Lead for Change Blog
Webinar: Fair Trade Towns & the UN’s Millennium Development Goals
February 20, 2013The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are coming to an end in 2015 – what lies ahead? The International Fair Trade Towns community will be advocating for Fair Trade to be incorporated into a Post-MDG framework as a way to reform international trade to benefit farmers and workers around the world. Join Fair […]
International Fair Trade Towns Conference – A Global Affair
December 13, 2012By: Courtney Lang, National Organizer – Fair Trade Towns USA It’s hard to know when you’re in Boston, MA or Teaneck, NJ that there are tens of thousands of Fair Trade Town organizers across the globe. As of December 2012, there are 1,227 declared Fair Trade Towns in 24 countries and 6 continents. Imagine if […]
Who is Fair for Life?
December 12, 2012How many of you have enjoyed a delicious Equal Exchange chocolate bar, or woken up to a refreshing Guiyaki Yerba Mate? Have you noticed the Fair for Life label presented to you on their packaging? Through this guest blog post, Fair Trade Towns hopes to clarify who Fair for Life is and the key features […]
Post Conference Challenge – Win Free Stuff!!
November 5, 2012Thank you everyone who came to the conference, you brought incredible energy and enthusiasm. For those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to attend, take heart; we will be posting reflections, resources and various documents from the conference in the coming weeks. Meanwhile please participate in our Post Conference Challenge! We want to head out […]
Proudly Presenting: Go Bananas for Fair Trade!
September 13, 2012Let the National Celebration for Fair Trade Bananas Begin Did you now that bananas are the world’s most popular fruit? The Go Bananas for Fair Trade web page and toolkit will help you identify where Fair Trade bananas are available in your community and, if not, how to build the strategic relationships and consumer […]
Campaign Spotlight: Winter Park, Florida
August 24, 2012Guest Blogger: Jennifer Shroeder, Co-Manager at Ten Thousand Villages-Winter Park and Steering Committee Member with Fair Trade Winter Park Here is a blog post from the small, but mighty team in Winter Park/Orlando, Florida. Winter Park recently became the 27th Fair Trade Town in the USA and here you’ll discover their path to becoming […]
Campaign Spotlight: Pasadena, California
July 26, 2012Fair Trade Pasadena turned 2 years old in January 2012, where the movement has continued to gain momentum in the historic city bordering downtown Los Angeles. The fervor for Fair Trade is not new to Pasadena. Several years ago many organizations and religious groups, along with several enthusiastic city officials, united to help open a Ten Thousand Villages store on Lake Street, the center of a busy shopping market. The stage was set to become a Fair Trade Town.
Registration Open: Fair Trade Campaigns Conference
July 24, 2012When: Friday – Sunday, October 26 – 28, 2012 Where: Chicago, IL Register here for the Fair Trade Campaigns Conference! Join us for the second Fair Trade Campaigns National Conference this Fall! The conference will bring together leaders and organizers from Fair Trade Towns and Fair Trade Colleges & Universities campaigns at all stages, […]
RECORDING: Answering Difficult Questions Webinar
July 18, 2012On July 10, Fair Trade Towns USA hosted a webinar called Answering Difficult Questions in Your Community. With the help of two of our National Steering Committee and local lead organizers, Joan Harper (Fair Trade Los Angeles) and Ryan McDonnell (Fair Trade Boston), this webinar helped to bring clarity to the challenges and issues […]
Go Bananas for Fair Trade this October!
July 12, 2012Take The Challenge We need you to build consumer demand for Fair Trade bananas in your community! Take the Go Bananas Challenge from noon on October 13 to noon on October 21 by organizing Fair Trade banana themed events. Campaigns will submit photos and/or number of bananas eaten at their event(s) to win cool prizes. […]
Save the Date: National Conference
July 10, 2012Save the Date: National Conference Friday – Sunday, October 26 – 28, 2012 Chicago, IL To bring together Fair Trade enthusiasts from across the nation, Fair Trade Towns & Colleges/ Universities will be organizing the 2nd annual National Conference in Chicago on the weekend of October 26-28. The 3-day gathering will focus on […]
Campaign Spotlight: La Mesa, California
June 5, 2012The Fair Trade movement is gaining momentum in La Mesa and throughout San Diego County, thanks to the La Mesa Fair Trade Town steering committee. The word is spreading that, simply by our consumer choices, we can make a difference for the environment, the marginalized and local businesses.
RECORDING: Strategic Planning Webinar
March 22, 2012Fair Trade Towns USA produced its first webinar of the year last night on Strategic Planning and the audio/video recording is now available! Follow this link to access the webinar recording Follow this link for a copy of the Power Point Presentation What challenges did the webinar address? The webinar provided organizers with principles […]
Membership Programs, Small Grants & Fund Raising Events: Financial Stability for your Campaign
March 5, 2012In February Fair Trade Towns USA put together a conference call for organizers so that they could discover how other campaigns are sustainably raising money. We heard from Nancy Jones in Chicago about Membership Programs, Maya Sharp in Pasadena about Fund Raising events and Courtney Lang of Fair Trade Towns USA about the Small Grants […]
Fair Trade Consumer Study 2012
February 13, 2012Guest Blogger: Tamara Stenn, Professor at Keene State College According to the United Nations, the US is the world’s largest consumer by far, spending over $10 billion and making up almost 30% of the world’s consumer market in 2009. (Second to the US is Japan weighing in at just 8.5% of world consumption). For Fair […]
Campaign Spotlight: Princeton, New Jersey
January 31, 2012Camila Tellez, 14, of Princeton Township started the campaign. She was captivated by the notion that Fair Trade is not a donation. It’s trade, not aid.
Change Comes from the People: 1070 Fair Trade Towns and Counting
November 26, 2011For eleven years and running, Fair Trade Towns have been the driving force behind consumer citizenship; starting with Garstang, U.K. in 2000, Media, PA in 2006, and leading us into 2012 with over 1,070 towns in 23 countries across 6 continents.
Fair Trade Universities Back from Tour
November 16, 2011By: Kate Polakiewicz, Strategic Relations Assistant at Fair Trade USA I’m back from the Campus Consciousness Tour and some things are missing in my life – scoops of Ben and Jerry’s Jimmy Fallon Late Night Snack (Fair Trade Certified vanilla ice cream with fudge covered potato chips), waking up every day at different but confusingly […]