Good News for Fair Trade

What's new in Fair Trade and where is it going? From recent news it seems that Fair Trade is growing and expanding to include more and more common products.

First, check out this article about how Fair Trade is expanding: "Why Fair Trade Imports Rise Even As Buyers Shun Other Eco-Friendly Products." The article explains that Fair Trade products have experienced rapid growth in imports since Fair Trade USA first began certifying coffee in 1998, leading to the expansion of the market and inclusion of more products from sugar to soccer balls (see below for more new products). The author speculates that the environmental protection aspect is not alone responsible for growth, but that people are mostly flocking to fairly traded goods because of personal stories and feeling connected to the producer.

Fair Trade Towns cites the following stats about the growth of fairly traded goods in the United States:

• Fair Trade sales increased 10% in the U.S. between 2007 and 2008 while, nationally, retail sales declined over 13%. Stable market growth in Fair Trade is attributed to socially and environmentally conscious consumers that consistently purchase in line with their values.
• Fair Trade accounted for $3.2 billion in sales in U.S. in 2007 (a 48% increase from 2006).
• Fair Trade comprises the fastest growing segment of the coffee industry.
• Originating in the 1940s, Fair Trade is not a passing trend, but a steadily growing market segment.

(from: http://www.fairtradetownsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2010/11/ftt_toolkit_final.pdf_)

Here are some new Fair Trade products benefiting from the growth:

Gold

Check out this story from Fair Trade Resource Network: "Fair Trade Gold Limited but now Available in U.S." In the article, author Larry Bohlen explains how gold is becoming the latest fairly traded product in the U.S. with several jewelry companies beginning to use the product, which promises better social and environmental conditions for gold producers.

For more, see this article from Abu Dhabi's English newspaper, The National, about the rise of fashionable fairly traded gold jewelry: "Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold."

Vodka

Yes, that's right, you can now fair trade your happy hour. The world's first Fair Trade spirit company FAIR, started by two Frenchmen, introduced a fairly traded vodka made from quinoa grown in Bolivia. The company also has two other unique and fairly traded spirits. According to the website, there are even four places in the Portland area to buy the products. Cheers!

Some more information:

• A good overview.
• An in-depth look at the history of fair trade Vodka and the story of the maker.
• A fun blog article including a Fair Trade cocktail recipe. Yum!

Cosmetics

In 2008, articles started coming out about how Fair Trade was spreading to cosmetics. Companies from India to the United States are feeling the pressure to clean up their act and source ingredients responsibly. Especially with high levels of concern over the health impacts of cosmetics and the recent introduction of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 and the pressure of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, more and more companies are realizing that consumers want products that are safe to use and safe to produce.

To read more about Fair Trade cosmetics, check out this article. And this one from Redbook, about one writer's personal encounter with Fair Trade cosmetics - specifically look for Aveda's Uruku makeup line. The article lists a few other companies beginning to use Fair Trade ingredients too.

Around the world: An article from India about the fairly traded cosmetics market there and one about shea nut gatherers in Burkina Faso.

And finally, a local option... Portland-made SOLGAIA BAR

SOLGAIA BAR is a brand new granola bar made by Dana in Portland. Her philosophy is to make every aspect of her product as healthy for people and the environment as possible, so from the ingredients to the packaging to the (solar-powered) website, you can feel secure about everything about SOLGAIA BAR. Sarah picked one of these up at a coffee shop in southeast Portland. Check out the SOLGAIA BAR website for a list of all the places you can find them.

Good news for producers and consumers everywhere! The more fairly traded products that are available the closer consumers can be connected with where their products come from and be sure the producers are valued and treated with respect.

Purkal Youth Development Society

Purkal Youth Development Society is one of the organizations AWAZ Voice for Empowerment works with in India. We are so excited about what they do we wanted to share a recent update with you!

Purkal’s mission is to “enrich the lives of poor rural youth through education, and empower women through skill development, whilst at the same time preserve the beautiful Himalayan environment and local cultural traditions.” They do this through four main education programs, for pre-school children, school-age children, young adults and recent graduates, and adults. The society was started by the Swamy couple tutoring out of their home and has grown to this excellent education program diligently working to eradicate poverty and ignorance in their village.

Purkal also houses another of our partners, Stree Shakti that makes many of the purses we sell (see their products here).

However, Purkal's education program is truly exceptional. They operate a Learning Center that not only has classes and mentoring, but has a holistic focus and incorporates nutrition, fitness and health care into its offerings. They exclusively help the poor thereby focusing their resources on those who need them most, even including transportation and scholarships to private schools to truly improve the access to quality education.

In April, Purkal announced a new a relationship with their village. Traditionally, Purkal has been only open to the poorest in the community, but the village requested their education program be open to all students in the village for a fee, in exchange for a lease on 6,000 square feet of new property. Now Purkal has the opportunity to expand its education program and help many more students. They anticipate three or four more students each year to be accepted under this new program.

The Purkal Youth Development Society has truly harnessed the reality that education is the best road to lasting individual and community development, and they are applying this understanding with lasting benefits for more than 300 young people in their community. AWAZ is so glad to help with this empowering work and is excited about the new direction!

To donate to the Purkal Youth Development Society, visit http://www.purkal.org/donatenow.html. On the site you can choose to sponsor a year of a child’s:

• Food for $200
• Education for $489
• All needs for $730
• Or even an entire class of 21 for $19,550
• They have many other donation options with a variety of costs, including funding a meal for as little as $85

Visit their website for information about this great organization http://www.purkal.org/.

Northwest Fair Trade Coalition Discusses Economic Justice

Last night, the Northwest Fair Trade Coalition met to discuss future plans and events and how to build momentum for the fair trade movement in Portland. We were especially lucky to have guests from Jubilee Oregon and Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH) with us. Jubilee is a global debt relief movement and OATH mobilizes Oregonians to eradicate human trafficking in the state.

Some may wonder what these two seemingly different organizations would be doing at a meeting about the fair trade movement. However, as the meeting began, the conversation drifted to the broad issue each organization exists to address: economic injustice.

More and more we see the value of working together with like minded organizations to bring awareness to global economic justice issues on a large scale here in Portland.

All organizations present have recognized the inequality in the global economic system and are making efforts to change it. Fair trade groups such as AWAZ and Equal Exchange are working at the grassroots level – incorporating justice throughout the supply chain, starting from the bottom up at the level of individual purchases and improving the way those purchases impact producers.

Jubilee Oregon is working on the macro level, by focusing on relieving the unjust debt of impoverished nations. The debt that is often caused by corrupt governments, usurious interest rates and unfair requirements and systems are not allowing countries to be independent and take care of the needs of their people, keeping them endlessly in poverty without food, clean water and education, much less infrastructure.

Then there are organizations like OATH. OATH is dealing with the reality that economic injustice creates. When these impoverished nations have so little recourse and so few opportunities for advancement, the people’s desperation can create a powerful slavery. At its root, much of human trafficking is caused by severe poverty that traffickers take advantage of.

Creating partnerships like these, between social, justice, fair trade and other organizations will help grow not just a movement but a whole new global social system that empowers communities to be economically secure and culturally strong, thereby accomplishing justice and the goals of each organization.

We at AWAZ are excited to have these new partners on board and are grateful for the insights and wisdom they have already contributed. We look forward to our future working together.

To learn more about Jubilee and debt relief, visit http://www.jubileeusa.org/truth-about-debt/why-drop-the-debt.html for clear and compelling information.

OATH has an excellent explanation of human trafficking locally and globally and what Oregonians can do about it: http://www.mcso.us/public/human_trafficking/what_is.asp. Be sure to take their pledge on the home page too.

VOTE BY THE END OF TODAY TO HELP US WIN A PHOTO CONTEST!!

Fair Trade Resource Network is hosting a photo contest and you can vote for AWAZ to win!

Fair Trade Resource Network is a space to grow the fair trade movement through information and networking. They have a great site with tons of information and events -- http://www.fairtraderesource.org.

Right now, FTRN is hosting a photo contest and the top 12 of the 70+ fair trade photos entered will win a spot in the FTRN calendar! We have entered a photo Sarah took in India of one of the women who has turned her life around using Sadhna and their fair trade production.

The contest ends today, July 16 so make sure you visit http://www.fairtraderesource.org/link-up/photo-contest/ to vote. Thanks!

The Aurora Sunday Farmer’s Market is on at the Aurora Movement and Healing Arts Yoga Studio!!

AWAZ and other local food, art and craft vendors participated in the first day of the Aurora Sunday Farmer’s market July 3rd that took place in the parking lot of 3^rd and Main at Aurora Movement and Healing Arts Yoga Studio from 11-3.

Tasty foods and fair trade gifts were offered from local vendors that included Squirley Jane’s Hazelnut Butter and AWAZ Voice for Empowerment, and great organic produce was brought in by Galin-Flory Farms.

The weather was perfect for the first day market, as more people gathered throughout the day to explore what was happening in their neighborhood.

Aurora local, Jimmy Essien, and partner Monica Rudestam, opened up the new yoga studio last year, shortly after I moved to Canby in 2010. They’re experienced practitioners of yoga, Qigong, acupuncture, massage, Chinese medicine and other alternative healing and I was excited to see them move into town to inspire healthy living and community in one of Oregon’s cutest rural towns. I’ve enjoyed the pleasures of rural living over the last few years and thanks to the studio, have met many lovely, down to earth people from all walks of life to enjoy with.

Aurora is known as the antique capital of Oregon, well known for housing some of the greatest antique treasures from the days and families of the Oregon Trail. As a popular National Historic District, Aurora offers a unique story that you will want to experience! Settled in 1856 by a group of Christians who followed their leader Dr. William Keil from Missouri over the Oregon Trail, they formed the only successful 19^th century utopian community in the West.

The area blends utopian ideals with family farms to create an eclectic community filled with the young and old that is attracting a lot of young families. The area is home to Joni Harms, a well known local country singer, one of the biggest Oktoberfest parties located in Mt. Angel and an amazing Dhalia Farm in Canby.

The great antique shops, u-pick farms, St. Joseph’s winery, new yoga studio and Gluten Free Bakery, the White Rabbit, make Aurora an exiting tourist destination for those wanting to escape from the big city for the day.

The Aurora Farmer’s Market will be there every Sunday, all summer long from 11-3 – so come check out this cute little town and start with us!

I will try to make it to the market most Sundays, so if you’re coming to check out our amazing collection of eco-friendly and sustainable goods, just mail me in advance to confirm I’ll be there that weekend!

AWAZ Intern Reflects on Cooperatives in Central America

This summer, I am interning for AWAZ Voice for Empowerment, and I recently had the opportunity to see firsthand how important Sarah’s work in Fair Trade is. With about 20 other students, I spent two weeks in Nicaragua and El Salvador as part of a travel seminar focused on human rights, social change, sustainable development and environmental justice issues. We met with a whole gamut of organizations and individuals, including political parties, faith groups, environmental organizations, agricultural and textile cooperatives and many more. The theme that kept coming up in almost all our meetings was how important women’s involvement is in community development.

The more I research environmental and social issues, the more I realize solutions to sustainable community development relies heavily on strong women. From Central America to India, it is incredible the improvements a whole community can realize when women get involved. Believe me, the men in the villages we met with were working very hard too, but what made these communities special was that they valued each member and the contributions he or she can make. When asked why they were successful where other communities were not, community leaders unfailingly credited organization and individual commitment to the whole. Each member needs to be involved and utilized to his or her best ability regardless of gender or age.

As I was down there, I couldn’t help but make connections to AWAZ and what Sarah is doing here and in India. As she has said, our everyday purchases for things we need like food and clothing are fueling systems of exploitation, oppression and degradation. Nowhere was this clearer than when we learned

about the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the extremely negative impact it has had on small farmers. Huge U.S. subsidies to a small number of corporate farms allow for mass production of cheap food. The trade agreement then makes it easy for these corporations to flood Central American markets with cheap food, and local farmers, who are not supported by huge subsidies, cannot compete and essentially lose their traditional livelihood. One speaker clarified the issue: cheaper food doesn’t matter if you do not have any money. But we also saw communities that have been able to build schools for their children, join together to buy and maintain land for organic coffee production, create and support businesses that sell woven and sewn goods, and feed and keep healthy their neediest members.

But these communities are still struggling. It is still difficult to get by, many are paying off loans, others still go without food to buy books for school, and vagaries in the market and world economy are making some people question the expense of organic and fair trade certifications. To me, this shows that here in the United States we need to redouble our efforts to support community movements by changing the way we do business with our neighbors around the world to more sustainable systems for everyone. We need to demonstrate a marketable need for fair trade organic coffee that allows a co-op member in Nicaragua to send her children to school and keep the land healthy enough for them to farm in the future. We need to show companies and governments that we want laws, policies and systems that create quality, healthy, sustainable products made by producers who are treated with value and respect.

So this is why I was so excited to come back, even though I had a great time traveling. I knew that this summer, working with AWAZ, Sarah and my work would support women in India that are working together to create happier, healthier futures for themselves and their children. AWAZ’s partner groups demonstrate how powerful women can be for change when they organize together.

Maria Louzon's Journey to a Fair Trade University

Maria Louzon at University Maryland, College Park epitomizes the college Fair Trade activist. She organizes a Fair Trade awareness event on campus at least once a month and right now is in the midst of a campaign to bring Alta Gracia, a Fair Trade collegiate apparel brand, to the student body. She's also been involved in an ongoing Drop Daycon campaign to put pressure on her university to stop sourcing from one of the countries top suppliers of sanitation and cleaning products because of their poor labor practices. It's amazing what a group of small dedicated minds can do!

I was reminded of my Fair Trade activism during university when I stumbled upon her work, so I rang her up to hear more about her story and get ideas for ways to bring that energy to universities here in Portland. The fire of young people is needed to help mobilize awareness of the Fair Trade movement in Portland!

Maria's Fair Trade Discovery

Maria first heard about Fair Trade at 16, when she attended a social justice immersion trip through the Archdiocese of Baltimore. She experienced poverty, lived meagerly for a week and saw firsthand the struggles of women and families in her community. Her sheltered upbringing at an all girls private Catholic High School hadn’t prepared her for the injustice she saw happening all around. A talk from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) about Fair Trade and the exploitation of workers in international trade was the turning point that made her want to stand up and advocate for the movement.

“I began to form my own definition of what social justice was and I didn’t understand why Fair Trade hadn’t been universally adopted earlier,” she added.

She announced her commitment statement at the end of the week to advocate for Fair Trade and raise awareness in schools and churches by organizing Fundraiser Coffee and Chocolate Sales.

Maria started organizing sales at her church and as interest grew, began her search for a socially responsible university to enroll in. After a trial period at John Carroll University, she settled at the University of Maryland. At John Carroll, she had an internship with CRS to promote Fair Trade on campus At the University of Maryland, she has worked to promote Fair Trade through the support of the Catholic Student Center.

Now, she’s the Northeast and MidAtlantic Regional Coordinator for United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) and is helping to lead the Fair Trade University campaign. The University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh became America's first Fair Trade University back in 2008 and since then USFT has been working with a coalition of grassroots leaders in the US Fair Trade movement to launch a larger campaign across the country.

Since then, Western Kentucky University, UC San Diego and Siena College in New York have joined Oshkosh as America's first official Fair Trade Universities.

As a sophomore at the University of Maryland, Maria got her university started by forming a Fair Trade group and applying for a grant to host Fair Trade Fundraiser Sales. This year, they organized a large marketplace on Earth Day in partnership with many student groups, Fair Trade organizations and businesses who sent them products, donated Fair Trade samples and supported the event. Proceeds from the sales are donated to the DC Central Kitchen, a local non profit that provides meals to homeless and hungry.

She’s formed partnerships with other like minded student organizations and helped bring kids out of the wood work who are taking interest in the Fair Trade movement.

Her ultimate goal with the Fair Trade University campaign is getting universities to adopt a socially responsible contracting policy statewide.

Fair Trade University in Portland?

It’s a grand one, we think, and AWAZ would love to see a similar movement here in Oregon. Oregon is well-known for being one of the most progressive and sustainable cities, but we’re really lacking on the social justice home front. Portland has one of the highest rates of sex trafficking, homelessness and many seasonal immigrants working in poor conditions on corporate farms like Tyson, not to mention the number of name brand companies headquartered here known for sweatshop production. It’s really time to start talking Buy Local, Eco-friendly AND Fair Trade in the same conversation!

We mobilized the Northwest Fair Trade Coalition that we formed in Portland last year to start a Fair Trade Towns campaign, but this requires a large effort with support from many partners. With the formation of a university student group, we could work together and support eachother in solidarity and resources to make a larger impact.

AWAZ is calling upon students at Portland's universities to take action! If anyone is interested in inviting us for a talk or to discuss more, we'd love to work with you!

Contact Sarah at sarah@voiceforempowerment.com

Criteria for becoming a Fair Trade University:

1. Form a Fair Trade Committee
2. Make Fair Trade products available in university-owned/operated outlets as well as included in service contracts wherever possible
3. Use Fair Trade products at internal university meetings, events hosted by the university and in university offices
4. Develop a Fair Trade Resolution and Fair Trade Procurement Policy
5. Commit to Fair Trade education, awareness-raising and growth of the Fair Trade campaign

http://www.fairtradetownsusa.org/why/universities/