Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition

Dedicated to raising awareness and building demand for Fair Trade in the Bay Area.
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6.24.2010

Ben and Jerry's Celebrates Fair Trade Ice Cream in San Francisco



The Ben and Jerry’s What’s Inside Tour hit San Francisco last week, bringing free ice cream to happy recipients at Justin Herman Plaza, Union Square, and Golden Gate Park. The nationwide tour, which stayed in San Francisco from June 17-20, has aimed to celebrate and publicize Ben and Jerry’s Fair Trade Certified flavors and the company’s commitment to converting all of their ice cream to 100% Fair Trade Certified status by 2013. This conversion will benefit producers of ice cream ingredients like coffee, cocoa, vanilla, and sugar.

Volunteers at the ice cream giveaway events saw large crowds (it’s hard to resist free ice cream, especially Ben and Jerry’s ice cream) and distributed information on Fair Trade to the people who lined up for ice cream. One brochure included both facts about Ben and Jerry’s Fair Trade practices and a coupon for a reduced-price pint of ice cream, motivating passerby to take the brochure and sparking a dialogue on Fair Trade between volunteers and those in line. Many people could be heard discussing fair trade with their friends and asking questions like, “I’ve heard of Fair Trade, but what exactly does it mean?” In this way, the event proved to be a great way to get people talking about Fair Trade and learning about how it benefits farmers and workers.

While participants took advantage of opportunities to take free pictures with mock cows and partake in various games, the focus was definitely on the ice cream. Many people raved about its high quality, telling friends about the event and asking volunteers about Fair Trade flavors. One of the Fair Trade flavors on offer was Milk and Cookies, which uses Fair Trade Certified cocoa and vanilla and got positive reviews from almost everyone who tried it. Other Fair Trade Certified flavors include classics like chocolate, vanilla, and coffee, so make sure to look for the Fair Trade Certified label the next time you’re browsing the frozen foods aisle!

6.14.2010

The Ben & Jerry's What's Inside Tour Comes to San Francisco

The Ben & Jerry's What's Inside Tour is coming to San Francisco! What's that mean for you? Free Fair Trade Certified ice cream that supports family farms and gives back to the community.

Ben & Jerry's wants you to know what's inside their ice cream from cage free eggs, to Fair Trade Certified cocoa to dairy from family farms. And to tell their story they are going on a nation wide tour to spread the ice cream love with a big focus on visiting Fair Trade Towns like San Francisco.

Ben & Jerry's recently announced that they will be making all of the ingredients for all of their ice cream 100% Fair Trade Certified by 2013 and they are big supporters of the Fair Trade Towns USA campaign.

In fact, Ben and Jerry themselves stopped by the TransFair USA offices the other day to discuss how we can educate more people in the U.S. about what Fair Trade means and this event is a big part of how we are doing it!

Join the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition and the Ben & Jerry's What's Inside team for some free Fair Trade Certified ice cream at four locations in San Francisco from June 17-20.

Members of the San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley campaigns will be joining the Ben & Jerry's team to talk to afternoon shoppers about the benefits of Fair Trade for producers and how making a difference can be as delicious and easy as a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream!

We need volunteers! If you would like some free ice cream and to kick it with us on a sunny afternoon, please email Jamie Guzzi, jguzzi@transfairusa.org with your preferred location and availability.

Here's the scoop from Ben & Jerry's!
Ben & Jerry's What's Inside Tour
June 17-20 in San Francisco

We believe in using the power of our day-to-day business decisions to help drive positive change. One decision we make is how and where we buy our ingredients because we believe its what's inside that counts.

We want you to find out what's inside Ben & Jerry's so we are launching the "What's Inside Tour". Come join us and learn about how we work to make the best possible ice cream in the best way possible, & sample some FREE ice cream.

From supporting small family farms to going completely Fair Trade by 2013, we're taking our commitments (and our ice cream) on the road. Stop by any of these San Francisco events to learn more and sample free ice cream while supplies last!

June 17th & 18th @ Justin Herman Plaza
1 Market St
Noon - 3pm each day

June 19th @ Union Square
Geary St at Stockton St
Noon-3pm

June 20th @ Golden Gate Park
Bandshell/Fountain
Noon-3pm

To learn more, visit:
http://www.benjerry.com/activism/feature/whats-inside/

RSVP on Facebook and invite friends!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124409257593970&ref=mf

Learn more about What's Inside your pint of Ben & Jerry's at their fun and interactive website:

Click for more info.

Learn more about Ben & Jerry's commitment to Fair Trade and hear stories from their fair trade farmers here:

Click for more info.

Check out pictures of the tour from Fair Trade advocates in Boston!

Click to view the entire set.