Doug Stephan Five-Away

The Doug Stephan Radio Show is holding a two week fair trade product five-away contest! Enter to win by adding yourself as a Facebook friend. Items range from a $100.00 gift certificate from Indigenous Designs which offers eco-chic fair trade and organic fashion; a Fair Trade Sports deluxe Eco-certified football; a Be Sweet cuddly bamboo baby knit cap; a luscious chocolate and green tea basket from Equal Exchange; Anti-Body’s Nutcracker Sweet moisturizing lip balm set; decadent dark chocolate bars from Alter Eco; a gift basket featuring Ugandan dark roast from Thanksgiving Coffee; and a ingeniously retooled wallet made from recycled tires from One World Projects.

Contest runs through Dec. 18th!

Delicious Living

Delicious Living blogged about the Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide! Take a look and then take some time to read other entries about 'Real Food, Natural Health and Green Planet'.

Sign up for their monthly e-Newsletter and become a fan on Facebook!

Gift Guide on Planet Green

Vote for our Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide on Planet Green (at bottom of article)!

Thanks for the post, Planet Green!

DC Fair Trade Network & Coffee Tasting

Announcing an event within the DC Fair Trade Network!

Event: Fair Trade Coffee Tasting: EverGreen Home Coffee

Date/Time: November 22, 2009 11:00 AM







Venue: Adega Wine Cellars and Cafe
8519 Fenton Street Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.608.2200

EVENT CONTACT: Sonia Bunch, Director of Sales and Marketing, The EverGreen Home, 301-312-2407, TheEverGreenHome@aol.com

Come learn how to roast your own coffee beans in a popcorn popper and other units. Taste the wildly delicious high altitude shade grown organic blends by The EverGreen Home. Learn why Fair Trade is the best choice and why we only promote coffee sold in recycled steel. Join the discussion, meet new friends, and have a great time. Purchase a can of The EverGreen Home coffee at Giant Foods and bring your receipt for the coffee drawing. You may win a case of amazing shade grown coffee.

About The Evergreen™ Home
Our family has been eating organically and supporting sustainable agriculture for years. However, when our niece needed a new mattress in 2006, we discovered that harmful chemicals are often used in the manufacturing of mattresses. We wanted dust mite resistant and chemical free bedding for our niece, and the organic bedding industry was our only option. Now, organic bedding is what we provide for our entire family — and yours... Read more.

Learn more about DC Fair Trade Network.

Treehugger

Treehugger posted our Fair Trade Gift Guide! Thanks, Treehugger!

Canaan Fair Trade on Facebook

Canaan Fair Trade has a new Facebook page! Become a fan and learn more about their fair trade olive oil (and other delicacies) from Palestine. Let's get their fan base up to thousands in no time to help support the laborers who provide us with our quality oil!

Green America's Fair Trade Coordinator

Meet Green America's new fair trade coordinator, Elizabeth O'Connell!!


I joined Green America about two weeks ago as the new Fair Trade Coordinator, and I am very excited about it! I am originally from Rochester NY, but I actually grew up in Hong Kong and Switzerland. My interest in fairer labor conditions probably started when visiting a Chinese brick factory on a 7th grade trip, where the dust was so thick it was difficult to breathe and see. However, it was not until college that I got involved in the fair trade movement. As a member of the entrepreneurial club at NYU, I was a founder of the school’s first fair trade café, an endeavor that was a ton of fun and a huge success! I also interned at Social Accountability international for a semester. After finishing college, I taught English in Cambodia for five months, and then worked in New York City, doing fundraising for a Cambodian children’s hospital.

At Green America I will be working on our fair trade programs and campaigns, including the fair trade pavilions at the Green Festivals and the Fair Trade Alliance newsletter. I will also be working on planning the Fair Trade Futures Conference.

Find out more about Elizabeth's adventures in fair trade at her blogspot.

Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide

The Fair Trade Holiday Gift Guide is here! With over 80 different fair options, you'll find plenty of stocking stuffers and Holiday presents for all ages. Find the guide at Fair Trade the White House!

GoodWeave Raffle

GoodWeave™ Program to End Child Labor Announces 8th Annual Rug Raffle

Rugmark USA has just launched its eighth annual rug raffle, offering entrants, for as little as $25, the chance to win a luxurious handmade rug, designed and donated by New York-basedcWarp & Weft and certified child-labor-free by GoodWeave. Proceeds help support RugMark’s GoodWeave certification program, which works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and to offer educational opportunities to children in South Asia.

The 8’ x 10’ rug being raffled, Riviera Caramel, has a retail value of $10,800 and is currently available for viewing at Warp & Weft's DC studio, located in the Washington Design Center.

Riviera Caramel is part of Warp & Weft’s Modern & Custom Collection, designed by owner Michael Mandapati. Hand woven in Nepal and made from pure Tibetan wool and Indian mulberry silk, the design echoes differing images from nature, from topographical maps to tree bark. As GoodWeave’s newest industry partner, Mandapati realizes the difference companies working together can make. “With strong child labor laws and with the help of GoodWeave we can make a difference by making it difficult and unprofitable for the practice to continue,” he said.


Every ticket sold helps bring GoodWeave and its nearly 70 importer/designer members one step closer to ending child labor in the handmade rug industry. Raffle tickets are $25 each, 5 for $100 or 12 for $200. The drawing will take place on December 16, 2009, and the winner will be notified the following day. Individuals may purchase tickets here.

About GoodWeave


The GoodWeave certification program works to end exploitative child labor in the South Asian carpet industry by inspecting weaving looms and providing rehabilitation and education for former child weavers. To date, the GoodWeave program has rescued more than 3,600 children from exploitation on carpet looms and offered them rehabilitation, education, vocational training, and other services. The GoodWeave label is your best assurance that no child labor was used in the manufacture of a carpet or rug. For more information, visit www.GoodWeave.org.

Organice Wine Trade Company

Day 30!

Today's sponsor for Fair Trade Month is FTWH supporter, Organic Wine Trade Company! See how, by sipping a glass of wine, you contribute the the growth and sustainability of others! Click here to read more.

2010 Fair Trade Calendar

This just in from the Fair Trade Resource Network!

In time for the holiday gift season, the Fair Trade 2010 Calendar is now reaching retail outlets and customers. Winners of the first FT Photo Competition, along with every photo entry from FT activists, businesses, and enthusiasts, can be seen in the first FT Calendar, produced by Fair Trade Federation and Fair Trade Resource Network.

The 2010 Fair Trade Calendar features beautiful images of FT celebrations, crafts, college events, commodities, producer groups, retail stores, wholesalers and more. Facts, figures, action plans, and a list of FT businesses also fill the 24 pages. Consistent with FT values, the calendar was designed by a worker-owned cooperative, and printed by a green, union print shop.

This historic publication retails for $14.95. Bulk rates are also available. Buy single or bulk copies.

Canaan Fair Trade In The Washington Post

Fair Trade the White House supporter, Canaan Fair Trade, made the news yesterday for their quality olive oil they sell to sustain 1,200 farmers through The Palestine Fair Trade Association.

The West Bank's gold

A Palestinian cooperative looks to trade olive oil for foreign cash

Palestinian farmer Mur'eb Kaileh, 70, with bags of olives that will eventually be processed for oil at a facility on the outskirts of Ramallah. (Muhammed Muheisen/associated Press)

By Howard Schneider

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

For centuries, olive harvesting here has been a mostly local industry.

Farmers, their relatives and neighbors beat the trees with sticks or strip the olives from branches by hand, then cart them to a local press and sell or trade the oil in nearby markets. Harvest workers keep a share of the crop for their labor, and olive press owners keep a share of the oil -- a testament to the small-scale, bartered nature of the undertaking.

That model can help sustain a household, but in a new factory on the outskirts of this northern West Bank village, an effort is underway to reshape the olive industry so it can help sustain a wider Palestinian economy...

Read the rest.

Fair Trade Cities Campaign, Seattle

Fair Trade Cities Campaign Kickoff Meeting! Wednesday, October 21, 7pm – 9pm
Cafe Allegro 4214 University Way NE, Seattle
(206) 633-3030

Come join us to learn more about fair trade and how you can get involved in the Seattle campaign!

We are currently in need of members for the steering committee and welcome help for any of the following areas:

- legal advice to secure 501(c)3 status - website design and hosting - marketing - local business engagement - public awareness and recruitment - faith-based outreach - street team and social networking - event planning


Please feel free to contact us at: seattlefairtradecity@gmail.com

Busboys and Poets

EVENT: Busboys and Poets Fair Trade Night – Movie, Mini Spa, FREE Chocolate and MORE!

DATE/TIME: Monday, 19 October, 2009 6:00 PM

VENUE: Busboys and Poets @ 5th & K Streets
1025 5th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-789-2227

You’re invited to Fair Trade Night!

VENUE: Global Exchange Shop at Busboys and Poets 5th & K Streets location

Join the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store to celebrate Fair Trade Month!

Treat yourself to a night of FREE Fair Trade treats, including:

• a screening of Burning Heart Production’s “The Fair Trade:” the story of c0-founders of Anti-Body Fair Trade cosmetics and how they came to dedicate their lives to Fair Trade
• a mini spa lunch of our new line of Anti-Body beauty products, including lotions, bath fizzers and MORE! Test their fabulous scents – it’s Fair Trade!
• a book signing by Jackie DeCarlo, author of Fair Trade: A Beginner’s Guide, and learn how you can help “Fair Trade the White House“
• and (last but NOT least) a divine-ly delicious chocolate tasting with Divine Chocolate! -It’s positively decadent!!!

ABOUT GLOBAL EXCHANGE

Global Exchange is an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting economic, political and social justice. Our Fair Trade program offers alternatives to sweatshop production by working with artisans and farmer cooperatives worldwide.

More about this calendar event:
http://www.meetup.com/DCFairTradeNet/calendar/11622262/

Funk Aid for Africa

LOS ANGELES, SAVE THE DATE...FRIDAY OCTOBER 16TH, 2009

Fair Trade the White House supporter, The Rhythm Section + NextAid + DubSpot
Present :: A "Funk Aid for Africa" CD release party



With DJs

OBaH (Dubspot/Giant Step/NYC)
J-Boogie (OM Records/SF)
Frank(e) (Rhythm Section)
Glenn Red (Afro Funké)
Jeremy Sole (Afro Funké | KCRW | Musaics)

With Live Bands

PLEASUREMAKER
(San Francisco)


SIMPLE CITIZENS
(Los Angeles)


Dakota Live Music Lounge
1026 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica CA 90401
21+
$12 cover | $20 cover + Funk Aid For Africa CD



Check out the just released Funk Aid for Africa, produced by dubSpot, compiled & mixed by Dj OBaH. 100% of the sale of the CD goes to NextAid.

Lotus Foods, Volcano Rice

Just in time to celebrate Fair Trade Awareness Month, Lotus Foods is proud to introduce to the US market the first rice to satisfy the stringent fair trade, social and environmental standards required to be certified by IMO as Fair for Life Social & Fair Trade Certified — Volcano Rice from the mineral-rich volcanic soils of West Java, Indonesia.

Volcano Rice is a colorful blend of nutrient-dense brown and red rice. Reputed to restore vitality due to its high mineral and fiber content, the Javanese favor this healthy rice for its satisfying wholesome flavor. Grown on small family farmer cooperatives in the Tasikmalaya region of West Java.

• High in magnesium, manganese, zinc
• Cooks in only 30 minutes

Pick up your bag today and find several delicious recipes!

Globalfest, Chicago

Buy your tickets to Chicago Fair Trade's Globalfest benefit event and celebrate their "Asian Themed Night" to honor their fair trade Asian partners! Food, drinks, fair trade fashion show, and silent auction! Oct 28th! Don't miss it! Get your tickets at Brown Paper Tickets and visit chicagofairtrade.org for more info

Anti-Body, Ten Thousand Villages and Fair Trade Month

Fair Trade Month was celebrated in style today at Pasadena's Ten Thousand Villages! Honoring TransFair USA's Day 11 of Fair Trade, Ten Thousand Village's new location and Anti-Body's new Fairy Trade Lotions, many gathered to dance, color, face-paint and purchase fair trade items in support of cooperatives around the world.

See Anti-Body's photos of fun!

Do anything special for Fair Trade Month in October? Share with us so we can share with everyone else!

Write tamara@anti-body.com

100 And Going Strong!

In addition to thousands of Individual signatures inviting First Lady Michelle Obama to Fair Trade Her Home, Fair Trade the White House just hit 100 Vendors, Retailers and Organizations!

Collectively, FTWH supports over 56,000 artisans and accounts for nearly 4 billion dollars in annual sales.

Let's keep the numbers coming!

YDT and Puresa Organics

Want a fashionable bag with a little something more to it?...okay, a lot more to it? Today, Your Daily Thread posted a review on top model Giselle Meza's Puresa Organics line.

Puresa Organics: Buy a Bag, Change a Life

October 7, 2009 Written by Your Daily Thread Team

Reusable cloth bags have become a popular method of reducing the use and waste of plastic but for many conscientious shoppers, style remains as important as function. Puresa Organics solves both issues, creating earth friendly bags that have individual flair, but they take “responsible” to another level by adding an important humanitarian element — every bag is handmade by women in Nepal who have been rescued from human trafficking...

Read the rest here and sign up for YDT emails!

Craft Village

What do Kenya and The Simpsons have in common? Craft Village!

Craft Village Promotes Simpsons Statues to Help Kenyan Village

Article By Paul Young, Guest Writer On October - 5 - 2009

Craft Village UK, an organization coordinating and promoting fair trade directly with artisans in poor countries, is currently marketing a series of Simpsons Statues to benefit a Kenyan village. Craft Village’s mission is to improve the working and living conditions of crafts people and their families, and promote fair wages and job creation via their exclusive, sustainable, copyright protected product lines.

Craft Village launched the Kenyan Simpsons Statues in February 2009 after 3 years of development. Their unique mix of Fair Trade and animation-art has received great reviews from CNN, The BBC, The United Nations Development Programme, Sir Bob Geldof, and Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons.

For more on the partnership of Craft Village and The Simposons, read the rest of the article here and click on the video below to see Craft Village, Carving a Future Pt. 1.

Craft Village UK. Carving a Future part 1

Jones GABA on Got2BeGreen

Got2BeGreen posted a product review from Shelby Moser on Fair Trade the White House supporter, Jones GABA and their Fuji Apple Tea-Juice.

When it comes to beverages, I tend to be a purist, craving only water, black tea or red wine for my drinking needs. The latest heat- wave, however, found me looking around in my fridge for anything cool to give me respite from the 100+ degree weather. I tentatively grabbed the can of Jones GABA Fuji Apple Tea-Juice that had been sitting in the refrigerator, neglected because it wasn’t one of my three favorite beverages. I had been meaning to try it - all in the name of fair trade - but the last thing I wanted was a sugary chemical drink with mystery ingredients a mile long. Even though I admittedly had to look up the name of my drink (Gamma Aminio) Butyric Acid, or GABA , helps to increase the production of brain waves and strengthen focus and clarity), I was comfortable with words like “natural,” “tea” and “apple.”....


Read the rest of this review (and others!!) at Got2BeGreen and see how GABA can help you! And visit Jones GABA for other tasty flavors.

Fair Fabric

Silk with a soul? That's right! At least silk from Fair Fabric does. Fair Fabric works with co-operatives and non-profit organizations to find markets for quality, fairly traded silk fabric and products. They are committed to providing sustainable employment for economically disadvantaged women, breaking the cycle of poverty so many women are trapped in today.



Take a look at their beautiful scarves and wraps, sheets and bedding and tableware.

Meet the women Fair Fabric sustains.

OCTOBER: Fair Trade Awareness Month

It's finally here... Happy Fair Trade Awareness Month!!


For great ideas, resourceful information and fair trade news from around the world, check out Fair Trade the White House supporter, Fair Trade Resource Network.



And from all of us at FTWH, here's to having the the fairest months of them all!


Eat fair, drink fair, wear fair, be fair.

Robin's Chocolate Sauce

Ever feel the urge to eat dessert before dinner? Well Robin's Chocolate Sauce just made it tougher to ignore the urge. Made with fair trade and organic ingredients, this delicious delicacy will have you coming back for more.

Robin’s Chocolate Sauce is more than a delicious dessert topping. It’s a resource for the education, awareness and advocacy of the issues concerning communities and the environment both locally and globally. We hope that with every spoonful of our sauce, you’ll know that together we’re making a difference.

Here's a delectable idea taken from Robin's Chocolate Sauce Recipes:

“Best Bangor Brownies”
Makes about 16 squares.
1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract	1⁄4 teaspoon salt 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper 1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square or 11-by-7 inch baking pan with butter. 2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until both are almost melted. Remove from the heat and stir until melting is complete. 3. Whisk the eggs with the sugar, vanilla, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until well-blended but not foamy. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Stir in the nuts, if desired. Sprinkle the flour over the top and whisk gently just until no white specks remain. Pour into the prepared pan, leveling the top. 4. Bake until a tester inserted about two-thirds of the way to the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Cut into 16 or more squares and cool completely before serving. Store in the refrigerator for a day or so, or freeze for up to 2 weeks. Microwave Robin’s Raspberry Chocolate Sauce to desired consistency and serve with these delicious brownies and a scoop of ice cream.
Recipe excerpted from “Dishing Up Maine” by Brooke Dojny Copyright (c) 2006 by Brooke Dojny Used with permission by Storey Publishing LLC www.storey.com Available for purchase from Amazon.com.

Robin's Chocolate Sauce is certified through TransFair USA and is a proud supporter of Fair Trade the White House. Find a store near you!

Jackie DeCarlo and FT Month

Jackie DeCarlo has a busy Fair Trade Month ahead! There are two upcoming opportunities to hear her speak in the DC area.
You can find her first at the Green Festival, hosted by Green America and Global Exchange, on Sunday, October 11th at 4 pm (check out their website to see all key note speakers, vendors and more). Then, on October 15th, Jackie has the privilege of doing a Fair Trade month event at the Metro Washington GLBT Community Center located near Scott Circle downtown. Hear about fair trade, local activities, Fair Trade the White House campaign and more The event starts at 7 and all are welcome.

Jackie is an experienced traveler, author, speaker and advocate for social justice.

Los Cowboys

Watch how sipping a glass of fine Los Cowboys wine through Organic Wine Trade Company can sustain others!

Fair Trade Month

There's only a week to go before Fair Trade Month launches! Start looking now for events in your area and for different ways you can have fun while increasing fair trade awareness throughout your community and the world at large - all through the month of October!

Read to find out more about fair trade month.
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Follow on Twitter.