Fair Trade Coalitions of America Unite & Take over!

Fair trade coalitions from all across the nation met for the 1st time on Monday, February 27 to discuss the future of a national Fair Trade Towns Campaign to unite the efforts of local coalitions.
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Members of Fair Trade Coalitions from Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, L.A., and San Diego. Also on the call were staff members of Oxfam and Transfair.

Action Items:

All Coalitions: Take time in the next monthly meeting to discuss what a Fair Trade Town looks like in your city. Come up with a definition, using the UK definition as a basis, and consider the difficulties highlghted below.
All Coalitions: As you consider FT towns in greater depth, contact Shayna with what types of things you'd like to learn from the UK study that will take place soon. SHarris@oxfamamerica.org
Greg: Send out San Francisco's "1st crack" at defining FT town standards for SF.
Scott: Setup Yahoo Group and send instructions to Greg Burton for how to join.
Greg: Send out SF outreach form, so other groups can benefit from our Fair Trade Cafe Crawl method.

Fair Trade Towns Guide:
For the guide that Galstang wrote to help other cities with their campaigns, go here:
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/downloads/pdf/fairtrade-towns.pdf

Fair Trade Success at Green Earth!

Green Earth has just received their first shipment of Fair Trade rice, coffee, and tea, a direct result of our outreach campaigns linking owners with distributors of Fair Trade products. The outreach to Green Earth contained all of the steps of our outreach goals:

1) Educate the owner about what Fair Trade products exist. I got Transfair to answer his questions and doubts directly by being the info link between the certifier and the retailer.

2) Bring him the info that facilitates the process of ordering the products. I gave the owner the contact info of Mathieu at Alter-Eco so that he could order rice. Mathieu followed up by visiting the store with samples of rice, tea, and coffee, all of which the owner decided to carry.

3) After owner stocks FT products, bring him shelf talkers, etc. to help him market FT to his customers. I have taken stickers, pamphlets, shelf talkers, and posters to the store. Alter-Eco has ordered a giant end-display which will be installed within a few weeks. As a coalition, we also featured Green Earth and asked everyone to go there to show our support.

Fair Trade Cafe Crawl-Polk

Cafe crawl participants (6 total): Greg Burton, Kelley Buhles, Jean Walsh, Lindsay Buhles, Jen Afdahl, Andy Blue

Summary: We broke into two groups of three people, and we reached 17 cafes, stores and restaurants. Our intentions were:
--To give cafes with FT products promotional materials for their windows and counter-tops.
--To give info packets to cafes who were unaware of FT
--To get followup information of managers.

Crawling through a neighborhood like Russian Hill was a good reality check. We saw that there is still a need for basic awareness in most places. For example, of the 17 places we approached and spoke with, only 5 had even heard of Fair Trade. The rest of the people were dumbfounded and often thought we were trying to sell something. By contrast, in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood, 13/20 places had heard of Fair Trade.

Due to the fact that basic awareness is the most common necessity of an outreach, we should focus more on delivering a simple message to retailers rather than huge packets of articles and statistics. In most cases, the introductory brochure was the most useful. When we met retailers who had Fair Trade products, the more pragmatic marketing materials were useful.

A major challenge to address in future meetings: the language barrier that inhibits our ability to outreach to a large number of retailers. When a person is not comfortable with English, the become very cagey and intimidated, often agitated.

We all agree that the effectiveness of these outreaches depends upon the followup. As part of this, we now collect email addresses from every place that we visit (if available), and we record the context of the first visit, so that the followup visit is well-informed.

Grains of Change: Fair Trade Rice in Southeast Asia

30 people attended the Fair Trade rice tasting at Ritual Coffee Roasters on January 19, as everyone crammed into a tiny area at the back of the cafe to hear Ellen Roggemann speak about her experiences on a rice farm in Thailand. Most people heard about the event through "word of mouth", while others read our posting on Craigslist or were just attracted to the crowd of people at the back of the cafe. This event was the first in a series of educational events that the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition is planning. The next speaker is still undetermined, so if you have input, write to Greg at gburton@gmail.com

CEO takes notice of Fair Trade!

As you know from my last email, I wrote directly to the CEO of my company to suggest that we provide Fair Trade coffee in all of our buildings. He responded with a lot of interest, and gave me a lot of power to work with our Facilities department. I followed up with several people, showing that there were indeed Fair Trade options available and that they were the exact same price as our current coffees! Specifically, we needed coffee in the K-cup format used in Keurig instant coffee machines, and luckily Green Mountain Coffee Roasters offered several Fair Trade blends in that format ( http://www.keurig.com).

Several days ago, I went to the breakroom, and there were two Green Mountain Fair Trade blends there! I quickly put together table tents to place above the Fair Trade options in each of the breakrooms, as well as a little sign saying that the company "offers Fair Trade Certified coffee, a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable choice."

There are other formats of coffee in the company that are still being evaulated. There are small bags of ground coffee that are used in regular percolators. Someone in Facilities called me and said that Starbucks will be offering a Fair Trade blend in that format early in 2006. At that time, they will order some of those, provided that cost is not prohibitive.

I received the following email from Facilities, and I want to get people's opinion about the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia (Juan Valdez). This is supposedly an organization that protects producer-rights, although I don't know a lot about it.

EMAIL TO ME

Hello Greg,

We asked our coffee vendor to look into sources for fair trade coffee that could be used in the office brewers. So far, we have found one blend that they stock for the Keurig machines. It is a Sumatra blend and we are having some distributed to locations throughout the campus this week. We have had less success finding fair trade blends for the larger pot brewers. We do serve Starbucks in the café which meets the Fair Trade specification.* Until we find an alternative, I have instructed the vendor to specify blends that are members of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

X

*It actually isn't Fair Trade certified. There is confusion about Starbucks being certified as a "FT certified company", as opposed to having only a single FT blend.

Fair Trade Cafe Crawl-Haight

Our Fair Trade Café Crawl on Saturday, November 19th
was a smashing success!! We visited over 35 cafes in the Haight!
One team chatted with cafe owners and tasted lots of delicious Fair Trade coffee. The other team hit up tons of grocery stores, cafes, and restaurants. We were happy to see lots of places already carried Fair Trade products. Sometimes they didn't even know it.
We had three wonderful new people show up who were awarded Fair Trade chocolate bars.
Thanks to everyone who came out!

Our meeting with Fatima- A member of a FT Cooperative

On October 18 the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition hosted an informal dinner at La Corneta in the Mission with Fatima Espinoza from the Nicaraguan Fair Trade coffee cooperative, Sopexxca. The evening offereda great opportunity to learn more about producer cooperatives, women'sempowerment projects, coffee quality upgrading, and challenges andopportunities in the Fair Trade movement.

Who is the BAFTC?

The Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition is a group of consumers, students, non-profits, Fair Trade businesses, activists and community members working together to raise awareness and build demand for Fair Trade in the Bay Area. We hope to make San Francisco the first Fair Trade Town in the US!

We welcome everyone – whether you’re new to Fair Trade and want to learn more, or a seasoned Fair Trade pro. Come join us!

The Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition is currently working on the following:

Working with City Hall on Fair Trade legislation
Outreach to local businesses to scout FT availability and encourage them to offer FT products
General tabling at local grassroots events and festivals
Fair Trade educational events

What is Fair Trade?

What is Fair Trade Certified?

· The Fair Trade Certified™ label is the only guarantee to consumers that farmers in developing countries were paid a fair price for their product, enabling a better life for their families and investment into the quality of their products.

· Following the success of Certified Organic, Fair Trade Certification (FTC) empowers consumers by enabling them to choose products that align with their values. This surging consumer movement shows no sign of slowing and will become the next mainstream sustainable grocery option.

· The FTC system began in Europe 17 years ago and has expanded into 20 consumer and 60 producer countries to become internationally recognized as the largest, most rigorous social certification system in the world.

Fair Trade Overview

Fair Trade is an innovative, market-based approach to sustainable development. Fair Trade helps family farmers in developing countries to gain direct access to international markets, as well as to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. By learning how to market their own harvests, Fair Trade farmers are able to bootstrap their own businesses and receive a fair price for their products. This leads to higher family living standards, thriving communities and more sustainable farming practices. Fair Trade empowers farming families to take care of themselves - without developing dependency on foreign aid.

The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees:

A fair price

The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their product. The Fair Trade price means that farmers can feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.

Quality products

By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. The Fair Trade producers' traditional artisanal farming methods result in exceptional products.

Care for the environment

Most Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and chocolate in the US is certified organic and shade grown. This means that the products you buy maintain biodiversity, provide shelter for migratory birds and help reduce global warming.

For more information about criteria for Fair Trade see the Business Case for Fair Trade or visit
www.Fairtradecertified.org

Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us at:

bayareafairtradecoalition@gmail.com

Where to Buy Fair Trade

The following is a list of places that offer Fair Trade products in the Bay Area.
This list is in need of updates so please, if you know of any additions or changes email us at bayareafairtradecoalition@gmail.com.

Now go buy Fair Trade!!

Hayes Valley

Restaurants
Jardiniere: 300 Grove St. 415-861-5555 www.jardiniere.com, Coffee/Tea
Millenium: 246 McAllister St. 415-345-3900 millenniumrestaurant.com
Ananda Fuara: 1298 Market St. 415-621-1994, Coffee

Stores
Yoga Tree: 519 Hayes St. 415-626-9707

SoMa

Restaurants
Acme Chophouse: (at Ball Park) 24 Willie Mays Pl. 415-644-0240 http://www.acmechophouse.com/

Grocery Stores
Trader Joe's: 555 9th St. 415 863-1292 www.traderjoes.com, Coffee/Tea/Cocoa
Rainbow Grocery: 1745 Folsom St 415-863-0620 www.rainbowgrocery.org Coffee/Tea/Choc./Bananas /Sugar/Rice
Whole Foods Market: 399 4th St. 415-618-0066 wholefoodsmarket.com

Stores
The San Francisco Chocolate Factory: 286 12th Street 888-732-4626 www.sfchocolate.com
California Academy of Sciences Store: 875 Howard Street 415-321-8201

Cafes
Cafe Macondo: 3159 16th St. 415-431-7516
Capricorn Coffees: 353 Tenth St. 800-541-0758 or 415-621-8500
http://www.capricorncoffees/.

Downtown

Grocery Stores
Whole Foods: 1765 California St. 415-674-0500 wholefoodsmarket.com

Stores
Book Passage:1 Ferry Plaza, #46 415-835-1020

Cafes
Quetzal Internet Cafe: 1234 Polk St 415-673-4181, Coffee/Tea
Java City: Four Embarcadero Center 415-986-8688
NaS Coffee: 101 Spear St. 415-777-4627

Lower Haight

Grocery Stores
Golden Produce: 172 Church St. 415-431-1536, Coffee/Tea/Choc./Bananas
Whole Foods Co: 501 Haight St. 415-552-6077, Tea/Choc.

Cafes
Bean There: 201 Steiner 415-255-8855
Café Du Soleil: 200 Fillmore St. 415-934-8637 Coffee
The Grind: 783 Haight Street 415-864-0955

Haight Ashbury

Grocery Stores
Fresh Organics: 1001 Stanyan St. 415-564-2800, Coffee/Choc.
Haight Street Market: 1530 Haight Street, Coffee/Tea/Choc.
Haight Street General and Natural Foods: 1621 Haight St.
415-487-1540, Coffee/Tea/Choc.

Stores
Body Time:1465 Haight St. 415-551-1070

Cafes
Coffee to the People: 1206 Masonic & Haight 415-626-2435 http://www.coffeetothepeople.com/ Coffee/Tea/Choc.
People’s Café: 1419 Haight Street 415-553-8842, Coffee
Rockin Java: 1821 Haight St 415-831-8842
Starbucks: 1799 Fulton 415-474-8930, Coffee

Cole Valley

Grocery Stores
Alpha Market: 960 C0le St. 415 564 8910, Coffee
Cole Foods: 815 Cole St. 415 664 5300, Coffee/Tea/Choc.

Cafes:
Reverie: 848 C0le St. 415 242 0200 Coffee

Upper Panhandle

Grocery Stores
Green Earth: 860 Divisadero St. (at McAllister) 415 922 6418 Coffee/Tea/Choc./Rice/Sugar
Health Haven Produce and Natural Food: 621 Divisadero (at Grove) 415 351 1267
Coffee/Tea/Choc.

Cafes
Café Organica: 562 Central Ave. (at Grove St.) http://cafe-organica.com
Central Coffee Tea & Spice: 1696 Hayes St. 415 922 2008, Coffee

Mission/Bernal Heights

Restaurants
Cafe Gratitude: 2400 Harrison St. 415-824-4652

Grocery Stores
Good Life Grocery: 448 Cortland Ave 415 648 3221, Coffee
Valencia Whole Foods: 999 Valencia 415 285 0231, Coffee/Tea/Bananas/Chocolate
26th and Guerrero Market: 1400 Guerrero St. 415 282 6274, Coffee/Tea/Ice Cream/Cocoa Powder

Stores
Casa Bonampak: 3331 24th Street 415 642-4079 or 415 642-0699 http://www.casabonampak.com Clothing and Gifts
Global Exchange Fair Trade Store: 110 Capp St. 415 553 4411

Cafes
Mission Pie: 2901 Mission St. @ 25th 415 282 4Pie
Ritual Coffee Roasters: 1026 Valencia St. 415 641 1024
Cafe La Boheme: 3318 24th St. 415 643 0481, Coffee
Cresendo Café: 233 14th Street
Dolores Park Café: 501 Dolores St @ 18th 415 621-2936
Tartine: 600 Guerrero St. 415 487 2600
Little Spot Cafe : 1199 S Van Ness Ave 415 550-1800
Philz Coffee: 3101 24th St. 415 282 9155
Nervous Dog Coffee: 3438 Mission St. 415-282-4364
Sundance Coffee: 3000 24th St. 415-824-1706

Castro/Noe Valley

Grocery Stores
Harvest Market, Inc: 2285 Market 415 626 0805
Real Food Co: 3939 24th St

Stores
Global Exchange : 4018 24th St. 415 648 8068

Cafes
The Castro Cheesery: 427 Castro St. 415 552 6676
Noe Valle Bakery: 4073 24th St. 415 550 1405
Ben & Jerry's: 451 Castro 415 252 8181
Diamond Corner Cafe : 751 Diamond Street 415 282 9551

Marina

Grocery Stores
Real Food Co: 3060 Fillmore St 415 567 6900 http://www.realfoodco.com/
Coffee/Tea/Chocolate

Pacific Heights

Grocery Stores
Mollie Stone's : 2435 California 415.567.4902

Russian Hill/Nob Hill

Grocery Stores
Trader Joe’s: 401 Bay St. 415 351-1013, Coffee/Tea/Chocolate
Real Food Co: 2140 Polk St 415 673 7420, Coffee/Tea/Chocolate

Cafes
The 11:11 Lounge: 1313 Polk 415 885 2652
Leland Tea Company: 1416 Bush St. info@lelandtea.com, Tea

Hotels
The Fairmont San Francisco: 950 Mason St. 415- 772-5000


No. Beach/Telegraph Hill

Grocery Stores
Nature Stop: 1336 Grant Ave. 415 398 3810, Coffee/Tea

Cafes
Caffe Sapore: 790 Lombard St. 415 474 1222

Twin Peaks/Glen Park

Restaurants
Pomelo's : 1793 Church 415 285 2257

Grocery Stores
Mollie Stone’s : 635 Portola Drive 415.664.1600

Cafes
Java City: 5214 Diamond Heights 415 285 6055

Potrero Hill

Grocery Stores
Good Life Grocery: 1524 20th Street 415 282 9204 Coffee

Cafes
Klein's Deli: 501 Connecticut 415 821 9149, Coffee

Richmond

Grocery Stores
Trader Joe's : 3 Masonic Ave 415 346 9964, Coffee/Tea/Chocolate
Fresh Organics: 5843 Geary Blvd 415 387 6367 or 800 669 3009
Coffee/Tea/Chocolate/Bananas

Cafes
NIBS: 3717 Balboa Street 415 379 6468, Coffee

Sunset

Grocery Stores
Other Avenues: 3930 Judah 415 661 7475
Coffee/Tea/Choc./Bananas
Andronico's: 1200 Irving St 415 753-0403

Cafes
The Beanery: 1307 9th Ave 415 661 1255
Arizmendi Bakery: 1331 9th Ave 415 566 3117

Bayview/Hunters Point

Stores
Zia Cosmetics: 1337 Evans Ave 415 642 8339

SFSU/City College

Cafes
Cafe 101: SFSU Student Center 415 338 3469
San Francisco Zoo: 1 Zoo Rd 415 753 7073
Ebbtide Cafe: 1500 South Van Ness Ave 415 643 4399

West Portal

Cafes
Java City: 53 West Portal 415 753 3130

EAST BAY

Alameda

Grocery Stores
Trader Joe's: 2217 S. Shore Center
510 769 5450

Berkeley

Grocery Stores
Andronico's: 1550 Shattuck Ave 510 841 7942
Andronico's: 1850 Solano Ave 510 524 1673
Andronico's: 1414 University Ave 510 548 7061
Andronico's: 2655 Telegraph Ave 510 845 1062
Berkeley Bowl: 2777 Shattuck Ave 510 843 6929
Berkeley Natural Grocery: 1336 Gilman 510 526 2456
Monterey Market: 1550 Hopkins Street
Whole Foods Market: 3000 Telegraph Ave 510 649 1333

Cafes
Au Coquelet Café: 2000 University Ave 510 845 0433
Bread Garden: 2912 Domingo Ave 510 548 3122
Café Fanny: 1603 San Pablo Ave 510 524 5447
Cheeseboard: 1512 Shattuck Ave 510 549 3183
Tomate Café: 2265 5th St 510 549 9885
Uncommon Grounds: 2813 Seventh St 510 644 4451

Restaurants
Downtown Restaurant: 2102 Shattuck Ave
Saul's Restaurant & Deli: 1475 Shattuck Ave 510 848 3354

Stores
Elephant Pharmacy: 1607 Shattuck Ave 510 549 9200
Global Exchange: 2840 College Ave 510 548 0370

El Cerrito

Grocery Stores
Natural Grocery: 10367 San Pablo
Trader Joe's: 225 El Cerrito Plz 510 524 7609

Emeryville

Grocery Stores
Trader Joe's: 5700 Christie Ave 510 658 8091

Cafes
Royal Café Inc.: 3306 Powell St 510 652 4256
Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting: 1455 64th Street 510 601 6674

Oakland

Grocery Stores
Rocky's Market: 1440 Leimert Blvd 510 531 6133
Farmer Joe's: 3501MacArthur Blvd 510 482 8178

Cafes
Café Diem: 2224 MacArthur Blvd 510 482 0299
City Cup:1259 Jefferson St 510 835 2100
Fountain Café: Oakland City Center 510 451 6400
Gaylord's Café Espresso: 4150 Piedmont Ave 510 658 2877
L'Amyx Tea Bar: 4179 Piedmont Ave 510 594 8322
Mojo's Coffee: 1768 Broadway 510 893 7202
Nomad Café: 6500 Shattuck Ave 510 595 5344
Oliveto Café: 5655 College Ave 510 547 4382
Peerless Coffee Company: 260 Oak St 1800 310 5662
Peet's Coffee and Tea: 3258 Lakeshore Ave 510 832 6761
Royal Café: 307 63 St 510 653 5458
Urban Blend Café: 333 Broadway 510 444 4648

Wholesalers

Alter Eco: 208 Pennsylvania Ave. #002 415 701 1212
http://www.altereco-usa.com/
Earl's Organics: 2101 Jerrold 415 824 8756
Capricorn Coffees: 353 Tenth St. 800 541 0758 or 415-621-8500
http://www.capricorncoffees.com/
Fresh Organics: 1980 1/2 Jerrold Ave 415 550 1001
De La Paz Coffee: 200 Guerrero St. #315 (415) 259 4562
http://www.delapazcoffee.com/blog/contact/

Starbucks - All Starbucks locations should carry Cafe Estima Blend which is Fair Trade Certified. Starbucks says it’ll French-press a cup of fair trade coffee for any customer who specifically asks for a fair trade cup.
Take the Starbucks challenge: http://greenlagirl.com/2006/05/01/starbucks-challenge-40/

Business Case for Fair Trade

Making the Business Case

What is Fair Trade Certified?

Fair Trade Certification (FTC) empowers consumers to choose products that align with their values. The label above signals that coffee, tea, chocolate, rice, sugar, and fruit farmers have received a fair price enabling a better life for farming families, investment into the quality of their products, and stronger environmental stewardship. Introduced to

the U.S. in 1998, FTC products can now be found in over 32,000 retailers consistently exceeding sales expectations due to their superior quality and rapidly growing demand for FTC products.

Fair Trade Market Growth in the US:

• Think the coffee market is flat? Think again. FTC coffee sales have grown an average of 72% per year since 1999. Compare this to 12% for organic and 3% for the coffee market overall.i
• FTC products can now be found in over 32,000 retail locations including: Kroger, Safeway, Albertson’s, Stop & Shop, Wild Oats, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, Costco, Sam’s Club, McDonalds and many more!
• 50% of those aware of FTC will purchase it. In 2004, 15% of U.S. consumers were aware of the FTC label—this is where organic awareness was just a few years ago.ii
• Tea, chocolate, rice, sugar, and fresh fruit are now being Fair Trade certified in response to coffee’s rapid success. The strong growth in these categories is closely following the rise of FTC coffee.
• 82 million media impressions last year with articles in The New York Times, Boston Globe, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and more!

Fair Trade Retail Promotions:

• Fair Trade Month in October is a national Fair Trade promotion involving thousands of retailers, manufacturers and Fair Trade supporters.
• In October 2005, retailers entered the Fair Trade Display Challenge for a chance to visit Fair Trade cooperatives in Costa Rica. Some retailers reported FTC product sales increases of over 500%!
• An entire suite of Fair Trade Certified point-of-purchase promotional material is available to retailers free of charge at FairTadeCertified.org. Fair Trade Certified TransFair USA 1611 Telegraph Ave, Suite 900 Oakland, CA 94612 Tel: 510.663.5260 www.FairTradeCertified.org

Fair Trade Success Stories:

• Wild Oats – Converted to 100% FTC coffee in 2002, increased prices by 10%. First year sales growth of 20%, second year 15%, leading to an expansion into all FTC products.
• Green Mountain Coffee Roasters – FTC outpaces overall company sales growth by 3:1 and wholesale customers who offer FTC are growing 20% faster than those who do not.
• Pret a Manger Cafes – Converted to 100% FTC coffee in 2004. First year sales growth 134% leading to expansion into FTC cocoa and tea.

Fair Trade Criteria:

Fair Price: Farmer groups are guaranteed a stable price for their products. Farmers invest the Fair Trade premiums in education, quality improvement, health-care, and business capacity building.

Fair and Safe Working Conditions: Forced labor and child labor are prohibited. Protective clothing and safe equipment are provided for workers. Fair Trade workers and farmers must join associations that are transparent and democratically controlled by their members.

Environmental Protection: The Fair Trade criteria prohibit genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a long list of dangerous pesticides that are ‘acceptable’ under EPA standards. Farmers must create and implement integrated crop management and environmental conservation plans. Also, the Fair Trade price structure provides a strong financial incentive and the necessary resources for organic conversion. This is why so many FTC products are also certified organic.

Facts about Fair Trade Certified Products:

• Coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, rice and sugar are now Fair Trade Certified for the US market.
• FTC products benefit over 1.1 million farmers and farm workers in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
• Since 1999, U.S. FTC product sales have generated $67 million in additional income to farmers in 25 countries.
• Grassroots consumer support! Hundreds of colleges and universities, churches, and community groups across the US have active Fair Trade campaigns and promotional programs.
• FTC products have won some of the food industry’s top quality awards including recognition from the Cup of Excellence, Ken Davids’ Coffee Review, Food & Wine Magazine, the American Culinary Institute, the Times of London, and Progressive Grocer Magazine.

Who is Behind the Label?

• TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the US.
• In the US, TransFair licenses and audits the transactions of over 400 manufacturers. Each quarter, this information is cross-checked with farm level invoices to make sure that the farmers received a fair price. Products that have met the rigorous Fair Trade standards are allowed to display the FTC label. TransFair also works with retailers, manufacturers, and Fair Trade consumer supporters to raise awareness for FTC products.

i Specialty Coffee Association, 2004

ii National Coffee Association, 2005

San Francisco Fair Trade Resolution

Resolution establishing City policy of maximizing purchase of Fair Trade Certified materials when procuring necessary goods for the City.

WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco annually spends hundreds of thousands of dollars purchasing food, apparel and other goods; and,
WHEREAS, San Francisco has a long history of supporting fair wages and safe and humane working conditions for employees of those entities providing services or selling products to the City; and,
WHEREAS, the City must be cognizant of the comprehensive labor conditions that may be supported by its actions as a major market participant, including fair wages, sustainable production practices and a work environment free from toxins; and,
WHEREAS, the City has recently established an ordinance sponsored by Supervisor Maxwell entitled the Precautionary Purchasing Ordinance (file number 050595, introduced April, 2005) that requires the City to purchase products that protect human health and the environment; and
WHEREAS, “Fair Trade” certification is an innovative, market-based system that encourages fair labor practices and a healthy and safe work environment by identifying food and beverage products that generate fair economic benefit to the producers of these products—often farmers in less developed countries; and
WHEREAS, sale of Fair Trade certified goods helps these small producers in developing countries gain direct access to international markets in order to increase living standards, economic independence, and encourage sustainable farming practices, and
WHEREAS, Fair Trade Certified products are widely available and competitively priced in the United States, available through over 300 providers of food products including those that provide coffee, tea, chocolate and fresh fruit; and,
WHEREAS, The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a Resolution proclaiming May 8, 2005 as Fair Trade Day in support of a global economic system based in fair trade, corporate responsibility, and socially responsible investment; therefore be it
RESOLVED, the City and County of San Francisco establishes a policy to maximize purchase of Fair Trade Certified products in the process of procuring necessary goods for the city, when these products are available and comparably priced to non-certified materials; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, the Department of Environment is requested to investigate current purchasing options for Fair Trade Certified goods and issue recommendations by December, 2005 that identify how the city can maximize purchase of competitively priced Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea, chocolate and other food products and potentially compel city contractors to provide such goods; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, based on these recommendations, the city will implement a process to maximize purchase of Fair Trade Certified goods, possibly through the procurement process established in the Precautionary Purchasing Ordinance or through a separate ordinance if appropriate.

Resources

Here are some resources on the internet for Fair Trade:

San Francisco Fair Trade Resolution:
http://bayareafairtradecoalition.blogspot.com/2006/02/san-francisco-fair-trade-resolution.html

Business Case for Fair Trade:
http://bayareafairtradecoalition.blogspot.com/2006/02/business-case-for-fair-trade.html

Fair Trade Labeling Organization:
http://www.fairtrade.net/sites/products/products.html

Fair Trade Federation
http://www.fairtradefederation.org/

Fair Trade Resource Network:
http://www.fairtraderesource.org/links.html

Alter Eco:
http://www.altereco-usa.com/main.php

World of Good:
www.worldofgood.org

TransfairUSA:
www.transfairusa.org

Engage:
http://www.engagetheworld.org/

Global Exchange:
http://www.globalexchange.org/

Oxfam America:
http://www.maketradefair.org/en/index.htm

United Students for Fair Trade
http://www.usft.org/

Interfaith Fair Trade Initiative
http://www.lwr.org/advocacy/tradejustice/ifti/index.asp

IFAT
http://www.ifat.org/

Green L.A. Girl
http://www.greenlagirl.com/

Coffee Resource and Action Guide for students:
http://www.usft.org/downloads/coffeeresourceguide.pdf

Green Restaurants:
http://www.thimmakka.org/Activities/GSAR.htm