TOOLKIT Toolkit Table of Contents

About ...... 1

Guidelines for Brcoming a Fair Trade Town or City ...... 2

The Local Committee or Coalition ...... 6

Events and Education ...... 7

Stage 2 – For the Fair Trade Town...... 8

Maintaining Momentum & Volunteer Leadership ...... 10

Fair Trade Towns - Frequently Asked Questions ...... 11

Making the Community Case ...... 15

Making the Business Case ...... 16

For the Fair Trade City ...... 18

All information within this document may be printed and distrib- uted by local Fair Trade committees for the purpose of spreading the message of Fair Trade. Please ensure that Fair Trade Towns USA has your contact information (form provided at end of this document).

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org About Us Fair Trade Towns, USA is an innovative grassroots movement to raise awareness of Fair Trade and build demand for Fair Trade products, thereby providing increased benefits for farmers, workers and artisans in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Fair Trade Towns USA seeks to empower communities to organize a local grassroots movement for Fair Trade that brings together businesses, civic and educational institutions, and faith-based and community organizations in their towns and cities and provides special recognition for their efforts. The Fair Trade Towns designation provides a permanent platform in the community for continued outreach and education to build the Fair Trade movement and deepen each community’s commitment to international justice.

Following the example of the Fair Trade movement in Europe, the campaign supports local, grassroots groups by offering tools and resources to become a Fair Trade Town or Community and unites these local groups with the common goal of making Fair Trade products the standard in the U.S., one community at a time.

The Fair Trade Towns USA campaign is based on principles and guidelines set forth by Fairtrade Towns in the U.K., where the first Fair Trade Town, Garstang, Lancashire, was recognized in 2000.

To be recognized as a Fair Trade Town, City, or Community in the U.S., the following goals should be met:

• A local Fair Trade Steering Committee is formed and meets regularly, with the aim of increasing awareness and building demand for Fair Trade products through education, outreach and public events.

• A range of Fair Trade products is available in local stores, cafés and other venues. These include Fair Trade Certified™ products and products sold by retailers that are members of the Fair Trade Federation.

• Fair Trade products are used by a number of local organizations, including places of worship, schools, hospitals and offices.

• The local campaign attracts media attention and visible public support, including press and radio.

• The town or city council/governing body passes a resolution supporting Fair Trade and the local campaign and commits to serving Fair Trade products at its meetings.

From the campaign launch in October 2007 through August 2009 eleven towns have achieved Fair Trade status: Media, PA; Brattleboro, VT; Milwaukee, WI; Amherst, MA; Taos, NM; Northampton, MA; San Francisco, CA; Montclair, NJ; Ballston Spa, NY; Chico, CA; and Bluffton, OH. Many more towns and cities have initiatives underway.

For more information on how you can get involved and tips on starting a steering committee in your area, please contact Billy Linstead Goldsmith, Fair Trade Towns, USA National Coordinator, 510-844 1414, wlinsteadgoldsmth@transfairusa. org or visit the Fair Trade Towns website www.fairtradetownsusa.org.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 1 Guidelines for Becoming a Fair Trade Town or City Five Goals to achieve Fair Trade Town Status

1: Form a Steering Committee that meets regularly.

• Engage individuals representing different sectors (academic, business, faith-based, non-profit).

• Maintain a manageable size for the group, and develop a plan to recruit additional members to broaden your base.

• Identify a suitable meeting location, time, additional invitees, organizational format of group (i.e. rotating Chair with Board, task committees, constitution, norms, etc).

• Identify key strengths/skill sets/ interests within the group - assign tasks or develop committees accordingly.

– Identify each member’s capacity to participate/commitment level and any specific areas of expertise

– Become informed experts in Fair Trade. Ensure that the committee works from a common definition of Fair Trade. Discuss and agree upon what being a Fair Trade Towns means to each committee member.

– In addition to holding regular meetings, the Steering Committee plans and facilitates events to raise awareness among the public—this can be great fun and helps to maintain momentum within the group!

Helpful Hint: Set up a website or blog to share news of your campaign with your supporters. Use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to generate a buzz around your campaign and recruit new members.

See Events and Education section in this document’s The Local Committee for more ideas.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 2 2: A range of Fair Trade products is available in local stores, cafes, and other venues. These include Fair Trade Certified™ products and products from member organizations of the Fair Trade Federation.

• There should be at least one business selling a minimum of two Fair Trade products for every 2,500 residents in a town of 10,000 or less. There should be at least one store for every 5,000 residents in a town that has over 10,000 residents up to 200,000 residents. For towns or cities with over 200,000 residents up to 500,000 residents, there should be at least one store selling FT products for every 10,000 residents. For cities larger than 500,000 residents, we encourage the campaign to divide the city into neighborhoods or boroughs and apply the above standards accordingly. For more ideas and info on large cities or towns, please check out the section For the Fair Trade City.

• A store that sells Fair Trade should have at least two Fair Trade products for sale on a regular basis (this is the minimum, and the committee may choose to increase the target numbers).

Helpful Hint: Use the Merchant Survey in this guide to determine how many stores offer Fair Trade products in your community, prospect new members for your steering committee and generate a where-t- buy list for your consumer outreach.

You can also research which Fair Trade companies are active in your community and look to their websites to find their accounts, or use TransFair USA’s national where-to-buy list and the Fair Trade Federation site to get started. http:// transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/ http://www.fairtradefederation.org/ht/d/Memdir/pid/1722

Suggested Tool: See Green America’s Supermarket Campaign; offer resources and brochures for stores to display, decals for the store windows, etc.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 3 3: Fair Trade products are used by a number of local organizations, such as places of worship, schools, hospitals, and offices.

• There is at least one organization for every 5,000 residents of the town or city that has committed to serving/ selling Fair Trade products. Examples include school cafeterias and faculty lounges that use Fair Trade coffee and tea, churches that serve Fair Trade coffee and tea during after the service, and offices that purchase and brew only Fair Trade coffee and tea in their staff kitchens.

Helpful Hint: Find out which already offer Fair Trade products and develop a target list of those that should. Determine if any of your local organizations like churches have links to national organizations with a position on Fair Trade. Make a presentation based on what you learn. Be prepared with a list of alternative suppliers for products that are available as Fair Trade. Then invite these groups to be a part of your steering committee once they switch!

4: The local campaign attracts media attention and visible public support, including press and radio.

• Listings of local Fair Trade activities appear in calendar/communities section of local and papers (both in print and online versions).

• Articles are published in local papers (tip: Include reporters’ emails in listserves and add them, on social media sites).

• Your town’s Fair Trade activities are posted on www.fairtradetownsusa.org, getinvolved.transfairusa.org and Fair Trade Resource Network’s events page.

• Local radio shows host interviews of Fair Trade business owners, community leaders, and others involved in the Fair Trade campaign.

Helpful Hint: Develop relationships with the press and invite them to all of your events. Many communities have public radio stations with segments that you can join on-air. Send out press releases each time there is an event.

Don’t forget new media. Build your networks online to get news out via blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Make sure key reporters are your friends on all these sites so they are getting your news even when you aren’t pitching them.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 4 5: The town or city council/ governing body passes a resolution supporting Fair Trade and the local campaign. The council commits to choosing Fair Trade products for meetings when there is a Fair Trade option.

Fair Trade Towns USA recommends that the resolution be the final step in the series of five goals in becoming a Fair Trade Town. At this point, prior to the vote of the town/city council, there should be an established steering committee, media coverage that has contributed to increasing awareness among the community, and educational events and outreach. Ideally, the resolution would represent a Fair Trade procurement policy for the town/city, and this may be held as a future goal.

Below is a checklist of suggested items for preparing to present a Fair Trade Resolution to your town/city council:

√ A list of locations where Fair Trade is available

√ Evidence of support from local merchants & professionals (especially the most visible), such as letters, narratives, quotes

√ Signatures of support from community members

√ An overview of the Steering Committee, including member names, addresses, qualifications

√ Any pertinent documentation of meetings, events, media coverage up to this point

√ See Making the Business Case for Fair Trade

√ An outline of future plans and continued work following anticipated passage of the resolution

Some tips on presenting to the Town/City Council:

• You may want to find out where each town/city council member is coming from: employment, standing in community, previous stance on issues. Establish a relationship with one or more council members who will be allies to help carry the effort forward.

• Be sure to consider who your target audience is in this presentation and what their concerns may be, and approach it from that place. For example, are members concerned with economic development in the town?

• Don’t forget to submit necessary documents to the council for review prior to the meeting.

• Make sure to invite and encourage (in person if possible) local merchants to attend the town meeting at which the resolution will be considered.

• After the presentation and vote, follow up immediately with letters of appreciation, regardless of the outcome. Consider having a celebration if the resolution is approved and invite council members.

• Invite city officials and their representatives to take part in your Fair Trade steering committee or work to have your group recognized as an official city government body!

Helpful tip: Circulate a petition or sign on letter of support when you are reaching out to retailers as part of your merchant survey. Collect sign-ons from new supporters at your events to present at your hearing. All of this can help you build your committee and supporter base! See additional resources on our web page for sample city council resolutions. www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 5 The Local Committee or Coalition

The best way to get involved in the Fair Trade Towns campaign is to join or form a local Fair Trade committee or coalition. If there is not an organized group in your area, you can start one! You can begin with just a small group of committed, interested citizens, which will grow as the local movement strengthens and gains momentum. Look at your community to find people, businesses and organizations who might want to support a local Fair Trade movement. The local Fair Trade Steering Committee should include individuals with an array of skills who represent different sectors, such as education, business, faith-based and non-profit.

The following groups are suggested as potential supporters; members of the faith-based community from local churches, temples, or other religious groups; justice and peace groups; Fair Trade shops, cafés and businesses; supportive supermarket or co-op managers and employees; student groups; farmers’ associations or markets; environmental organizations; staff of ethical businesses in the area; community organizations; local activists; town or city councils/board members. Further lists can be generated based on geographic location by emailing the National Coordinator.

Once you have identified possible supporters, get the word out! Organize a meeting and let all your contacts and the general public know about it. Post the information about the meeting and the Fair Trade Towns campaign on local bulletin boards, in local newspapers and on Internet message boards.

Don’t forget social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube. Set up a presence on each of these sites to compliment your campaign blog and begin outreaching family and friends to find supporters for your campaign. You should be able to build up a sizeable supporter base online even before your first meeting. With initiative and persistence, you can bring together a strong group of active Fair Trade supporters in no time.

Getting Started as a Committee Once you have organized a Fair Trade Steering Committee, decide on the group’s goals. Start with easier topics such as how often the group will meet. Some groups create a constitution and nominate officers, while others simply decide on short-term and long-term goals. At the beginning of the local movement, use Fair Trade Towns, USA’s goals for becoming a Fair Trade Town as a guide for what your Steering Committee should be working towards. This is also the perfect time to look at Fair Trade Towns, USA’s Mentor Bank to identify successful campaigns that are either near you or are working in a community of similar population size. These other groups can help guide you on how to organize your local Fair Trade campaign.

It’s important that you create a plan to grow your ranks quickly to maintain momentum and energy and ensure there are more people to share responsibilities and tasks over time. Develop a plan to outreach more and different groups of supporters with each event and mobilize their friends and family online with social media. The diversity of your committee should reflect the diversity of your community. As your group grows, consider forming into subcommittees to manage different aspects of the work either by interest area, geographically or both!

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 6 Events and Education An important role of the local steering committee is to organize events to educate the public about Fair Trade. Use your events to build support for your campaign with new communities, enlist their members as supporters and their leaders as members of your steering committee.

Consider the following suggestions for outreach in your community:

• Speakers: Invite Fair Trade and social justice activists involved in the FT movement on a local, national or international level to come speak in your community. Highlight local Fair Trade businesses and ask their representatives to speak at your events.

• Fair Trade Film Night: Partner with a local theater or community space to show a film about Fair Trade. This night can also include speakers or a panel discussion.

• Tabling and Informational Booths: Set up a booth with a few volunteers or members of the steering committee at existing community events and locations. Have available brochures about your local campaign, the national campaign, and Fair Trade organizations and businesses. A list of Tabling Resources can be found at the end of the Fair Trade Towns, USA Toolkit.

• Plan and hold a Fair Trade Festival.

• Organize a Fair Trade Fashion Show.

• Partner with your local food co-op, supermarket, or Fair Trade vendor to feature a Fair Trade Product or Producer-of-the-Month on a regular basis. This is a great way to get the word out about where people can buy Fair Trade products. The co-op could help you advertise, host a Fair Trade tasting of the product, or invite you to hand out information about Fair Trade to customers. You can order educational materials to hand out at your event by registering at getinvolved.transfairusa.org.

• School events: Organize a Fair Trade art contest, or invite local student groups to get involved with the movement. Connect teachers with curriculum resources they can use in their classrooms (see the Global Exchange education page ; the Learn Up section of Fair Trade Resource Network ; and Fair Trade in the Classroom through TransFair USA. Fair Trade companies such as Equal Exchange can help your local school organize a Fair Trade fundraiser, a socially conscious way to raise money for local school groups, and an opportunity to educate children about Fair Trade. For more fundraising ideas, see the Additional Resources page.

Special times to hold events include: Fair Trade Month in October, World Fair Trade Day in May, and pre-holiday seasons.

Congratulations on making it this far and reaching the above goals set forth by Fair Trade Towns! Now that your local committee has a strong platform to stand on and has been recognized as meeting the five goals to become a Fair Trade Town or City, the great challenge is to maintain momentum in your community. Read on......

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 7 Stage 2 – For the Fair Trade Town. If you have achieved all the goals to become a Fair Trade Town, congratulations! Now is the time to celebrate your community’s accomplishments, and to acknowledge and thank all of the community members, organizations, and businesses who have supported the local Fair Trade Town campaign. This is also the time to set new goals for the upcoming months and year. It is crucial to begin planning your next steps while discussing your celebration in order to maintain momentum and seize the opportunity that a public celebration will provide.

Continue to organize monthly educational events. A list of possible continuing campaigns is below. Look at your individual community and decide in what direction you want to go. Fair Trade Towns USA encourages your local group to increase its targets, both in the amount of Fair Trade products sold and the extent of awareness and support for Fair Trade.

Fair Trade Towns USA also encourages local groups to cater their work to local values. Some choose to incorporate ‘Buy Local’, or ‘Sweat Free’ aspects to their campaign. This can be done by allying with existing organizations, and/or delegating sub-committees within the coalition. In general, the more specific and clear the mission is, the more successful the campaign. There are many fabulous causes and issues to take on; be strategic in your decisions.

Some questions to ask include: Do you want to focus on promoting the local Fair Trade vendors and helping other local businesses bring Fair Trade to their stores and restaurants? Perhaps you choose to organize Fair Trade trainings for local businesses to encourage them to continue to promote Fair Trade. Do you want to focus on the partnerships you have made with local schools? This could be done by deciding on a target number of schools to hold Fair Trade fundraisers or to present Fair Trade curricula that is being used by many educators. There are many avenues that your local campaign can decide to follow in order to benefit the local and global community. It is important to ensure that the local campaign goals are clear and focused.

Some of the following campaign options are seen by the National Coordinator and National Steering Committee as vital to the national strategy of the Fair Trade Towns USA initiative. With this in mind, FT Towns are encouraged to focus on at least one of these “core” campaigns annually and set measurable goals or benchmarks to go with them. These cornerstone campaigns are denoted with an asterisk. More details regarding all of these campaigns are available by contacting the National Coordinator. Please also note that Fair Trade Towns, USA is at all times committed to maintaining local, creative and directional control at the local level. We strongly encourage towns to create their own campaigns and submit them to the National Coordinator so that we may share your ideas with the rest of the Fair Trade Towns community across the country. We rely on our local organizers to continue driving the movement by finding new and exciting ways to connect with the community.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 8 Proposed List of Campaigns

- *Mentor a town through the declaration process - *Fair Trade Schools campaign - *Fair Trade Faith Campaign - Buy Fair, Buy Local Campaign involving local Agricultural community - Effectively organize and complete a trip to origin - Bring a representative from a FT Artisan Group, Cooperative, or Farm to your town - Organize a regional event to pool resources w/ other FT Town Communities - Demonstrate an increase of FT products in local businesses with the goal of increasing the number of fully committed FT businesses locally - Become International Sister-Fair Trade Town/City - Hold FT Events. Ex. FT Concert, Fashion Show, Prom, Awards Banquet - Local/Regional speaking tour on benefits of achieving FT Town status - Local/Regional Trade Policy initiative campaign - Raise your town’s “FT Portfolio” introducing new FT products to the town as they become available.

Network, network, network!

It is critical to keep a running list of individuals and their contact info from the beginning of your local campaign work. One thing that’s so great about tabling at events is that you are able to have face-to-face interaction with a high concentration of people in a short period of time.

Always keep a clipboard with a sign-up sheet for individuals to list their name and email, and how they might want to participate. Build up your listserv for emailing announcements such as committee meetings, events, and to generally keep people aware of the work that you are doing in the community. There are many people who are interested yet do not have the time to volunteer right now. Things change and the bigger the listserv is, the greater the chance that you will successfully build your committee and volunteer base.

Prioritize social media! You can grow your supporter base and reach out to new supporters and their family and friends even between events. Set up a blog and use Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic to your posts. As you build your email list serve, be sure to import your email contact list to social media sites and keep up with your supporters there as well. Even if your group only has a few members, you can build a powerful online presence and remain an active resource in your community for Fair Trade.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 9 Maintaining Momentum & Volunteer Leadership Many Fair Trade Town groups face the challenge of maintaining momentum and sustaining volunteer participation. The purpose of Fair Trade Towns is not to achieve some sort of status, to only then file everything away. This work is a process that requires long-term commitment, and each step should ultimately further the Fair Trade Movement in the U.S., thus positively impacting producer communities.

Naturally, there will be some turnover in volunteer participation as well as shifts in committee members’ availability. It is important to have a committee coordinator; a role that may rotate, but to ensure that there is always a ‘go to’ person. Developing a core ‘go to’ group is an excellent strategy to avoid feeling overwhelmed or burned out. In addition, the meetings should remain regular and consistent. The most successful campaigns have at least one person involved who is experienced in organizing and also managing volunteers. You may also want to consider forming subcommittees if you have enough volunteers and assign to them a leadership task to build ownership over the work.

A tip for successful volunteer recruiting: Assign tasks right away! Many people want to get involved but don’t know how, or have a limited amount of time to give. Be prepared to have a list of specific tasks that interested parties can take on. A simple way to do this is print up a bunch of index-sized cards for people to fill out as they enter and leave any meeting and/or at every event that you hold. The card includes their contact info as well as a checklist of items that they can volunteer for on the spot! Typically these items would be short-term in duration, such as three hours tabling at the local farmers market next month.

The last thing we want is for you to feel isolated and then become discouraged. This is one reason why Fair Trade Towns USA works to network new campaigns with experienced organizers in declared towns. There are other individuals and groups that have been in your situation and can offer insight as to how to overcome such obstacles. Keep up the good work!

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 10 Fair Trade Towns - Frequently Asked Questions What does it mean for a town or city to be recognized as a “Fair Trade Town”? • A town or city needs to meet the five goals set forth by Fair Trade Towns, USA as follows:

• A local Fair Trade Steering Committee is formed that meets on a regular basis. The aim of the committee is to increase awareness of and demand for Fair Trade products, through education, outreach and events.

• A range of Fair Trade products is available in local stores, cafées and other venues. These include Fair Trade Certified™ products and products sold by retailers that are members of the Fair Trade Federation.

• Fair Trade products are used by a number of local organizations, such as places of worship, schools, hospitals and offices.

• The local campaign attracts media attention and visible public support, including press and radio.

• The town or city council/governing body passes a resolution supporting Fair Trade and the local campaign and commits to serving Fair Trade products at its meetings. Will all businesses be required to offer Fair Trade products? In short, no. This is not a requirement. Of course, the goal is to maximize the availability of Fair Trade products in as many places as possible. The ideas is that there should be at least one store that carries two or more Fair Trade product lines for every 2,500 people in a town that has less than 10,000 residents. For a town of 10,000-200,000, there should be at least one store that carries two or more Fair Trade product lines for every 5,000 residents, and for a town between 200,000 and 500,000 there should be at least one store for every 10,000 residents that carries two or more Fair Trade product lines. Cities of over 500,000 working toward becoming Fair Trade should break up their geography into neighborhoods or boroughs and apply the above standards. Also please refer to For the Fair Trade City section in this guide for information specific to towns larger than 500,000 people.

Will it cost the town money? It doesn’t have to. Towns can commit to Fair Trade and pass a resolution in support of Fair Trade without spending any money. Or they can commit to purchasing all Fair Trade products whenever possible with taxpayer dollars, which could incur a cost above and beyond the cost of conventional products.

What does a retailer have to do to get involved? At a minimum, ask your local retailers to sign a statement of support for your campaign that you can present to your city government. Ideally you will be able to recruit some area retailers to join your committee. If there is not yet a Fair Trade Town Committee in your community, invite them to form a group with you and others to take some of the first steps toward reaching the Fair Trade Towns goals. One idea is to work with other Fair Trade retailers and organizers to plan a Fair Trade Festival and/or a Fair Trade Fashion Show to showcase and sell product, as well as to get more people interested and involved in forming a local committee. For information on retailers who sell Fair Trade products go to http://www transfairusa.org/content/ WhereToBuy/ and www.fairtradefederation.com.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 11 What about locally produced goods? Isn’t Fair Trade competition for our farmers? Fair Trade Certified™ products like coffee, tea, cocoa and bananas are not produced in the US (except in minor volumes in Hawaii) and do not represent any sort of competition with local farmers who grow different crops. Some may also be concerned that Fair Trade products travel long distances (thereby accumulating ‘food miles’). We support the approach of many members of BALLE, who say “Buy local, and buy Fair Trade” for those products which are not grown locally, supporting sustainable models of production at all levels: Fair Trade – better for communities and better for the environment.

Does the Fair Trade Towns campaign work with any other sustainable community initiatives like Buy Local, Buy Organic, Living Wage campaigns or Sweatshop-Free? The guidelines for becoming a Fair Trade Town do not incorporate criteria such as forming partnerships with the campaigns mentioned above. However, it is strongly suggested that organizers seek these groupd out in an effort to work in synergy with these movements and explore where your respective campaigns may overlap or work in partnership. Many local Fair Trade advocates are also involved in other sustainable community initiatives, and at the local level, you will likely find many opportunities to work together. We fully support collaboration, however we also recommend being careful not to spread yourselves too thin by trying to accomplish too much at once! Fair Trade is a great way to introduce people of all backgrounds to the concept of sustainability and fairness. It is great way to develop links with other campaigners.

There aren’t many Fair Trade products available where I live. What do I do? Ask your favorite cafes, restaurants and retailers to start carrying Fair Trade products! You can use the Green America Supermarket Action kit or order Fair Trade Consumer Action Cards and materials from TransFair USA to create an outreach packet. Even if there aren’t any stores selling Fair Trade products in your community, chances are that there are others who are interested in learning more and increasing awareness. There are many ways to get the momentum started, such as a film screening and discussion, a festival, a tasting, etc. We may even know of others who have overcome such obstacles in their communities.

I’d like where I live to be a Fair Trade Town? Where do I begin? Ask yourself a few questions before you start recruiting others to work with you. What is motivating you? Are you easily discouraged? How well do you know the community in which you live? Are you clear on what it means to be a Fair Trade Town? Are you comfortable talking to lots of different people? Be prepared to answer lots of questions about what it means to you to be part of a Fair Trade Community. Some find that the best way to get started is by planning an event, such as a Fair Trade Holiday Sale, or to collaborate with an existing event, such as tabling at a Farmer’s Market to start talking to people about Fair Trade Towns. Check out our Fair Trade Festival Guide for more suggestions.

What’s in it for me? Most committee work is volunteer-based, and the wealth of resources lies within shared knowledge, energy, and experiences. Many people who are passionate about Fair Trade find that working toward building awareness within one’s own community is extremely fulfilling and filled with ‘ah-ha!’ moments. Towns and cities that have fulfilled the five main goals set forth by Fair Trade Towns, USA are recognized on a national level. Be prepared to meet like-minded people involved in the campaign from around the country and sometimes the world. Generally individuals within the local committee or coalition share and rotate responsibilities and roles and therefore you are able to participate in all aspects of the process. Perhaps you will be contributing to helping make history!

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 12 What’s in it for my town? There is broad public support for promoting products that benefit workers and the environment, etc. Towns like to be recognized as leaders and this is an easy thing they can do. They can get media attention and be recognized as a sustainable town or city with a commitment on the part of public officials, to serve as role models for other communities. For more information, see FTT’s Making the Community case. There are also examples of Fair Trade resolutions passed by cities and towns on the Fair Trade Towns, USA website.

Who’s behind the Fair Trade Towns, USA initiative? Fair Trade Towns is a campaign organized by local and national Fair Trade advocates and grassroots groups whose mission is to support and grow the Fair Trade Movement in the U.S. The initiative began in the U.K., where there are hundreds of Fair Trade Towns, recognized by the Fairtrade Foundation. The Fair Trade Towns USA campaign is guided by a steering committee which includes representatives of TransFair USA, the Fair Trade Federation, the Fair Trade Resource Network and local steering committees.

Who decides which towns achieve Fair Trade Town status? Upon completion of the five criteria the local campaign will submit documentation demonstrating their achievement of the Fair Trade Towns goals to the national steering committee in order to be recognized as an official Fair Trade Town. This is done by completing the Fair Trade Towns USA criteria fulfillment form which can be found at the end of this document.

Are there any Fair Trade Towns in the U.S.? How many? Yes. As of August 2009 eleven towns have declared since the campaign first launched in October of 2007 including Media, PA, Brattleboro, VT; Milwaukee, WI; Amherst, MA; Taos, NM; Northampton, MA; San Francisco, CA; Montclair, NJ; Ballston Spa, NY; Chico, CA; and Bluffton, OH. There are dozens more active campaigns across the country with new ones popping up every day. For a complete list visit: www. fairtradetownsusa.org

Is there a logo or image for “fair trade friendly” that cafés, places of worship, or stores can display (if they serve more than two fair trade products)? The Fair Trade Towns logo will soon be available on a decal for organizations and businesses that are participating in the campaign. This logo will be customizable to include the name of each town participating in the campaign. For those businesses that sell Fair Trade Certified products, TransFair USA offers window displays and other material to inform customers. Likewise, businesses who are members of the Fair Trade Federation have materials to display their participation in the movement.

The Fair Trade Towns guidelines seem easy to accomplish. Why not make it more difficult to become a Fair Trade Town? The Fair Trade Towns Guidelines are target goals to help support local Fair Trade advocates with a meaningful and proven method for organizing their efforts. The goals are the first step towards building a lasting campaign for Fair Trade in your community, and we encourage you to set new goals for your campaign as you complete the declaration process. As a next step you could undertake a Fair Trade schools campaign or mentor a neighboring town to achieve Fair Trade status. Choose from the list of suggested campaigns for phase two of your process or create something new to share with others around the country!

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 13 Is there a difference between becoming a Fair Trade Town and passing a town or city-wide Fair Trade resolution? Yes, a Fair Trade Town designation demonstrates a broad commitment to Fair Trade across a town or city community. This includes local businesses, community organizations, schools, faith based organizations, as well as city or town government. Passing a Fair Trade resolution is one piece of becoming a Fair Trade Town, and should be seen as a means to continue to raise awareness and commitment to Fair Trade in your community, not an end unto itself.

What happens after a town is declared a Fair Trade Town or City? Becoming a Fair Trade Town is a commitment to continue campaigning and to raising awareness and sales of Fair Trade products in your community. There are many ways of deepening this commitment. These may include: developing local tools catered to your community such as a Where to Buy Fair Trade Guide, setting up partnerships with local schools to teach about Fair Trade, and increasing the target numbers of cafés, supermarkets, etc. that offer Fair Trade products. Achieving the goal of becoming a Fair Trade Town is certainly not the end of Fair Trade campaigning in your community.

Is there someone I can talk to about starting a Fair Trade Town? The first step is to contact the National Coordinator of Fair Trade Towns USA Billy Linstead Goldsmith, 510- 844-1414, [email protected]. You can also use the Fair Trade Towns, USA website to reach out to experienced fellow campaigners in declared towns, as well as other active campaigns nearby.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 14 Making the Community Case There are many ways that towns or cities benefit from becoming a Fair Trade Town. It is important to be able to present the campaign to your community members with strong evidence that the town or city will benefit and that local values will be honored.

Community Strengthening & Social Capital As the process of becoming and sustaining an active Fair Trade Town requires a broad-based effort involving many voices (residents, faith-based groups, schools, environmentalists, local officials, businesses, etc.), there is great potential to bring about partnerships and unity among community members around a common cause. As Chicago Fair Trade puts it, the Fair Trade Towns Movement “…will magnify the reality that how we live (in our own community] is related to how well people live in other parts of the world.” Simply, doing good feels good.

Community Recognition There is broad public support for community-wide initiatives that support sustainable methods of production and products that benefit workers. Fair Trade Towns are recognized as models that are taking positive, effective action to bring about greater fairness in the way commodities and other goods are bought and sold and to increase the practice of healthier, more sustainable production. Fair Trade Towns enjoy a public image as leaders in sustainability and attract positive media attention through commitments from many sectors of the community, including public officials. Media, Pennsylvania enjoyed international attention upon becoming America’s first Fair Trade Town, thereby increasing its visibility and tourism opportunities!

Power to the People Supporting Fair Trade is an easy, concrete way to create positive change in the world. By promoting Fair Trade in the community, more Fair Trade products will become available.

Increased accessibility to Fair Trade products offers local consumers a powerful economic opportunity to create change with their dollars. As demand for Fair Trade products increases, so will the variety of products that are available, and the benefits to producers will multiply.

Building Alliances Becoming a FTT does not compete with support for locally produced products; instead, it works in alliance with local producers. The Fair Trade Town of Brattleboro, Vermont took advantage of its campaign to create partnerships with local farmers with its “Buy Local, Buy Fair” campaign.

Community Legacy What is your community’s legacy or legacies? Engage senior members of the community by researching and highlighting the history of how your town has been a leader for better living.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 15 Making the Business Case Your local Fair Trade Town committee will be presenting the campaign to different audiences within the community. Perhaps there has been significant support from individuals who are already fluent in the importance of Fair Trade. However, if you have not yet presented the campaign to the town or city governing body, be prepared to answer questions about how becoming a Fair Trade Town will benefit the community economically. See more on this topic in Presenting the Resolution.

A common concern for some local businesses is that Fair Trade products will cost more and that they may be required to sell these products at a higher price; this issue is addressed in the FAQ’s section of the Toolkit. It is your responsibility to address questions that local business owners will have, without trying to change their business models and without alienating community members that do not understand how they can benefit from the town or city becoming Fair Trade.

In the presentation The Business case for Fair Trade Coffee, Oxfam provides evidence that Fair Trade is a good business investment. For anyone interested in better understanding how the Fair Trade coffee market is growing in proportion to the total coffee market (2005), the above resource may serve you and your campaign well (PowerPoint required).

According to FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International), Fair Trade sales worldwide were 1.6 billion Euros in 2006, up from 1.1 billion Euros in 2005, an annual increase of 41% (www.fairtrade.net, 2007). The U.S. Fair Trade coffee market is growing more rapidly than in any other nation. In 2006, Fair Trade products were available in an estimated 40,000 retail outlets alone in the U.S., and consumer awareness of Fair Trade grew 33% from 2005 to 2006 (www. transfairusa.org/content/support/ftm_business.php). The bottom line is customers are demanding Fair Trade.

Myth: Fair Trade products are too expensive. Reality: Not necessarily. Fair Trade Certified coffees and chocolates are generally priced competitively with other gourmet, specialty coffees and chocolates. It is up to the retailer to price products they sell, and you may find the same Fair Trade Certified product priced differently from one retailer to the next (www.fairtradecertified.org). Some research may be required but not all Fair Trade is priced more than its non-Fair Trade counterpart. Generally, fairly traded items do not cost more than other goods, because fair trade businesses work directly with producers, cutting out anywhere from three to ten middlemen who raise the price along the way in conventional trading. The cost to consumers typically remains the same while a higher percentage of the price is returned to the artisans and farmers who made the product (www.fairtradefederation.org).

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 16 Myth: Fair Trade products are low quality. Reality: Fair Trade specialty coffees and chocolate have gained widespread recognition for high quality, and Fair Trade coffees have won many awards for excellence. A recent Fair Trade Certified coffee from Rwanda won a 96 point grade (out of 100), a very rare achievement. If your audience is still skeptical, many Fair Trade companies are happy to send or hand- deliver samples to your community at no cost – that’s how certain they are that folks will love not only the way in which the products were produced, but the taste too!

After reviewing the above, is cost still a concern? Maybe some still say their budget simply does not support the purchase of Fair Trade coffee and tea for their office or to supply their staff kitchens. In some cases, you may decide to let it go and pursue other avenues in your campaign; however, if one such person is a member of the city council who will be voting on your local resolution you will need to spend some extra time gathering resources such as price sheets for Fair Trade coffee that is priced in the same range as non-Fair Trade coffee. There are many companies pricing their Fair Trade lines the same as their non-Fair Trade lines. Talk with suppliers of Fair Trade products and request wholesale quotes for town or city offices and schools.

Persistence is the key here, and this piece of the campaign can be particularly challenging and potentially frustrating. As activists who are passionate about Fair Trade principles and the impact Fair Trade has on producers, it can be painful to end up in discussions about why some Fair Trade products are more expensive than others. Try to make it as easy as possible for the person you are trying to convince to commit to switching to Fair Trade. For example, have a print-out of comparably priced products, including supplier contact info and, if possible, some product sample. These resources can be found on TransFair USA’s website or by contacting the National Coordinator. At the end of the day, you may want to suggest that paying somewhat more for products that supports improved livelihoods for those who produce them is a cost we can bear with confidence that we are helping make a better world.

Be sure to keep a blog or website to document your progress and share your victories, your trials and tribulations. What sort of solutions did you find to some common challenges in presenting the Fair Trade business case? Don’t forget that other local coalitions are coming up against many of the same obstacles in their efforts, and our campaign will gain strength as we continue to share best of practices!

As the Fair Trade Towns campaign develops a history in the U.S. it is our goal to have solid, hard numbers to evidence how becoming a Fair Trade Town or City has benefited the local community from an economical standpoint. Please take the time early on to approach local businesses in your community to gauge the level of Fair Trade currently in the town or city where you live. The Merchant Survey is a starting point, and offers the opportunity to have a baseline measurement of Fair Trade availability and consumption so that benchmark measurements can be taken in the future.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 17 For the Fair Trade City Fair Trade Towns is not just for small towns! Cities can also organize Fair Trade campaigns following these same guidelines in order to become a Fair Trade City. However, organizing in a larger city like NYC or Chicago is different than organizing in a small town like Media, PA or Garstang, UK. Whether you live in a small town or large city, networks and diverse alliances are key components to succeeding in your campaign. Successful local campaigns bring together community groups, municipal government authorities, local businesses, schools, faith communities and individuals – a great opportunity for community-building, the essence of Fair Trade!

Cities across the country, and across the ocean, have used different tactics for developing campaigns. Some large cities, like London, have subdivided their campaign by borough, building connections within neighborhoods to form local campaigns which then contribute to the larger city campaign. Other cities have focused their energies based on the interests of organizations and individuals involved. For example, in Chicago, there is a sub-committee focused on outreach to faith congregations across the city, another working on a city-wide resolution in support of Fair Trade. In NYC, after passing a resolution through the city council, members of the NYC Fair Trade Coalition have been working to bring Fair Trade fundraisers to schools in the New York area. Fair Trade Los Angeles has launched its efforts by pairing up with Catholic Relief Services to hold a Fair Trade ‘Just Lives’ Festival at Hollywood’s prime Farmers Market! The San Francisco Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition has formed partnerships with local transit groups like BART and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to promote Fair Trade to commuters. There are many ways to organize campaigns in a city, and lots of fun, creative event ideas for building your base and visibility. You might have an even better one which we’d love to hear about! We encourage you to register your events on the Fair Trade Towns, USA website and to contact the National Coordinator with ideas and to help you brainstorm and develop a realistic roadmap for your campaign. This may include pairing you up with a mentor to help guide you in developing targets to maximize your campaign. First and foremost, our top recommendation is to develop a strategic plan aimed to gain the greatest impact from your campaign. Identify your local allies, choose your goals, brainstorm together and choose activities that are fun! And then tell us what YOU would recommend to other Fair Trade City campaigns! We look forward to hearing from you.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 18 I Support Fair Trade and want to help grow the availability and the understanding of Fair Trade where I live.

I promise to: • Buy Fair Trade Certified™ products such as coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate and fruit, as available for myself and if applicable, for meetings and gatherings. • Purchase commodities or crafts from members of the Fair Trade Federation. • Educate my classmates, coworkers, and community members about Fair Trade. • Promote Fair Trade in our community through events or other activities whenever possible.

Signature Date

I would like to learn more about how to get involved with a local Fair Trade Towns campaign. Please contact me! p Y N

Contact Name:

Organization:

Address:

City: State: Zip:

Phone : Email :

For more information please contact your local committee representative and/or Fair Trade Towns.

Administered By: Date:

Assessment of Fair Trade Commerce in [insert town/city] – this is meant to serve as a your survey to determine the amount of Fair Trade products are available in your community when you begin your campaign.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 19 Merchant Survey Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey. The purpose of this survey is to asses the amount of Fair Trade commercial activity in our community and to identify those businesses that are interested in bringing Fair Trade products to their stores. You do not have to carry Fair Trade products to participate in this survey. The information that you provide will be kept confidential—your name or place of business will not be associated with the survey results.

Name of Business/Representative: Street Address: Email: Telephone:

1. Type of Business/Organization: For more information about [insert Local Committee ¨ Grocery Store name] contact: [insert Local contact info] or check out ¨ Retail Store the national campaign Fair Trade Towns: ¨ Restaurant www.fairtradetownsusa.org ¨ Café ¨ Non-Profit Organization 4. What are your approximate total annual sales in Fair ¨ Other (please specify): Trade Products? k USD/year

2. Do you carry Fair Trade Products? 5. Approximately what percentage of your merchandise is ¨ Yes Fair Trade? % ¨ No If “no,” please explain: 6. Approximately what percentage of your total annual ¨ Don’t know enough about it revenue comes from Fair Trade products? % ¨ Customers don’t ask or care ¨ Prices are too high 7. Do you make Fair Trade literature available to your ¨ Products are not certifiably Fair Trade customers? ¨ Yes ¨ No ¨ Other: If “no,” would you LIKE to have literature available to your customers? ¨ Yes ¨ No Are you interested in learning more about Fair Trade for your business? 8. How would you be interested in becoming involved with ¨ Yes our Fair Trade coalition? ¨ No ¨ Attend our bimonthly steering committee If you do not carry Fair Trade Products, please skip to ¨ Participate in special events question # 8 ¨ Display literature ¨ Host an event ideas: 3. What types of Fair Trade Products do you carry? ¨ Be included on our email list serve ¨ Be included in our Fair Trade walking tour ¨ Make a donation (please contact us) ¨ Other:

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 20 Additional Resources & Links • Fair Trade Towns - Merchant Survey: Baseline Measurement of Fair Trade • Sample Fair Trade Town/City Resolutions • Green America - Guide to Fair Trade • Green America - S upermarket Action Organizing Guide • Other ideas for Supermarket Organizing • TransFair USA - Fair Trade Film Library • Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) - T he Conscious Consumer • FTRN - A Guide for Retailers: Creating a Successful Fair Trade Business • Fair Trade Federation & FTRN - F air Trade Action Guide • Oxfam - M ake Trade Fair Campaign Toolkit • Oxfam - J ust Add Justice • Global Exchange - B ring Fair Trade into the Classroom • United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) - T he Time is Now

Fundraising & Events • Equal Exchange: Fair Trade Fundraising Guide • Fair Trade Federation: Members’ Fundraising & House Parties • TransFair USA: House Party Kit • Global Exchange: Fair Trade Action Pack for Coffee & Chocolate Campaigns • Lutheran World Relief: Fundraising Kit • No Sweat: Fair Trade Fashion Show Toolkit • Fair Trade Festival Guide • Fair Trade Sports - Soccer Game

Please visit www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org to access these additional resources.

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 21 Tabling Material & Resources for Local Groups TransFair USA - Jamie Guzzi [email protected] 510.663.5260 x309 or online through http://transfairusa.org/content/resources/order_form.php

Fair Trade Federation - Carmen Iezzi [email protected] 202.636.3547

Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN) - Jeff Goldman [email protected] 917-464-5558

Green America – Samantha Saarion [email protected] 202-872-5309

Global Exchange - Adrienne Fitch-Frankel [email protected] 415.255.7296

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - Jackie DeCarlo [email protected] 410.951.7508

Lutheran World Relief (LWR) - Kattie Somerfeld [email protected] 410.230.2800

United for Students for Fair Trade (USFT) - Alli Reed [email protected] or contact your regional coordinator at: http://www.usft.org/leadership

Oxfam America - Brian Rawson [email protected] 800.776.9326

Equal Exchange - Daniel Steinberg [email protected] 774.776.7405 Kelsie Evans [email protected] 774.776.7371

Divine Chocolate - Erin Gorman or Niki Lagos [email protected] 202.332.8913

OKE USA Fair Trade Bananas - Jordan Bar Am [email protected] 617.245.2939

Fair Trade Sports - Scott James [email protected] 206.855.8222

Interrupcion* - Michela Calabrese [email protected] 718.417.4076

The above information was last updated in August of 2009 and is subject to change. .

www.FairTradeTownsUSA.org page 22 Local Committee Information Once you have formed a Fair Trade Towns Steering Committee in your town or city, please submit the following information to Fair Trade Towns USA. This will ensure that we can provide you with support and resources as available. We strive to track where Fair Trade Towns initiatives are taking place throughout the United States in order to further the movement, and to maintain momentum nationally.

The following information will be used for informational purposes only within Fair Trade Towns. The form is also available online at www.fairtradetownsusa.org/contact.

Committee/Coalition Name Contact(s) Address City State Zip Phone(s) : Email(s) : URL if any :

When did this steering committee form and begin to hold regular meetings? month and year How often do you meet as a group? x per month

What stage is your committee in? We have met all five of the goals set forth to become a Fair Trade Town/City!! We are working in the following ways to achieve the five goals set forth by FTT (pls list): Fair Trade Towns welcomes any comments/questions/concerns:

Fair Trade Towns, USA www.fairtradetownsusa.org A number of folks involved in the Fair Trade Towns campaign met in Media, PA in July of 2007 to hash out some of the details for the official Fair Trade Towns launch. Media, the first Fair Trade Towns in the U.S., was celebrating its one year anniversary of becoming Fair Trade. The city had recently funded new signage for the town, after experiencing the benefits of being a Fair Trade Town!

We live all over the United States; from the countryside of rural Vermont to the bustling city of L.A. Please contact us and we will do our best to support your efforts and share our experiences with you in making our communities Fair Trade. We appreciate your passion for justice, and keep up the good work!

Fair Trade Towns, USA www.fairtradetownsusa.org

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