Lead for Change Blog
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 […]
Organizer Spotlight: Joe Michon – Claremont, CA
October 1, 2012This blog post comes from Fair Trade Claremont’s own Joe Michon. Read on to follow Claremont’s journey to its declaration as a Fair Trade Town! It’s All About People Fair Trade house parties in the fall of 2010 laid the groundwork for a Towns Campaign. Friends gathered with refreshments, a video (“Fair Trade: The Story”) […]
Hoist the main sail, tharrr be coffee on the high seas!
September 23, 2012Carrotmob is a new way for people to influence businesses to make them more sustainable. Instead of organizing boycotts, we offer to spend money as a group to support a business if the business agrees to make an improvement that we care about. Everyone wins – businesses get money and we achieve unprecedented social impact. […]
Conference News: Travel Stipend & Hotel Room Block Information
September 14, 2012REGISTER, APPLY & BOOK HERE The wait is finally over! We are eager to announce hotel accommodations and travel stipend information for the upcoming Fair Trade Campaigns Conference taking place in Chicago on October 26 – 28. Space and funds are limited, so if you haven’t registered yet, now is the time! Follow this link […]
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 […]
Go Bananas Case Study: Mankato, MN Gets Fair Trade Bananas in Local Supermarket
September 10, 2012Are you trying to rally the local supermarket you patron to carry Fair Trade bananas, but need some help with tactics? Mankato Fair Trade Town Initiative in Minnesota is one campaign that has successfully gotten Fair Trade bananas in to a local supermarket. As part of the Go Bananas for Fair Trade Initiative we interviewed […]
Banana Spotlight: interrupcion* Fair Trade
September 5, 2012By Guest Blogger: Nikki Holzberg interrupcion* Fair Trade was established in 2000 in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a global stakeholder community committed to building a sustainable future through responsible consumption, sustainable development, organic farming and Fair Trade. We work directly with approximately 2,000 producer groups in Latin America, financing Fair Trade and organic certifications, […]
Organizer Spotlight: Nicole Main – Bloomington, IN
August 30, 2012Here is a blog written by Fair Trade Bloomington’s Nicole Main. Read on to discover where Bloomington is at in the process to becoming a Fair Trade Town and what kind of relationships have fueled their success! My name is Nicole Main, and I work with the Fair Trade Bloomington campaign. Our committee’s main […]
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, […]
Fair Trade Towns USA Small Grants Program
July 20, 2012As October, the month of Fair Trade, is slowly approaching, we want to remind our campaign organizers to take advantage of the Fair Trade Towns USA Small Grants Program to plan and fund Fair Trade events in their communities. Providing organizers with much needed resources for building capacity, diversifying their outreach, and ensuring the […]
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. […]
Organizer Spotlight: Paul Renshaw – Mankato, MN
July 11, 2012Ever wonder what inspires people to start Fair Trade Town campaigns? How about what kind of impact a campaign can make on the availability of Fair Trade products in a community? Get the low-down on Mankato, Minnesota’s phenomenal success through the words of their chair, Paul Renshaw.
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 […]