Definitions:
•Fair Trade is a system of  exchange that honors producers, communities,  consumers, and the environment. It is a model for
the global economy rooted in people-to-people connections,  justice, and sustainability.
GreenAmerica.org
  •Organized social movement  and market-based approach that aims  to help producers in developing countries to make better trading  conditions and promote sustainability. Focus: handicrafts,  coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine,
chocolate, fruit, flowers & gold. Wikipedia
 •What is Fair Trade  Certification?
 Much like Organic  certification, Fair Trade certification lets you know about the origin of a product. Fair Trade Certified
products come from all over the world, but share  a common history. Farmers who grow Fair Trade products receive a fair
price, and their communities  and the environment benefit as well.
•Fair Trade Certified coffee directly supports a better life for farming families in the developing
world through fair prices, community development and environmental stewardship.
•Fair Trade farmers market their own  harvests through direct, long-term contracts with
international buyers, learning how to manage their businesses and compete in
the global marketplace. Receiving a fair price for their harvest allows these farmers to invest in their families' health care
and education, reinvest in quality and protect the  environment.
•This empowerment model lifts farming  families from poverty through trade, not aid, creating
a more equitable and sustainable model of international trade that benefits  producers, consumers, industry
and the Earth.
•The Fair Trade Certified label is backed by  TransFair USA, the primary third-party certifier
of Fair Trade products for the U.S. market.

Facts and Figures on the Fair Trade Discussion:
 •1.4 billion - estimated  number of people in the world existing on less than $1.25
/ day, according to Bread for the World
 •2.7 billion - estimated  number of people in the world existing on less than $2
/ day, according to the World Bank
•30% - women in  non-agricultural conventional production in developing countries
in 2004, according to the United Nations
•76% - women engaged in  non-agricultural fair trade production in 2008, according
to the Fair Trade Federation's 2009 Market  Trend Report  (up from 70%  in 2004)
 •284,000 - number of  children in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon
working in hazardous tasks on conventional cocoa farms, according  to a 2002 International Institute of Tropical Agriculture study directly involving 4,500+  producers. 
•15,000 - number of  children aged 9 to 12 in the Ivory Coast alone  who have been sold into forced labor on conventional cotton,
coffee, and cocoa plantations, according to a 2000 US State  Department report
•7.5 million - individuals  in 2008 that directly benefit from Fair Trade  Certified production, according to the Fairtrade Labelling
Organizations International 
•Comparing Conventional  and Fair Trade in Coffee

•2 cents - amount farmers  on conventional farms receive from the  average $3 latte, according to Transfair USA
•10 cents - amount of  social premium paid on top of  the per kilo price to fair trade  certified coffee farmers, according to Fairtrade
Labeling Organization standards
•20 cents - amount of  social premium paid on  top of  the per kilo price to fair trade  certified coffee farmers for organic coffee, according  to Fairtrade Labeling Organization standards
 
 •$70 billion - amount
African countries could generate if their share of world exports
increased by 1% - approximately five times what the continent receives in aid -
according to Oxfam International's Make
Trade Fair Report.
•30 cents of every $1 -  amount of foreign investment that ends up back in donor  countries through profit transfers, according to Oxfam International'sMake Trade Fair  Report.

•$13 billion - total amount  required to provide basic education and nutrition in  all developing countries, according to the 2005 UNICEF State  of the World's  ChildrenReport

•$25 billion - amount spent  annually on US farm subsidies, according to a 2007  Heritage Foundation report
•$40-70 billion - amount  required to meet all eight Millennium Development Goals  by 2015, according to the United Nations 
 
What we all can do •Support businesses  with Fair Trade Items:
•Trader Joe’s 3044 E.
Walton Blvd Rochester MI
  •Trader Joe’s 20490
Haggerty Rd Northville, MI
•Trader Joe’s 2396 East
Stadium Blvd Ann Arbor,  MI
•Trader Joe’s 31221 W 14
Mile Farmington Hills,  MI
•Salvation Army-Sally Ann Products
•Women At Risk-Grand Rapids, MI
 Join the battle to raise consciousness and living for all involved in the production and manufacturing of products.

It is Valentine Day and through out this week people will be
showing their love and affection through the purchase of cards, flowers, candy,
chocolate and other gifts.
Have you considered where some of your chocolate, teas,
coffee, flowers and other snacks are produced and by whom? Have you been made
aware that some child
is being forced, threaten and beaten to deliver the cocoa
and chocolate we all love so dearly? Do you comprehend that some systems of
harvesting products is contributing to the slavery and injustice to a group of
people, farmers and their families?

Join the Michigan Rescue and Restore Coalition as we address
how you can be aware of Fair Trade Products that will contribute to the
developing countries to "make better trading conditions and promote
sustainability." To support the development of fair pricing for products, global
economic justice and salvaging the dignity of the workers.

February 14, 2012 from 5:30pm-7pm or February 16,
12noon-1:30pm at the Salvation Army Eastern District 16130 Northland Dr.,
Southfield, MI 48039.
Join us in pursuing justice for all who serve us with their
products to have a living wage for basics food, shelter, clothing , education
and medical care.
We are the generation that can make the difference.