3 Jun 2005 @ 02:27, by Raymond Powers
Certified Fair Trade Products Spreading Across USA
Spring 2005 FAIR TRADE HAPPENINGS Coffee Ice Cream Brings Fair Trade Label Into Frozen Foods Ben and Jerry's, a well-known US ice cream company, continues its 27-year commitment of supporting positive social and environmental change by recently introducing three ice cream flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee extract. Ben and Jerry's is the first ice cream maker in the US to introduce coffee flavors made with Fair Trade Certified coffee.
This AP story ran in newspapers across California, Nevada and Vermont.
New Product Launch - Saaaa-weet!
We are proud to announce that TransFair USA has officially started to certify sugar for the US market. In Europe, demand for Fair Trade Certified sugar expanded by roughly 220% in 2003, from 650 tons to 1430 tons. In the US, the launch of Fair Trade Certified sugar represents a new direction in the growth of Fair Trade products and relationships. Fair Trade Certified sugar is available from Costa Rica, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru, and the Philippines.
We have three sugar licensees: Alter Eco (boxes of sugar), Equal Exchange (sugar packets), and Wholesome Sweeteners (packets, bulk, and boxes). You can expect to see the product on retail shelves in the US this June.
Shop Otil you Drop Costco is currently offering three Kirkland Signature Fair Trade Certified coffee blends. Look for House Blend, Decaf or Espresso at a Costco near you!
Target Stores has launched four FTC coffee blends under its Archer Farms label. Over 1350 Target stores will carry one or more of these FTC coffees. Also, look for FTC coffees in the following grocery chains: Giant Eagle (150 stores in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, W. Virginia and Maryland), Farm Fresh (40 stores in Virginia) and Gordmans (190 stores in the Midwest) Additionally, in the first quarter of 2004, TransFair added 20 new coffee roasters to our ever-growing list of licensed partners.
Peru goes Bananas Aproeco, a Peruvian Fair Trade coffee and mango producing group, has just completed it's first harvest of organic Fair Trade bananas, to be shipped to the East Coast and Midwest. This is the first time members of Aproeco have planted, harvested and packed bananas. Bravo, APROECO!
FRIENDS OF FAIR TRADE Kickin' Campus Campaigns:
Do YOU know of a campus Fair Trade campaign? Let us know! We'll be happy to highlight it in the next edition of the Fair Trade Beat.
* The Students for Peace and Justice at Suffolk University in Boston, MA are proud to announce that the largest and most frequented cafeteria on campus will serve only locally roasted 100% Fair Trade Certified coffee from the worker-owned Equal Exchange roaster starting 4/05. In the words of one student leader, "Though this is a small victory for our world community and us in general, we feel as though it's just one small step forward toward that greater realization of a more just world we all strive to achieve."
* Efforts to raise awareness and get more Fair Trade on campus are also underway at St. Norberts College in De Pere, WI, Northeastern University in Boston, MA, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, American University in Washington, DC, and Luther College in Decorah, IA.
* At California Polytechnic State University in CA, students in the Food Science and Nutrition Department have developed Fair Trade Certified chocolates for sale on campus and in local grocery stores and markets. For details, click here Catholic Relief Services Expands Fair Trade Coffee Program The CRS Fair Trade Program now partners with 14 Fair Trade coffee companies throughout the United States to connect more than 67 million Catholics to the growing Fair Trade movement. These 14 unique companies are all united by their deep commitment to the farmers who grow the coffee they sell. They are also united by their commitment to CRS for every pound of coffee purchased through the CRS Fair Trade Program, participating companies will donate a percentage to support CRS's Fair Trade work on behalf of low-income farmers overseas.
CRS has also announced it will launch the CRS Fair Trade Chocolate Program in September 2005! The program will be designed to support school and parish fundraisers, and will feature Fair Trade Certified Divine chocolate bars already available through the Work of Human Hands catalog. Visit www.crsfairtrade.org for more information.
United Students for Fair Trade, Presente! 35 students from 20 different schools and 10 states turned up for the Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference in Seattle this April.
In the words of one USFT organizer, "On the SCAA exhibition floor we were able to meet and talk with many people about what we do and why we do it.
Students reported that the weekend was very motivating and provided them with lots of new information and ideas that they will take back to their campuses. It was a great chance for students new to the Fair Trade movement to meet other students and get a good inside look at the heart of the movement - its successes as well as obstacles. Plus, we had a lot of fun and built many new relationships that will be assets as we further our individual and communal work."
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