Community
activists, students, people of faith, environmental organizations, women’s
groups, and local businesses -- together with concerned consumers -- have an
important role to play in helping promote economic justice for farmers
worldwide. How? By shifting your purchases either as an
individual, a workplace, a congregation, a school, etc. to Fair Trade, and
working to make Fair Trade widely available in your community by encouraging
supermarkets and other businesses to carry Fair Trade products such as coffee,
tea, cocoa, bananas, and other fresh fruit that is now coming in to the market.
This
guide provides you with:
1) Action
steps that you can take to promote Fair Trade coffee and other products.
2) Sample
text for consumer comment forms and corporate addresses for some major retail
chains.
3)
Information for finding green businesses offering Fair Trade Certified
products.
Plus,
we’ve included a fax-back “We Did It” form so you can
let us know what you and your organization are doing to promote Fair
Trade. We’ll be posting responses online
to help encourage more organizations to take action!
1. Encourage your members and people in your
community to fill out comment cards each and every time they go to the store.
On your
Web site, or in your next newsletter, member mailing, or e-mail newsletter, ask
your members to do their part to promote justice for famers
by (a) switching their purchases to Fair Trade, and (b) filling out comment
cards every time they shop and asking their local supermarket to stock more
Fair Trade coffee and other products.
If
possible, include sample text for your members to use. Co-op
2. Beyond Comment Cards -- Talk to the Manager
One way
to make sure that your voice is heard is to speak directly to the store
manager. Ask your members to take an
extra minute out of their shopping trip to convey their request for Fair Trade
to the manager.
3.
Power in Numbers -- Use Your Organizational Clout
Your
organization can help send a powerful message to supermarkets by:
Sending a letter to a major supermarket chain in your
area. Have the letter signed by your staff, board,
or committee on behalf of your organization.
(See the next page for corporate addresses of some major supermarket
chains.)
Drafting
a letter or petition and circulate it among your members or people in your
community for signatures. Ask if you can pass the petition at a community meeting or set up a
table at the next community event. Remember: you don’t need thousands of
signatures to demonstrate support for Fair Trade.
Sending a delegation representing your organization to
speak with a local or regional store manager.
Make sure you contact the store headquarters to let them know whom you
met with and that you asked for more Fair Trade products in their stores.
Feel free
to use this sample text or draft your own.
Dear
Store Manager,
I am a
regular shopper at your store, and I would like to see Fair Trade Certified
coffee, tea, chocolate, and fresh fruits like bananas offered so that customers
like me can buy them.
I want my
purchases to help, not hurt, farmers, their families, and the environment. The Fair Trade Certification label is my
guarantee that farmers received a fair price for their harvests.
Please do
your part to help by introducing more Fair Trade Certified products into your
store. I would like to continue to make
my purchases in your store, so I hope that you will act on my request today.
More
supermarket addresses are listed on Co-op
Albertson's
Albertson's Inc.
Also
owns: Acme, Jewel-Osco, Max-Foods, Seesels Super
Savers
Safeway
Safeway
Inc.
Also
owns: Carr's, Dominick's, Eagle, Genuardi's, Pak'Save, Pavillions, Randall's,
Simon Davis, Tom Thumb, Vons
Kroger
Customer Relations
Also
owns: Ralph's, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Gerbes, Owen's, Smith's, QFC's, Fry's,
Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer
Trader
Joe’s
Wal-Mart
Stores
Whole
Foods Market Inc.
601 N.
Lamar,
Finding
Fair Trade Products
Check out
socially and environmentally responsible businesses listed in Co-op
For more
mainstream retail locations, visit TransFair