News

How You Can Make A Difference Buying Fair Trade

 by Cherie Gough

San Diego Family Magazine - November 2016

Buy Fair Trade

What it means and how you can make a difference
Did you drink a cup of coffee or eat a piece of chocolate today? Choosing fair trade coffee and chocolate can mean five times the pay for a farmer in a developing nation and a safe working environment in industries dominated by child labor.

As San Diego County stores make fair trade items like chocolate, coffee, home textiles and body products more available, shoppers are becoming familiar with the label. But what does buying fair trade mean and who exactly benefits?

Empowering Women and Families

Buying fair trade certified goods provides a helping hand

to people in developing countries. When farmers and factory workers who produce these goods receive a fair trade premium, they decide as a community how to spend the money. Community development projects provide necessities such as health care, clean water and schools, explains Katie Goudey of Fair Trade USA. Purchasing fair trade goods makes a vital impact on women who produce more than half the world’s food, but own very little land.

Good for the Earth,Good for Consumers

Certified fair trade goods benefit the environment and consumers. A third party

certifier such as Fair Trade USA requires goods meet these strict environment standards in order to receive the fair trade label:

• No GMOs
• Restricted use of pesticides
and fertilizers
• No slash and burn agriculture • Proper management of waste,
water and energy Purchasing fair trade goods guarantees products that help protect the natural environment and the health of workers and consumers.

Shop with Heart this Holiday Season
Consider this: The gifts you buy this year could help build a school in a small, rural village; the coffee you drink could make life easier for men and women who picked the beans; the sugar and chocolate you bake with could help protect a fragile environment. You can make a difference with the purchasing choices you make. These local events (and the shops on the previous page) make shopping fair trade easy for San Diego families.

Sunday, Nov. 13, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Resurrection Lutheran Church Fall Festival
1111 5th St., Coronado
www.resurrectioncoronado.com
Resurrection Lutheran’s Fall Festival features gifts from Ten Thousand Villages: hand-loomed textiles, pottery, jewelry, baskets, toys and nativities.

Friday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.
Roots of Giving Fair Trade Market
Point Loma Nazarene University, 3900 Lomaland Dr., Point Loma pointloma.edu/experience/academics/centers-institutes/center-justice- reconciliation/roots-giving
Don’t miss this fair trade holiday shopping event. Enjoy an evening with student musicians, coffee and hot cocoa while shopping.
Sunday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Alternative Gifts Expo
St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, 2728 6th Ave., Downtown www.stpaulcathedral.org
Shop for beautiful household items, artisan crafts, stylish women’s clothing and more while mariachis create a festive atmosphere. The Tomorrow Project will sell dry soup mixes assembled by local homeless women.

 

Shop at Local Fair Trade Shops
Around the World Gifts, Old Town www.aroundtheworldgifts.biz
Fair Trade Décor, Del Mar
http://fairtradedecor.com
Dr. Bronner’s Natural Products, Vista www.drbronner.com/DBMS/ SFNT.html
Gifts With a Cause
Online shop www.giftswithacause.com
All Across Africa
Online shop and seasonal kiosks www.allacrossafrica.org
To find more fair trade events in San Diego, visit www.facebook.com/ FairTradeSanDiego or www .lamesafairtrade.blogspot .com/p/shop.html.

 

 

La Mesa Receives an Honorary Distinction

At the National Conference for Fair Trade Towns and Universities, held in Chicago in late October, La Mesa was given the distinction of  “Fair Trade Town” status.  La Mesa was publically recognized as a city where there is widespread education regarding Fair Trade and where merchants and consumers have the availability of some Fair Trade certified products to choose from, among other products.   

With this distinction La Mesa now joins the ranks of 30 other cities nationwide who have this distinction.  There are 1,227 Fair Trade Town in 24 countries.  Many of these are in Europe and the UK.  Within the USA currently there are 39 FT Towns and 75 campaigns in progress as of May 2015.

A celebration of La Mesa’s declaration took place on World Fair Trade Day May 11, 2013.  Each year a Fair Trade gift fair is held in October in the City of La Mesa. 

The La Mesa Fair Trade campaign was registered with Fair Trade Towns USA in 2011.  Since that time a steering committee of 14 members have been spreading the word about how fair trade, a system of global exchange, ensures living wages for artisans and farmers in impoverished areas of the world. With the purchase of their products they are able to become self-sustaining without the necessity of government financial aid.

As a result of education regarding the value of Fair Trade, on both local and global levels, many La Mesa service organizations, faith-based communities, and other non-profit groups have endorsed the concept and are using FT products such as coffee and tea at their functions.  Some also offer the sale of products as fund-raisers for their respective groups.  Included are:  La Mesa Kiwanis, Lions, Sunrise Rotary, Soroptimists, Foothills Democratic Club, Optimists, Vista La Mesa Christian, St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church and School, United Church of Christ, Foothills United Methodists, First United Methodists, OM Center for Spirituality, Lake Murray Community as well as the Interfaith Council of La Mesa. 

Fair Trade products can be found or served in the following La Mesa stores and cafes:  Albertsons, All Things Bright and British, @SPACEBAR Internet Café, Bugsy’s Brew Coffee, Cosmos Coffee Café, Cost Plus World Market, Costco, CVS, Grossmont Nutrition & Gifts, La Mesa Bistro & Bakery, Mail & Misc. Gift Store, Marcella June’s Coffee Lounge, Mystic Isle, Ralphs, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, The Bouncing Bead, The Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joe’s, Swami’s Café Vic’s Deli & Café, and Vons.

Having the support of so many service organizations, churches and merchants in La Mesa was key in receiving the status of “Fair Trade Town”.  The following was received as an expression of support:

“The La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club is an official Fair Trade organization and is very proud that the City of La Mesa has also received this Fair Trade designation. We are dedicated to supporting companies in the US and around the world who pay their workers fair, living wages. Together we join in the effort to educate others on the importance of purchasing goods that are designated ‘fair trade.’ This will encourage companies and businesses to treat their employees fairly and ethically. We are helping to create a better world.” – Janet Castanos

In continuing to speak to groups throughout La Mesa and San Diego, an objective is to bring an awareness that there is opportunity, with the purchase of everyday items, to foster social, economic and environmental justice in our world.  We are also promoting the support of businesses locally, in the US, and abroad.  

Within San Diego, fair trade awareness is growing.  There are two “Fair Trade Universities”, UCSD and USD.  In addition, SDSU and Point Loma Nazarene have FT campaigns in progress. 

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September 9, 2011
La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Newsletter

Open publication - Free publishing - More fair trade

August 12, 2011

The La Mesa Fair Trade Town Steering Committee was invited to speak to the Kiwanis Club of La Mesa on August 12, 2011.   With their gracious hospitality and response to our message, we felt confident that they would help spread the word and support stores that carry Fair Trade products.

July 2011
In this San Diego County Community Coalition podcast , learn more about the La Mesa Fair Trade Towns campaign from Steering Committee member, David Schmidt, who was interviewed by Walter Davis for "Progress in San Diego".