UPDATE: La Mesa Fair Trade Resolution

During the past few months we have been bringing you news of the ongoing campaign to make La Mesa a Fair Trade Town. The campaign continues and is learning weekly from the process. At the urging of some city council members, perhaps too soon, La Mesa Fair Trade got itself on the agenda for the October 11th city council meeting to vote on passage of a council resolution in support of Fair Trade Town status. Despite strong support from two council members, other city council members were not yet ready to support passage of the resolution.


Fair Trade Proponents at La Mesa City Council Meeting

Even though the vote before the La Mesa City Council did not result in the passage of a Fair Trade Town resolution, La Mesa Fair Trade and Fair Trade San Diego are further energized to continue our efforts of working in partnership with La Mesa City Council to pass a resolution in support of La Mesa being declared a Fair Trade Town as well to continue our broader efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of Fair Trade certified products.

Since October 11th, the La Mesa Fair Trade steering committee has been meeting one on one with La Mesa city council members to further clarify what it means to pass a city resolution in favor of Fair Trade Town status.

In addition, committee members continue to meet with local merchants who currently sell Fair Trade products as well as those who are interested in beginning to do so.  As a result of the city council vote, the campaign received media attention from the East County Magazine, the La Mesa Patch and the Union Tribune. During October, Fair Trade San Diego was able to have a letter to the editor published in all three media outlets so as to let the community know that the efforts to make La Mesa a Fair Trade Town have not slowed.

According to Fair Trade Towns USA, "The Fair Trade Towns designation provides a platform for continued outreach and education to build the Fair Trade movement locally and deepen each community's commitment to international justice". Passing a city council resolution is one of the last stages in the process of becoming a Fair Trade Town and is a recognition of support for organizations such as La Mesa Fair Trade to promote consumption of Fair Trade certified products and educate on their impact. A city council resolution is not an endorsement of any particular local business.

Links to read letters to editor:

http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/fair-trade

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/7682

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/25/mortgage-reform-plan-global-warming-organ-donation/

Planning a Fair Trade Halloween?

Fair Trade minis from www.Coco-Zen.com

If the horrors of child slavery that riddle the cocoa industry spook you year round, then Halloween must be a truly frightful time of year for you!  You don’t feel right about giving out chocolate involving child labor to little trick-or-treaters, but hiding out in the bedroom on the night of the 31st with all the house lights out  to avoid the situation doesn’t seem much better.

To avoid this dilemma, you might want to take a few pointers from www.ShopToStopSlavery.com about planning ahead to find Fair Trade candy for those cute little goblins that will be haunting your doorstep in a couple weeks.  YOU STILL HAVE TIME!  They have a few great recommendations.

"Let me start by telling you that the key to a fair trade Halloween is to prepare well in advance. In fact, now is the time. You cannot simply choose at the very last minute to do a fair trade Halloween because you will not find fun-sized chocolate and individually wrapped fair trade candy at a reasonable price.

However, don’t fear. The solution is literally at your fingertips. Shop online at www.coco-zen.com, www.naturalcandystore.com, or www.sweetearthchocolates.com now and place your order in time to have your fair trade Halloween candy for trick or treating or for the fall festival you are planning. Choosing to offer a slave free option at Halloween is a great way to spread awareness about fair trade."

October is Fair Trade Month!

This October is the 8th annual Fair Trade Month in the United States. Fair Trade month was started by Fair Trade USA, Fair Trade Federation and Fair Trade Resource Network to raise awareness of the positive impact purchasing fair trade products has. The main reasons why fair trade is important, is the opportunities it offers to producers (mainly in developing countries) to earn a sustainable wage and invest in the social development of their communities while decreasing the environmental harm caused by other production methods.

Generally throughout the month, fair trade and ethically minded consumers and  fair trade vendors join forces to celebrate and promote Fair Trade. Numerous education events, and other product focused activities proliferate during the month to help increase awareness and sales of Fair Trade Certified products, with the end goal of improved livelihoods for farmers and workers in developing countries.

One of the biggest events that takes place during Fair Trade Month is Reverse Trick or Treating, headed by San Francisco based Global Exchange. Instead of the usual Halloween routine, tables are turned and trick-or-treaters will be handing Fair Trade chocolate back to adults, with informational cards attached, to explain the problems of the cocoa industry and how Fair Trade presents a solution. To participate, order your FREE kit by the upcoming deadline of Oct 17th!

Just launched this month by Fair Trade USA, the US certifier for fair trade importers, is the Fair Trade Finder which is the first-of-its-kind crowd-sourced directory that lets you find, add, tag and photograph Fair Trade Certified products wherever you are. The new “Fair Trade Finder” Facebook and mobile (iPhone and Android) application is FREE and can be downloaded at Android and iTunes. We hope you will join Fair Trade San Diego in raising local awareness for fair trade by adding your favorite San Diego fair trade hot spots.

Also don’t forget to stop by this Sunday, October 16th at the La Mesa Fair Trade Gift Faire at St Martin of Tours Catholic Church at 7710 El Cajon Blvd, La Mesa between 8am and 1pm to celebrate local fair trade vendors and continue the celebration of Fair Trade Month here in San Diego.