SF Weekly Best Of 2008

In a list with categories ranging from Best Outdoor Dining Space (Ducca), Best Flash Mob (FlashDance), Best New PickUp Scene (Eye Gazing Parties), Best Way to Help the World from Your Desk (kiva.org), Best Record Store (Aquarius), Best Burrito (Paplote Mexican Grill) and even the Best Striptease Lessons (Sacred Art of Striptease), SFWeekly has voted the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores as the Best Store for Guilt-Free Handicrafts. Thanks so much to SFWeekly and the citizens of San Francisco for embracing Fair Trade and socially conscious shopping! Pick up a copy today and check out the rest of the list. There are some great suggestions for places to eat, see and of course some things you will only see in San Francisco like Best BART musician or Best Tattoo-Sporting, Banjo-Playing Philanthropist.

For those of you who can't find a copy or those of you not in the San Francisco area, don't fret, the list is also online....here. Also, stop by the GX store in Noe Valley to say congratulations and to check out how beautiful the store is. Jocelyn and Ariel have done a great job in setting up the store. Lovely!

Back from Africa

Tex and Abby with women from KwaZulu-Natal

Sanibonani. The very small Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store Team (three full time ladies in total) is once again complete. For the past three weeks, Tex Dworkin (Store Manager) and Abby Edelman (Head Buyer), were in South Africa and Swaziland for GX's annual direct buy trip. Tex and Abby met with several craft groups in the region to connect with groups we've been working with for several years (Batsiranai) and also to develop new relationships with others. It turned out to be an amazing and powerful trip, and they both came away with many friendships and uplifting stories. The upcoming blog posts will consist of their stories about the different crafts groups they met with accompanied with plenty of photos and even video. So stay tuned!

...we give it a thumbs up too.

World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break

Much thanks to the Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns USA, for putting together this great video clip from the World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break that took place on World Fair Trade Day. A total of 12,128 people from different locations all over the US came together and collectively shared a moment to enjoy a nice cup of Fair Trade Certified Coffee, setting a record! Also, from May 3-18 was North America's Fair Trade fortnight, and an estimated 50,000 people participated in over 200 events. Impressive numbers Fair Traders. That means that the movement is gaining even more momentum and the number of people becoming aware and supporting Fair Trade is continuing to grow. This is great news not only for people on the ground working to spread the word of Fair Trade, but it's even greater news for those small-scale farmers and producers groups around the world that are benefitting from Fair Trade. Now let's break the record for next year!

...and because we know you can't get enough of looking at photos from the big day, here's a link to the Flickr page.

Global Exchange visits Hershey's Annual Shareholder Meeting

Adrienne, GX Fair Trade Campaigner (left) and Kirsten Moller (right), Global Exchange Executive Director, want Fair Trade Certified now!

Now, time for a little update on Global Exchange’s Fair Trade campaign work… A couple of weeks ago, Adrienne, Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Campaigner and Kirsten, Global Exchange’s Executive Director made their way to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the Hershey’s annual shareholder meeting. Global Exchange, who is a shareholder in the company, set out to propose Resolution 4, which would create a board-level committee on human rights. Resolution 4 would serve as an important tool for continuing the work Hershey’s has begun in eradicating human rights violations from its supply chain.

Resolution 4 stems from the 2001 Harken-Engel Protocol, where major chocolate manufacturers, including Hershey’s, made a commitment to certify that all cocoa sourced would be free of child labor by July 2005. However, 2005 came and went and chocolate companies still had not eradicated child labor from their supply chain and extended their deadline to July 2008. With July 2008 quickly approaching, Hershey’s still can’t certify that the worst forms of child labor have been eliminated from its cocoa supply.

Two years ago, Global Exchange presented several other resolutions that would serve as tools to address ways to end child slavery in the cocoa industry. Hershey’s response was that they would attempt to take care of it themselves. Once again, two years later, the child labor issue has not been addressed and once again, Global Exchange presented another resolution.

According to Adrienne, Resolution 4, which creates a board-level human rights committee, “will not commit the board to any particular course of action, but it will give the board a forum to address these issues, and where organizations who are monitoring this issue can provide the service of bringing issues of concern to the attention of the board and be in dialogue so that we can work in partnership to protect stock value and protect children.”

Global Exchange passed out Hershey kisses with a little twist. In place of the iconic Hershey’s tags, Boston-based visual artist, Kassandra Derby helped create Hershey kisses with new tags that carried different quotes from government and media quotes documenting child slavery. One quote read “We left our country only because of money…We have become slaves because of cocoa. – Slavery: A Global Investigation (UK Channel 4).”

Unfortunately, voting for the resolution had taken place even before the presentations were made, so needless to say the human rights resolution was defeated. The Global Exchange team spoke with countless residents in the community and Hershey worker shareholders who were upset with the decisions that were made. They felt that Hershey’s was no longer listening to their needs and no longer upholding the values set forth by Milton Hershey when he started the company. Milton Hershey was an innovator in worker rights and community relations, so they should care about the child slavery issue.

Chairman of the Board, Kenneth Wolfe and the company’s CEO, Dave West continually responded to questions amd complaints about the company from shareholders and community members by saying that customers have not been complaining, so there must not be a problem.

Prove them wrong by doing your part in voicing your concern about child slavery by calling their customer comment line and telling them that it’s about time that they address the child slavery problem. 1-800-468-1714 Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET

World Fair Trade Day photos

As promised, here are photos from World Fair Trade Day at Dolores Park in San Francisco. They come to you thanks to the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition. They wanted you to know that they have a new Myspace Page. Do your social networking duty and friend them. Speaking of which, the Global Exchange Store also has dabbled in the social networking world. Except, we have a Facebook Page, so come on and be our friend, or as Facebook calls it 'fan'. Now on to our regularly scheduled photos....

Curious park goers at the Global Exchange table with Adrienne (left) our Fair Trade campaigner and Kirsten (right) our Executive Director

Alter-Eco giving their fair trade seal of approval

Magatte Wade-Marchand, co-founder of Adina World Beat Beverages talks to some thirsty people about her delicious fair trade drinks

Adrienne, Global Exchange Fair Trade Campaign Coordinator, speaking to the crowd

Jamie Guzzi, of TransFair, receives the Proclamation making San Francisco a Fair Trade City

Kirsten Moller, GX Executive Director holding Fair Trade flowers, while Jamie reads the proclamation. "We dub thee, San Francisco, a Fair Trade City...."

Celebration time with some amazing Senegalese dancers

San Francisco Proclaimed a Fair Trade City

City by the Bay. Golden Gate City. Baghdad by the Bay. Frisco. San Francisco has many different names and over the weekend, San Francisco added a new one to its repertoire: first Fair Trade City in the US. Saturday, May 10th was quite eventful. Not only was it World Fair Trade Day and the day of the largest Fair Trade Coffee Break, but it was also when Fair Traders from all over the Bay came together, along with SF Mayor, Gavin Newsom to proclaim San Francisco a Fair Trade City.

Now, there are a handful of Fair Trade towns all over the US, but SF is officially the first FT city, so that’s a pretty big deal. What’s a Fair Trade town/city, you ask? Well, there are certain guidelines that must be met in order to be recognized and they are as followed in a lovely bullet point list:

- A local Fair Trade committee must meet regularly to discuss how to promote Fair Trade and increase awareness in the town/city.
- Fair Trade certified products are available at several different venues (cafes, stores, etc.) across the city.
- Local organizations regularly use Fair Trade products, which includes schools, places of worship, hospitals, etc.
- The local Fair Trade campaign has media attention and visible public support.
- The city must pass a resolution supporting Fair Trade.

San Francisco is no stranger to commitments to Fair Trade practices. In 2005, Global Exchange was a key part in encouraging San Francisco to pass the strictest anti-sweatshop law in the country. Now, three years later San Francisco continues to advocate and support the Fair Trade movement in the US. In the words of Mayor Gavin Newsom, “Embodying ideals of fair pricing, fair labor conditions, direct trade, community development, and environmental sustainability, Fair Trade is a principle in line with San Francisco values, and we continue our commitment to educate and promote Fair Trade products in our city.”

Way to go City dwellers. Stay tuned for more updates on Saturday’s big event. In the meantime, Stay Fair, San Francisco!

World Fair Trade Day Activities

Two Great Events in the Bay Area for World Fair Trade Day!

1) Fair Trade Day Flower Sale
Come celebrate fair trade at the San Francisco Global Exchange Fair-Trade Store with food, refreshments and a SPECIAL FAIR TRADE FLOWER SALE. They will be featuring beautiful bouquets of fair trade roses to give Mom for Mothers Day. Come early for the best selection.

When: May 10, 2008 10am-7pm
Where: Global Exchange Store in San Francisco
4018 24th St, San Francisco CA 94114
For details: Call 415-648-8068

2) World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break
This year Fair Trade enthusiasts across the globe will celebrate World Fair Trade Day by participating in the World's Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break. On May 10 at 3pm Eastern (Noon Pacific) people across the country will take a break to enjoy a cup of Fair Trade coffee. Gather with your friends, family and community for this global celebration of World Fair Trade Day.

This global act will bring awareness to the strength and solidarity of the international Fair Trade movement. Join us in showing the world that there is a democratic alternative to top-down economic globalization: Fair Trade!

Sign up to participate: Want to sign up to participate? Then go here: World Fair Trade Day Page.

What are you doing for World Fair Trade Day?
Let others know what you're up to for World Fair Trade Day. Share your comments with us.