Lawrence Fair Trade

Lawrence’s Annual Fair Trade Holiday Market will be taking place at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries (ECM, 1204 Oread, Lawrence, KS 66044).

Friday, November 24 & Saturday, November 25: 9 am - 7 pm
Sunday, November 26: 1 pm - 7 pm
Monday, November 27-Thursday, November 30: 11 am - 7 pm

Handmade gifts purchased at the sale support struggling artisans and communities from developing regions around the world, as well as local producers. Vendors include Divine Chocolate, A Greater Gift, Equal Exchange, Ten Thousand Villages, Marketplace of India, Fair Industry Clothing, Women’s Bean Project, Circles of Grace, crafts from Lawrence’s sister city El Pappaturro in Nicaragua and Lawrence-based Two Hands Worldshop. Donations can be given in a person’s name as an alternative gift to organizations such as UNICEF and KU for Uganda. A card will be provided to give as an alternative gift, reading, “A gift has been given in your name to the following organization.”

Thank you for your interest. We hope to see you at the market!

Lawrence based Two Hands Worldshop, a retail shop offering fair trade certified handbags, jewelry, home decor, toys and more has launched its website. You can find it at twohandsworldshop. Look for Two Hands Worldshop coming to downtown Lawrence summer 2007!

Two Hands Worldshop was founded by a couple in Lawrence, KS after they returned from working in the small country of Guyana in South America. Brady Swenson taught 7th and 8th grade English on Leguan Island in Guyana as a Peace Corps Volunteer between 2003 and 2005. Alicia Erickson developed an after-school art program for the students of Leguan.

In Guyana Brady and Alicia did their shopping in a traditional open-air marketplace where consumers and producers interacted face-to-face. This interaction drove home a simple fact that they had forgotten or perhaps simply hadn’t realized: trade is fundamentally a human interaction. We try to provide the faces and stories behind the beautiful arts and crafts we sell to help us remember the real power behind every dollar.

Two Hands Worldshop selects unique products of the highest quality craftsmanship that adhere to the Fair Trade criteria. Fair Trade means a fair wage, safe, cooperative workplaces, long-term business relationships and a chance to preserve cultural artforms. Fair Trade also helps disadvantaged producers by providing access to credit, banking, education and training, a necessity businesses in the developed world take for granted.

November 3 and 4 in Manhattan, Kansas. Learn about Fair Trade and get motivated to make a difference! Visit the Fair Trade in the Heartland Conference page to find out more.

REGISTER ONLINE

A new publication from the Council on Foreign Relations examining the two prevailing routes the US may take on future trade policy. This is must reading for all of us.

Description: “This publication highlights the political importance of international trade to the US and details how trade issues have come to dominate the country’s political agenda. In the form of a memorandum to the president, the author suggests two distinct approaches that the US could take on trade policy. The first approach - “Free Trade” - argues that American prosperity and security are best served by aggressively seeking to lower trade barriers, even if it means that some industries lose out. The second approach - “Fair Trade” - contends that the economic benefits of freer trade are overstated and that the US government should slow or even halt efforts to lower trade barriers in order to promote goals such as community stability and income security. The recommended policy options in the publication are accompanied by four white papers that examine the major issues in the trade debate and explore the relevant challenges in additional detail.”

Full document here: CPCTrade

Present: Heather, Michelle, Thad, Andy, Selena, Hadley, Brady, Michael

Next meeting: Tuesday, September 19 at 7:30 pm.

Contacting Sponsors We each took the responsibility of contacting a couple of potential sponsors. These sponsors should be contacted before our meeting next Tuesday if possible. The letter is written and being designified by Andy. He and Selena will email all of us a copy of the final draft for printing and presentation to potential sponsors.

Workshop Leaders / Speakers We are set on the keynote speaker and workshops 1, 2 and 4. We need to identify additional panel members for workshop three. We brought up Selena, Nadine and the USFT National Coordinator as possibilities. Heather is contacting the USFT Nat Coordinator to see if she may be interested in talking about Campus Organization. Perhaps we could turn this workshop into a lecture from the panel format we were discussing. Michelle mentioned Margaret Hansbrough from Rockhurst as a possibility for leading workshop 5 (Mainstreaming Social Justice). Heather and Brady, barring the appearance of more qualified candidates, are taking responsibilty for Workshop 6 (Concious Consumerism).

Registration Thad will be contacting UCC regarding registration procedures and the possiblity of an onloine registration form.

Next Week The meeting next week is set for Tuesday, September 19 at 7:30 pm. We will be discussing (1) the results of our sponsorship search, (2) the designing of a flyer for publicity, (3) finalizing workshop leaders, (4) establish a group to be responsible for atendee literature packets and programs.

Here is a collection of fair trade realated news from throughout the summer. Alicia and I are looking forward to seeing all of you at the first meeting of the school year. For now… get yourself updated on the haps in fair trade:

Free trade consequenses - August 17 - A well written opinion by a student in the University of Maryland newspaper.

Major European Fair Trade organization called ineffective in new book - August 3 - In a book called Les coulisses du commerce equitable (Behind the scenes of fair trade) Christian Jacquiau accuses one of Europes largest fair trade organisations, Max Havelaar, of not properly ensuring its products adhere to the fair trade principles. Max Havelaar denies the charges, but a recent ex-CEO of the organization admits Max Havelaar has problems.

Wal-Mart sees green - July 26 - Wal-mart CEO Lee Scott announces an initiative by the big-box retailer to be kinder to the environment and to the labor that produces its gooods, mentioning fair trade specifically. As usual the talk sounds great but what does this mean for fair trade?

Fair Trade Tourism - July 24 - Efforts in Ghana to promote more equitable tourism

House approves U.S.-Oman free trade pact - July 20 - The push to establish Free Trade Areas around the globe continues with the current focus on the Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA). Opponents to the bill “voiced concerns about labor provisions in the deal, saying they were insufficient to prevent human trafficking and use of forced labor.

Media, Pennsylvania becomes the first “Fair Trade Town” in the US - July 13 - Fair Trade Towns, communities that try to use fairly traded goods when possible, are all over Europe and the UK. This town in PA has become the first in the US.

Fair Trade wine now available in US - July 12

Blair urged to support fair trade in Africa - May 18 - OxFam urges PM Tony Blair to support fair trade in Africa as a development tool

Hey Everybody! Who will be available to travel to Wichita - an all day road trip - to meet with U of Tuls , KS.-OK Conference of UCC, and KSU, to plan the Nov. conference on Fair Trade…  It will be on Tuesday, May 30 or Wed. May 31, depending which is best for folk and we would leave around 8am and return in the evening.  Let me know.

Thad Holcombe

How to know if a product meets fair trade guidelines - The Seattle Times takes a look at the various certification organizations in the FT industry.

 Blair ‘must deliver on fair trade deal’ - The state of the current WTO negotiations in Geneva.

Why ethical equals profitable - A report in The Irish Times about the increasing popularity of FT in England, among consumers and multinational corporations.

Fair-trade coop seeks words from farmer - UC Santa Cruz to host FT coffee farmer from Costa Rica.

Fair-trade activist tours New Mexico - Fair trade activist and entrepreneur Peter Wahome from Nigeria to visit various towns in New Mexico to spread the word of FT from his country’s perspective.

World fair trade day is this month - Article in the Salt Lake Tribune announcing May 13th as World Fair Trade day.