We're at a crossroads. The corporate, plantation model put forth by TransFair / Fair Trade USA is not the Fair Trade system that we've helped to build over the last 25 years.
Show your support for small farmers by adding this graphic to your E-mail signature:
Link to http://www.equalexchange.coop/small-farmer-campaign
What Others Are Doing
- On-line, over 8200 individuals, 80 food co-operatives, and 700 churches, ATOs, producer groups, and other organizations have signed our statement declaring their support for Authentic Fair Trade.
- Equal Exchange Interfaith Partners, the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee have gathered over 3,000 signatures.
- Equal Exchange Interfaith and Food Co-op partners are informing and educating their members about the importance of supporting Authentic Fair Trade by writing articles and sharing important information about our Stand with Small Farmers Campaign on their websites and in their newsletters:
- New Leaf Market in Tallahassee, FL.
- Co-op Food Stores in Hanover and Lebanon, NH
- Our Presbyterian partners, PC(USA)
- The Wedge Co-op in Minneapolis, MN
- Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington, MA
- Seward Co-op in Minneapolis, MN reclaims Fair Trade and stands with small farmers
- Clintonville Co-op in Columbus, OH
- US Federation of Worker Co-ops
- Three Rivers Market Co-op in Knoxville, TN is putting a Stand With Small Farmers Campaign postcard in the packet to go out to all new co-op members.
- Harvest Co-op in Cambridge & Jamaica Plain, MA
- IRTF (InterReligious Task Force on Central America) is sharing articles about Small Farmers and Fair Trade in their newsletters and website.
Learn more about what's brewing in the Fair Trade movement:
- Read Equal Exchange Co-Founder Rink Dickinson's Analysis of Fair Trade
- Read a background summary of the evolution of the Fair Trade controversy (pdf)
- Campaign FAQs
- Video: The Bitter Taste of Tea
- Co-operatives: The Heart and Soul of the Fair Trade Movement (pdf)
Read statements from:
Get a producer point of view:
- Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Fair Trade Producers (CLAC)
- From Mexico
- From Peru
- From Nicaragua
- From Brazil
- From the Dominican Republic
In the Media
- Whither fair trade? Iconic Vermont firms in center of debate, Burlington Free Press, Jan 31, 2013
- Is it Curtains for Fair Trade?, New Internationalist Blog, September 12, 2012
- The Brawl Over Fair Trade Coffee, The Nation., September 10, 2012
- The Splintered State of Fair-Trade Coffee, Fresh Cup Magazine, June 2012
- Too much caffeine? Fair trade coffees fighting - Bloomberg Businessweek, May 22, 2012
- Does Fair Trade USA's expansion plan threaten its purpose?, GreenBiz, May 15, 2012
- Fair Is Fair, Sea Change Radio, May 8th, 2012
- Fair Trade USA's Coffee Policy Comes Under Fire, East Bay Express, April 25, 2012
- Fair Trade Labeling May Confuse Coffee Drinkers, NPR, November 30, 2011
- Should Fair Trade Certify Giants Like Nestle and Folgers?, Mother Jones, November 29, 2011
- A Question of Fairness, The New York Times, November 23, 2011
Join with us in supporting Authentic Fair Trade.
Sign our public statement on Facebook.
Tell Starbucks and Green Mountain to support small fair trade farmers!
Continue learning about the issues that affect small farmers and why it's important to support Authentic Fair Trade. Read the resources listed on this page. Work with us to educate others and ask them to support small-farmer-centered Fair Trade. Please call us at 774-776-7390 if you need additional materials.
Buy only Fair Trade products that come directly from small farmer organizations. Enter into dialogue with the stores where you shop that sell Fair Trade products with the TransFair seal on their products to explain to them that authentic Fair Trade means support for small farmers, not plantations and corporations.