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RESOURCES
Organizations & Businesses| Films| Curriculum | Books
Special handout for teachers: "Back to School with Fair Trade" regular PDF and NYSUT version
FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATIONS & BUSINESSES
www.transfairusa.org
TransFair USA is an affiliate of Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) and is the certifying agency in the United States for Fair Trade products. The TransFair Web site contains a wealth of information about Fair Trade, about certification and about where to purchase a wide variety of products.
www.globalexchange.org
Global Exhange is a national human rights organization that has been a leader in the U.S. Fair Trade movement. This Web site offers education on a wide range of global economic issues and provides direct action ideas (letters, faxes, etc) to help create greater Fair Trade markets. It also includes some great ideas for classroom use.
www.crsfairtrade.org
This Web site of Catholic Relief Services includes interactive educational segments and downloadable materials helpful for classroom and community use.
www.equalexchange.com
Equal Exchange has been promoting Fair Trade for twenty years. In addition to quality products, this Web site contains a broad range of educational and fundraising materials, descriptions of farmer-partners, a section on interfaith partners and the story of Equal Exchange’s worker-owned business.
www.deansbeans.com
Included in this Web site are photographs and stories of how your small purchases make a big difference; a “Fair Trade Roadmap” that describes exactly how Dean’s does Fair Trade; a section on People-Centered Development; and excerpts from Dean’s zine.
www.fairtradenyc.org
The NYC Fair Trade Coalition works to raise awareness about fair trade practices and support the sale of fair trade products. Its Web site contains basic information about fair trade as well as a comprehensive listing of businesses and shops in the New York City area that sell fair trade products. Such a listing is a great model for groups who wish to encourage consumers to buy from fair trade retailers in their own towns and cities.
www.fairtradesports.com
Fair Trade Sports is a great Web site with informational blogs to keep up to date on Fair Trade issues, as well as a place to order Fair Trade sports equipment and apparel.
Stolen Childhoods is the first feature documentary on global child labor. Features stories of child laborers around the world, told in their own words. The film places these children’s stories in the broader context of the worldwide struggle against child labor. Purchase at www.stolenchildhoods.org; with individual and institutional pricing. A teacher’s resource guide is also available for free download.
Black Gold follows Tadesse Meskela on his mission to help 75,000 struggling coffee farmers in Ethiopia. While the farmers do their part producing delicious coffee, Tadesse travels the world seeking new buyers willing to pay a fair price for the coffee. Viewers learn about the powerful international trading systems such as New York coffee traders and auction houses. Black Gold is available ( with individual and institutional pricing) at www.blackgoldmovie.com, where you can also watch it online. A discussion guide is available at the website.
Buyer Be Fair is an inspirational but balanced television special that takes viewers to Mexico, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, the USA and Canada to explore how conscious consumers and businesses can use the market to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through product labeling, with a focus on Fair Trade coffee. Purchase a copy of Buyer Be Fair at www.bullfrogfilms.com (individual and institutional pricing). To learn even more about Fair Trade, visit the film’s website, www.buyerbefair.org.
Fair Trade: The Story is an 8-minute video with stories and images of Fair Trade communities, and even interviews with Paul Rice of TransFair and Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard. You can watch it right from your computer by visiting www.eq.tv and entering “Fair Trade” in the search box. Order from TransFair by calling (510) 663-5260 or emailing info@transfairusa.org.
Equal Exchange: Awaken Your Consciousness This brief video brings the viewer on a journey with Equal Exchange through Nicaragua. It tells the story of coffee farmers and the difference Fair Trade makes for them and their families. This video shows businesses and consumers how they can change lives with their purchases of Fair Trade coffee. You can request a copy of this video from Equal Exchange at www.equalexchange.com.
FAIR TRADE CURRICULUM
Special handout for teachers: "Back to School with Fair Trade" PDF
here and NYSUT version
From TransFair
Focus on Fair Trade . Curriculum is available on-line and includes units developed for different grade level: K-2 Chocolate Explorers; 3-6 Banana Bonanza: 7-12 Coffee Connection. Introduces students to the concept of global interdependence and citizenship. Comprehensive, and versatile, with engaging hands-on activities and handouts. Each unit is designed to meet multiple age-appropriate standards in a variety of subject and skill areas.
From Equal Exchange
Win Win Solutions: An Introduction to Fair Trade and Cooperative Economics. The curriculum helps demonstrate the link between personal actions and community efforts to create a more just and sustainable world. Arranged sequentially so that lessons build, with flexible structure so individual activites can be incorporated into current lesson plans. Addresses standards from a variety of subject areas. Available in hard copy only for $25, appropriate for grades 4-9.
From Global Exchange
Fair Trade: A Student/Teacher Action Guide is designed for junior and senior high school, but contains valuable background information for all grade levels. Also available are Fair Trade Chocolate Activity Books for grades K-2 and 3-6 and a supplemental Valentine’s Day curriculum for grades K-6. Both are available for free download, on-line.
From New York State United Teachers
Soon available on-line at www.nysut.org, developed by Social Studies and Arts Curriculum Committees to fit with New York State standards. Activities for elementary, middle and high school standards.
Javatrekker is a unique hybrid of Fair Trade business study, adventure travel, and cultural anthropology published by Chelsea Green Publishing of Vermont. Author and coffee entrepreneur Dean Cycon introduces readers to the real people who make our morning coffee ritual possible - people that few, if any, outsiders have ever seen. Javatrekker is available through the Labor-Religion Coalition and local bookstores for $19.95.
A Cafecito Story published by Chelsea Green Publishing (in English and a bilingual edition), is a story of love, coffee, birds and hope. It is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story demonstrates how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds. It is available for $14.95. Search in the Chelsea Green Publishing site for more information.
Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet, published by New Press, traces the origins and evolution of chocolate from the banquet table of Montezuma's Aztec court in the early sixteenth century to the bustling factories of Hershey, Cadbury, and Mars today, revealing that slavery and injustice have always been key ingredients. The heart of the book takes place in West Africa where poor farmers have turned to the cheapest labor pool possible: thousands of indentured children who pick the beans but have never themselves known the taste of chocolate. Bitter Chocolate is an absorbing social history, a passionate investigative account, and a shocking exposé of an industry that has institutionalized misery as it indulges our whims. The book is available in hardcover for $27.95. Brouse by title at the New Press site to see more
Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide: This book reveals why Fair Trade means more than just bananas, coffee, and chocolate. Author and activist Jacqueline DeCarlo explains the principles behind Fair Trade and its development into a powerful economic tool. This guide was published by Oneworld Publications and is available for $14.95. Search in the Beginner's Guide section for more information.
Click here for the printer-friendly conference version of this resource guide (PDF).
Tell Us about fair trade resources you have found.
Last Updated: 10/17/2008
© New York State Labor-Religion Coalition
