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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Happy Birthday, Fair For Life!

September marks the three year anniversary of fair trade labeling organization Fair For Life! "Fair for life" is a brand neutral third party certification program for social accountability and fair trade in agricultural, manufacturing and trading operations and complements existing fair trade certification systems.

Exactly three years ago, in September 2006, a new Social and Fair Trade Program was launched by the Swiss Bio-Foundation, in cooperation with the Institute for Marketecology (IMO): Fair for Life. It all started with a handful of relatively small but dedicated companies and their supply chains, who set off to establish a fair trade certification program that would work independent of the traditional FLO / Transfair Fairtrade system. This new certification program created an opportunity for all serious fair trade producers and products that had not previously been eligible for fair trade certification.

Fair Trade the White House would like to wish Fair For Life (IMO) a very happy birthday and a big thank you for your support.

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Green Earth Journey

Green Earth Journey gives a shout out to Fair Trade the White House! Take a look and then, while you're there, spend a little time digging through their archives. They provide information on everything from product reviews, fair trade, green living, fun, resourceful tips and much, much more!

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Thank you, Green Earth Journey!

Ten Thousand Villages in Forbes

Ten Thousand Villages received a glowing review in Forbes over the weekend. Selling everything from unique handicrafts, home decor, kitchen ware and jewelry, all of Ten Thousand Villages items are fairly traded, meaning the artisans earn a sustainable wage for their art and labor. Read how Ten Thousand Villages shops all over the world are growing with the fair trade movement.

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Ten Thousand Villages of Pasadena is a proud supporter of Fair Trade the White House. Check them out!

Shift in American Consumerism

According to FLO, global sales of fair trade products jumped by 47% in 2007. Today, TIME magazine published a great article about a shift in American consumerism. Here's the first paragraph of For American Consumers, A Responsibility Revolution, By Richard Stengel

Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009

Illustration by C.J. Burton for TIME

We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals," FDR said in 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression. "We know now that it is bad economics." We learned this all over again after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the shame of subprime mortgages and the brazen Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff. But even amid the Great Recession of 2009, people have been trading in their SUVs for Priuses, buying record amounts of fair-trade coffee and investing in socially responsible funds at higher rates than ever before. What we are discovering now, in the most uncertain economy since FDR's time, is that enlightened self-interest — call it a shared sense of responsibility — is good economics...

Read the article in its entirety and how the First Family already purchases fair trade products!

Burlington, VT

Burlington, VT has been declared an official Fair Trade Town! That makes Burlington the 12th to reach this success (and that number is climbing!). A huge congratulations to all your dedicated, hard work, Burlington! Read more about how they became a Fair Trade Town USA and help further increase fair trade awareness in the U.S. by signing an invitation to First Lady Michelle Obama!

USA vs. Europe

A blog post on Ethix Merch discussing the prevalence of fair trade in the United States and in Europe hit the web yesterday. Read Daniel Cardozo's take on "Fair Trade: USA vs. Europe". See where and how he suggests to buy, the growing trends of fair trade cotton and help bring greater fair trade awareness by signing the invitation to First Lady Michelle Obama to Fair Trade her Home!

Is the Fair Trade movement doing better in Europe than in the United States?

The question came up during an interesting conversation I had recently with a representative from the UK-based "Bags of Ethics" fair trade tote bag company. She insisted that while it is still difficult to find sweatshop-free and fairly traded merchandise in the United States, the situation is very different in Western Europe, where a wide variety of fair trade certified products are available on the market...

Read the blog entry in its entirety here.

Help Autonomie Win A Grant

Autonomie is reaching out to all their fabulous individual contacts and supporters to ask to help win a small business grant worth $100,000! They have been nominated for the grant from American Express and need as many endorsements of the nomination as possible before SUNDAY in order to move forward into the judging phase.

Support fair trade fashion by registering and nominating Autonomie Project here. And spread the word!

Good luck, Autonomie, from Fair Trade the White House!!

Rishi Tea

Rishi Tea has been at the forefront of Fair Trade Certified tea production for years. Founded on the commitment to set the standard for quality and expand the awareness of tea and its rich, inspirational tradition, they offer superb loose-leaf tea imported directly from tea gardens across Asia, made according to ancient artisan practices using organic cultivation techniques and Fair Trade standards.

Rishi is a proud supporter of Fair Trade the White House and has included their name to the long list of signatures inviting First Lady Michelle Obama to Fair Trade her Home. Add your name, too!

Check out their homepage for their end of summer discount on iced teas!

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Your Daily Thread

Check out Fair Trade the White House supporter (and media sponsor) Your Daily Thread (YDT) and learn more about the latest in green trends and fair practices. Follow their blog and watch their newly launched YDT TV!

Boston Faith & Justice Network

Boston Faith & Justice Network is a big component in the endeavor to make Boston an Official Fair Trade Town. Committed to alleviating poverty and promoting just stewardship, they recently became a supporter of Fair Trade the White House and added a blog this weekend on Consumer Stewardship. Click here to read how politics, religion and social justice can work together for positive change!

Labor Day

Happy Labor Day from Fair Trade the White House!

Labor Day was founded in 1894, protecting the rights of U.S. workers from unfair wages, working too many hours and unfair working conditions. That's why we celebrate this special holiday. Unfortunately, many of the issues fought against last century still exist today.

This Labor Day, shop sweat free and ensure the items you purchase are treating others fairly. Find a sweat free and fair shopping list at Sweat Free Communities.

Guayaki & TIME Magazine

Fair Trade the White House supporter, Guayaki Yerba Mate, received a nice write up in TIME Magazine!

A Tree-Hugging Tea

By Coeli Carr Monday, Sep. 14, 2009

A worker weighs freshly picked shade-grown yerba mate at one of Guayaki's rain-forest-restoration projects in eastern Paraguay. Mate is among the most popular caffeinated drinks in the world.

As a college student in California in the early '90s, Alex Pryor always kept some of his native Argentina with him. His link to home was a beverage made from the leaves of the yerba mate (mah-tay) tree that, cup for cup, provides more than half the caffeinated zap of coffee with fewer jitters and an abundance of antioxidants. As more of his college buddies cozied up to the drink, Pryor saw the glimmer of a business. But the lightbulb moment happened in Paraguay in 1995 when he first spotted a yerba mate tree growing in its ideal habitat--in the shade of a rain forest that happened to be owned by his godfather. Pryor struck a deal: if his godfather planted hardwood trees in the rain forest's degraded areas and started growing mate along with them, Pryor would buy the output. The following year, he founded Guayakí with David Karr, a college friend and mate aficionado...

Click here to read the article in its entirety. Congratulations to Guayaki for all your hard work from the FTWH Team!

EQ.TV & Fair Trade

"...it's not a brand...it's a story."

Watch EQ.TV's 8 minute overview with "Fair Trade: The Story"