Fair Trade day Saturday

Tomorrow (May 10) will be a good day to visit your local Ten Thousand Villages shop, order from the A Greater Gift catalog or find some other way to support global fair trade.

Like the wildly successful Record Store Day a few weeks ago, the internationally recognized day is meant to drum up business for fair trade products like coffee, tea, chocolate (Divine chocolate is a personal favorite) and crafts from all over the world. Some 2,000 stores, like Just Creations in Louisville, Ky., are having various sales, promotions, talks, music concerts and other events to celebrate the day.

From the official Web site at www.wftday.org:

"World Fair Trade Day is an international celebration of Fair Trade internationally, with events organised worldwide. On and around the second Saturday of May every year, IFAT member organisations based in 70 countries, along with Fair Trade shops and networks, host events including Fair Trade breakfasts, talks, music concerts, fashion shows and much more, to promote Fair Trade and campaign for justice in trade. Fair Trade products from marginalised communities in the majority world, including coffee and tea, clothes, jewellery and beautiful handicrafts will be showcased on this day. Many events continue throughout the month of May.

"World Fair Trade Day started as a European movement of over 2,000 World Shops (Fair Trade shops), working together through NEWS! Movements to celebrate the same day and campaign for Fair Trade in Japan and the US joined them. "World Fair Trade Day" was initiated by Safia Minney, founder of People Tree, and adopted by IFAT and its members at the 2001 Full Meeting, to promote stronger global awareness of Fair Trade, and this day has been raising its profile ever since."

posted [05.09.08]

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