Dear Fair Traders,
Start off your holiday shopping on the right foot by taking our ?Fair Trade
Challenge? - buy all of your holiday gifts from fair trade sources! This
will make the holidays a time of joy for producers as well as those for whom
you buy gifts, and you'll feel better, too! Below you will find a a Fair
Trade Holiday Gift & Action Guide, a union retail guide, and a list of Fair
Trade and Globalization-related books/resources that would make great gifts.
Thanks for your support for Fair Trade!
Melissa, Valerie, and Deborah
1. FAIR TRADE GIFT AND ACTION GUIDE: Find fair trade goods and take action
year-round
2. UNION RETAIL GUIDE: Support fair labor and wage standards in the US
3. BOOKS & RESOURCES: Give the gift of awareness and activism on Fair Trade
& Globalization
2. GLOBAL EXCHANGE FAIR TRADE GIFT AND ACTION GUIDE
With the holidays coming up, many of us will be buying gifts for friends and
loved ones. As people who are concerned about people all over the world, we
may find ourselves wondering how to make sure we spend our dollars
ethically, and ensure that the gifts we give benefit those who made them as
well as those who receive them. Thankfully, lots of great purchasing
alternatives exist, such as Fair Trade coffee and chocolate, and fairly
traded goods from around the world.
This holiday season, take the ?Fair Trade Challenge? - buy ALL of your
holiday gifts from Fair Trade sources! To make the biggest Fair Trade
impact, take a few more steps to set up a group/organizational fair trade
sale and get involved in Fair Trade campaigns to keep the spirit of fairness
alive throughout the year! Read on to find out why Fair Trade is so
important, where to find fair trade goods, and how to get involved in Fair
Trade action.
WHY BUY Fair Trade Certified and fairly traded?
Millions of coffee farmers are facing severe poverty, hunger, and loss of
their farms as a result of a price crash in the global coffee market. Due
to insufficient cocoa prices, many cocoa farmers have found it necessary to
have their own children work instead of going to school and some have even
resorted to using child slaves. Producers of tea and other commodities face
similar hardships, unable to make ends meet with the income received through
sales in the "free" market. As corporations expand their operations across
borders, we have seen a race to the bottom for labor and wage guidelines.
Workers in developing nations are facing rapidly worsening poverty while
large transnational corporations pull in increased profits at their expense.
Solutions to these problems are available. Fair Trade Certified products
such as coffee, chocolate, cocoa, and tea guarantee producers a minimum
price per pound and access to credit, support sustainable production, and
prohibit abusive child labor and forced labor. Fair Trade Certified, marked
with a special label and the words ?Fair Trade Certified," offer farmers
economic security and hope for the future. It is also becoming easier to
find clothing, crafts, and other goods derived through fair labor and wage
conditions. Fair trade stores and on-line retailers are growing in number
each year, while union-made clothing is also becoming more widely available.
This holiday season, and thereafter, give fair trade and show how much you
care for our global community!
WHERE TO BUY Fair Trade Certified and fairly traded
€ Fair Trade coffee, chocolate, cocoa, and tea: The perfect treat fpr
everyone on your list!
Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org)
TransFairUSA (www.fairtradecertified.org)
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (www.fairtrade.net)
[listings for countries outside of the US]
€ Fairly traded crafts, household goods, clothing and other goods: Fun,
functional, and fair!
Co-op America (www.coopamerica.org)
Fair Trade Federation (www.fairtradefederation.org)
Fair Trade Resource Network (www.fairtraderesource.org)
SERRV (www.serrv.org)
10,000 Villages (www.tenthousandvillages.com)
Int?l Federation for Alternative Trade (www.ifat.org) [International
listings]
No Sweat "Union Mall": One-stop shopping for union-made goods in the USA
(www.NoSweatShop.com)
TAKE ACTION for Fair Trade
€ Organize a Fair Trade gift sale!
SERRV has fairly-traded crafts, coffee, & chocolate for organizational/group
sales (www.serrv.org)
CRISPAZ has fairly-traded crafts for organizational/group sales
(www.crispaz.org)
Many Fair Trade coffee and chocolate companies offer wholesale prices for
organizational/group sales. (www.globalexchange.org/cocoa and
www.globalexchange.org/coffee "Where to Buy")
Other companies may also offer wholesale prices for organizational/group
sales. Check the websites listed under ?where to buy.?
€ Link up with Fair Trade campaigns
Global Exchange: Coffee, Chocolate/cocoa, FTAA/WTO and more
www.globalexchange.org/cocoa
www.globalexchange.org/coffee
fairtrade@globalexchange.org, 415-575-5538
Fair Trade Resource Network
www.fairtraderesource.org
info@fairtraderesource.org
Oxfam America
www.oxfamamerica.org
Oxfam International
www.oxfam.org
2. UNION RETAIL GUIDE: The Union label is the best guarantee of fair labor
and wage standards in the USA.
No Sweat "Union Mall" and No Sweat Apparel
www.NoSweatShop.com, http://www.nosweatapparel.com
No Sweat's new "Union Mall" offers one-stop on-line shopping for clothing
(t-shirts, fashion athletic wear, sweats, hoodies, denim jackets, scarves,
hats, and more) and other items such as books from a variety of unionized
shops and companies.
SweatX
http://sweatx.net/
L.A.s first union cut and sew shop. Wholesale T-shirts and retail items.
Diamond Cut Jeans http://www.diamondcutjeans.com
"The last union made jeans in America, all cotton, all union."
Union Threads
http://www.unionthreads.com
Union made decorated work wear.
3. BOOKS & RESOURCES: Give the gift of awareness and activism on Fair Trade
& Globalization
Global Exchange K-12 Fair Trade Chocolate education materials.
Global Exchange has coloring/activity books for grades K-2, 3-6, and a
JrHigh/High School Education & Action Guide. These materials teach kids
about child labor and exploitation in the cocoa industry and help them take
positive action in support of Fair Trade. These materials can be sent via
mail for a suggested donation of $5 each, or downloaded free at
www.globalexchange.org/cocoa. To request a hardcopy by mail, contact
Melissa Schweisguth, melissa@globalexchange.org, 415-575-5538.
Allof the following available at www.globalexchange.org/store
COCOA/CHOCOLATE, COFFEE & FAIR TRADE
The Conscious Consumer: Promoting Economic Justice Through Fair Trade.
Fair Trade Resource Network. 2000.
A 22-page overview of the North American Fair Trade movement.
NEW!! Harvest of Hope: Life in the Kuapa Kokoo Cocoa Cooperative in Ghana
Phil Grout. 2003.
With beautiful color photos spread throughout the story, this book gives a
glimpse of the daily life of farming and trading cocoa in West Africa.
The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry. From Crop to the Last Drop.
Gregory Dicum & Nina Luttinger. 2000 (196 p).
This engaging, informative book is full of facts, figures, cartoons, and
commentary, covering coffee from its first use in Ethiopia in the 6th
century to the rise of Starbucks and other specialty retailers in the 1990s.
It tells how international trade and speculation that can make or break
entire national economies, considers the exploitation tied to mass
cultivation, and explores the growing Fair Trade movement. ($14.95)
Coffee With Pleasure: Just Java and World Trade. Laure Waridel, Foreword by
Maude Barlow. 2001 (173 p).
Using coffee as an example, this book shows how our current trading system
perpetuates poverty and injustice, and explains how the Fair Trade system
breaks the cycle of exploitation and environmental destruction. ($21.99)
A Cafecito Story. Story by Julia Alvarez, Illustrations by Belkis Ramírez.
2001 (58 p).
Fictional/semi-autobiographical story by famed writer Julia Alvarez shows
how Fair Trade impacts coffee farmers and coffee drinkers. This book tells
the complex tale of a social beverage that bridges nations and unites people
in trade, words, birds, and love. ($14.95)
Santiago's Story. TransFair USA. 1999 (16 min). Accompanying discussion
guide by Global Exchange.
A rich, uplifting documentary about Fair Trade and the dramatic changes it
has brought to the lives of a Nicaraguan coffee farmer and his family. It is
the story of over 500,000 small farmers around the world who have turned to
Fair Trade for a decent wage. A powerful tool for education, this film shows
the tremendous impact we can have in the lives of people like Santiago when
we choose to buy Fair Trade coffee. ($15)
The Strength of the Indigenous People of Mut Vitz: Producing Fair Trade
Organic Coffee in the Highlands of Chiapas. Produced by The Mut Vitz Coffee
Cooperative with the Chiapas Media Project. 2000 (Tzotzil and Spanish,
with English subtitles, 27min).
This documentary looks the organic coffee farmers of the Mut Vitz Coffee
Collective in Chiapas, Mexico. Over a year in the making (by two members of
the collective), this film traces the entire Fair Trade/Organic coffee
production process: from seedling to transplant, from cultivation to the
roasted bean. The film shows the challenges the collective faces in
processing their coffee for market and their achievements through Fair
Trade. ($25)
FAIR TRADE CRAFTS
Artisans and Cooperatives: Developing Alternative Trade for the Global
Economy. Eds. Kimberly M. Grimes & B. Lynne Milgram. 2000 (208 p).
Bringing together case studies from the Americas and Asia, this collection
addresses the interplay between craft production and the global market. It
contributes to current debates on economic inequality by offering practical
examples of relevant political, economic, and cultural issues. ($19.95)
FAIR TRADE & THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
No Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade. Ed. David Ransom. 2001 (144 p).
Fair Trade primer that offers chapters on NAFTA, Fair Trade coffee,
chocolate, and bananas, blue jeans, where to buy Fair Trade goods, and more.
($10)
The No Nonsense Guide to Globalization. 2001 (144 p).
This book traces the journey towards a 'borderless' world and shows how the
promise of globalization is seductive, powerful - and ultimately hollow.
Chapters include a history of globalization, the Bretton Woods Trio, debt
and structural adjustment, corporations, global economics, poverty,
environment, the market, and ideas for redesigning the global economy.
($10).
Views from the South: The Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third
World Countries. Martin Khor, Vandana Shiva, Walden Bello, Oronto Douglas,
Sara Larrain, & Anuradha Mittal, forward by Jerry Mander, ed. Sarah
Anderson. 1999 (100 p).
A comprehensive perspective on the WTO from some of the leading voices from
the South. The authors debunk the idea that global instruments benefit the
Third World or the poor, and show how the South in fact bears extra burdens
from the rules of trade. ($15)
CHILD LABOR
We Need to Go to School: Voices of the Rugmark Children. Complied by Tanya
Roberts-Davis
In their own words and drawings, Nepalese children talk about their early
years in poverty-stricken villages, their work as virtual slaves in carpet
factories in Kathmandu, and how they felt when they were given a chance to
attend school and pursue their dreams for the future. ($19.95)
ACTIVISM
Take It Personally. How to Make Conscious Choices to Change the World.
Anita Roddick. 2001 (256 p).
>From the protests in Seattle to the perseverance of people like Julia
Butterfly Hill and Vandana Shiva, we're seeing a growing resistance to
globalization and its negative effects. Anita Roddick presents here a
vibrant collection of photographs, essays, montages, and quoted on the
driving issues behind globalization from impassioned writers and activist
organizations. This is the definitive handbook for anyone who wants to learn
about the issues and make informed choices. ($24.95)
Global Uprising: Confronting the Tyrannies of the 21st Century ‹ Stories
from a New Generation of Activists. Neva Welton and Linda Wolf. 2001 (273
p).
In a world of mounting turmoil and violence, understanding the sources of
increasing discontent at a global level is a great need. Global Uprising
gives voice to more than 60 activists who are all standing up against this
violence, from groups such as Art & Revolution, Bat Shalom, Circle of Life
Foundation, Earth Rights International, Global Exchange, Global Youth
Connect, Heads up Afrique, JustAct, Ruckus Society, Third Eye Movement,
United Students Against Sweatshops, Youth for Environmental Sanity, and
more. ($19.95)
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Global Exchange Fair Trade & Economic Rights Campaigns
fairtrade@globalexchange.org
415.255.7296
415.255.7498 fax
2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110
http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee
http://www.globalexchange.org/cocoa
Global Exchange is a non-profit research, education, and action center
working for political, economic, environmental, and social justice on a
global scale. We work to increase international awareness among the U.S.
public emphasizing struggles for peace, justice, and equality while building
meaningful international partnerships. Our organization also promotes fair
trade with worldwide cooperatives and small producers and strives to create
a more fair and just U.S foreign policy.
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