse
Trick-or-Treating program, coordinated by Global
Exchange, is expecting tens of thousands of children to
hand out FT chocolate and info cards to over a quarter
million homes in the U.S. and Canada. See more details.
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At FTRN, our
work is not done until Fair Trade is practiced in every
household.
Please make a
contribution today to help us continue to develop
the materials that are essential in effecting
people-powered change for Fair Trade. Donate by credit
card after clicking on the image below:
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