Join Us
Fair Trade in the United States stands at a crossroads. Over the past 50 years, the Fair Trade movement has empowered farmers around the world to improve their lives, protect the land and develop their communities. We are proud of what we have accomplished – hardworking farmers, responsible companies, NGOs and conscious consumers – all working together.
Yet the need is much greater. According to the World Bank, more than 2 billion people live on less than two dollars a day. Today’s Fair Trade model reaches only a small percentage of them. Fair Trade can and must do more.
It is time to innovate the model for greater impact. Millions of farmers and workers are currently excluded from Fair Trade certification. We must evolve the historic framework so that all farmers and workers in all product categories have access to the benefits of Fair Trade. Naturally, this expansion must be carefully managed so that cooperative farmers, who have been the backbone of the Fair Trade system and who we will continue to support, also benefit from this more inclusive approach.
To deepen impact, we must also attract investment in the cooperative sector and help strengthen farming communities by partnering with others to bring new, lasting solutions to health, education, water, food security and other critical challenges. At the same time, we must ignite consumer involvement so that ethical shopping becomes the “new normal”. Conscious consumers are perhaps our greatest ally and hope for changing the world.
Fair Trade for All is a compelling call to action that we embrace. We will work with Fair Trade USA to strengthen the movement and make this bold vision a reality.
OPEN LETTERS TO FAIR TRADE USA
Read open letter from Fair Trade coffee cooperative Coope Tarrazu (Click here for Spanish original)
Read open letter from Fair Trade coffee cooperative Coocafe (Click here for Portuguese original)
Read open letter from COLSIBA (Latin American Banana Workers’ Union)
Comercio Justo en los Estados Unidos se encuentra en una encrucijada. En los últimos 50 años, el movimiento de Comercio Justo ha empoderado a los productores agrícolas de todo el mundo a mejorar sus vidas, proteger el medio ambiente y apoyar el desarrollo de sus comunidades. Estamos orgullosos de lo que hemos logrado – los productores, las empresas responsables, las ONG y los consumidores conscientes – todos trabajando juntos.Sin embargo, la necesidad es mucho mayor. De acuerdo con el Banco Mundial, más de 2 millones de personas luchan por sobrevivir con menos de dos dólares al día. El modelo actual de Comercio Justo sólo apoya a un pequeño porcentaje de estas personas. El Comercio Justo puede y debe tener un mayor impacto.Es hora de innovar el modelo para crear un mayor impacto en el mundo. Millones de productores y trabajadores agrícolas están siendo excluidos de la certificación Comercio Justo. Debemos evolucionar el marco histórico para que todos los agricultores y trabajadores en todas las categorías de productos puedan tener acceso a los beneficios del Comercio Justo. Naturalmente, esta expansión se debe desarrollar cuidadosamente para que los productores que pertenecen a cooperativas y han sido la columna vertebral del sistema Comercio Justo se vean beneficiados con estos cambios.
Para profundizar el impacto de Comercio Justo, también tenemos que atraer inversiones al sector cooperativo y apoyarlos a fortalecer las comunidades agrícolas mediante alianzas con otras organizaciones para brindar nuevas soluciones duraderas a los problemas de salud, educación, agua, seguridad alimentaria y otros desafíos críticos. Al mismo tiempo, debemos estimular la mayor participación del consumidor a fin de que la compra ética se convierta en la “nueva norma”. Los consumidores conscientes son, quizás, nuestros mejores aliados y la mejor esperanza para cambiar el mundo.
Comercio Justo para Todos es un fuerte llamado a tomar acción. Trabajaremos con Fair Trade USA para fortalecer el movimiento y hacer esta visión una realidad.
Lea la carta abierta de la cooperativa de Comercio Justo Coope Tarrazú
Become a supporter
Supporters
- John Mackey | CEO, Whole Foods Market
- Larry Blanford | President & CEO, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
- Iris Munguía | Coordinadora, COLSIBA (Latin American Banana Workers’ Union)
- Arturo Rodriguez | President, United Farm Workers of America
- Pierre Ferrari | President & CEO, Heifer International
- Fernando Cerqueira | President Director, COOCAFE Cooperative, Brazil
- Robert Fulmer | President, Royal Coffee
- Peter Giuliano | President, Counter Culture Coffee
- Eduardo Letort | General Manager, Hoja Verde Rose Farm, Ecuador
- Premal Shah | President, Kiva.org
- Sergio Nunez de Arco | CEO, Andean Naturals, Inc
- Paul Thornton | Coffee Buyer, Coffee Bean International
- Shamir Merino | Operations Manager, Art of Tea, LLC
- Stanley Mehta | Specialty Buyer, Whole Foods Market
- Daniel Firger | Associate, Linklaters LLP
- Sean McKaughan | CEO, Fundación AVINA
- Carlos Vargas Leiton | Financial Director, CoopeTarrazu RL, Costa Rica
- Manik Jayakumar | CEO, QTrade Teas & Herbs
- Nicole Bassett | Director of Sustainability, prAna, USA
- Carlos Carrion Letort | General Manager, JoyGardens, Ecuador
- Chid Liberty | CEO, Liberty & Justice, U.S./Liberia
- Diego Espinosa | General Manager, Agrocoex, Ecuador
- Angus Klufio | CEO, Akoma International, UK/Ghana
- Daniel Torpey | CEO, Real Foods Foundry
- Diego Padron | Executive Director, Ecuador Fairtrade Association
- Roberto Nevado | CEO, Nevado Roses, Ecuador
- Dr. Aqueel Khan | Director, ASK India
- BGS Peiris | General Manager, Kotagala Tea Plantations, Sri Lanka (former FLO Board member)
- James Ragsdale | Farm director, Project Grow
- Rangit C Gunasekera| Project Director/Trustee, Help For The Children, Sri Lanka
- Marco A. Duran | General Manager, Roses & Roses, Ecuador
- Talha Rao | Farm owner, India
- Dr. Kimberly Donovan | Associate Professor of Counseling, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
- Elan Emanuel | Associate, Hanson Bridgett LLP
- Steve Schumacher | Owner, Center for Educational Therapy, USA
- Richard Beierwaltes | Air Cycle Corp, USA
- Emmanuel Abiodun Bolaji | North South Development, Nigeria
- Shakira Mongul | The Bohemian Magazine, USA
- Cherie Bryant | Owner, Gaea Blessings, USA
- Grace Mena | President, Exporting Company, Costa Rica
- Ranmini Fuard | Owner, Makisha Creations, USA
- Mikhail Fuard | Retail Associate, Diamond Resorts International
- Paul Roberts | Senior Case Manager, The Focal Point LLC
- Allison Russo | Owner, The Princess and the Pen Card Co.
- Lenny You | CEO, eNergyCure USA
- Scott Morton | Business Development Manager, 3TIER
- Rebecca Sterpka | Produce Associate, Berkshire Co-op Market
- Elizabeth Ann High | Student, USC Upstate
- Jill Isenstadt | Senior Director of Operations, Samasource
- Todd Mills | Director of Development and Marketing, Local Matters
- Bergen Moore | President & CTO, Mission Underground
- Rev. Dr. Douglass T. Lind | Founding Partner, The Sigma Group, LLC
- Amina | Founder, The Front Corner
- Sukhmani Singh | Student, New York University
- Kevin Corbett | Director of Internal Audit and Quality, The EOD Technology
- Dana B Brown | President, Quispamsis Tennis, Canada
- Elina Suviolahti | Research Post Doctor, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- Hannah Jorgensen | Owner, Planetary Nations LLC
- Terri Hughes | Concerned Citizen, Child Slave Trade, USA
- Suzanne Blaine | Certified Nurse Midwife, Phoenix Perinatal Associates, USA
- Kathleen Westwood | Preschool Teacher, USA
- Fernando Resendiz | Child Welfare Specialist, Seguin Services, USA
- Samantha Wennerberg | Physician Assistant, Yale Health, USA
- Susan D. Hair | Vice President, Child Services non-profit, USA
- Leah Starr Hamilton, DVM | Owner, Tularosa Equine Clinic, USA
- Julie Salvador | Assistant Professor, University of New Mexico, USA
- Rick Barrett | Photographer, ZenPerspective Gallery, USA
- Jeffrey Brown | General Counsel, North American Service, USA
- Nathan Dankin | Dankin Donuts, USA
- Melody Wren | Student, Marist College, USA
- June Fitzgerald | Dominican Sisters, USA
- Lisa Ward | Marriage & Family Therapist, Lisa B. Ward, LMFT, USA
- Ms. Hadley Littell | voter and interested purchaser, USA
- Gregory Fulton | Director of Product, AdRoll.com
- Olivia Swonder | Test Middle School, USA
- Nicole Edmonds | Student, USA
- Rochelle Coffman | Student, USA
- Jerry Harter | Consumer, USA
- Sandra Daire | Sales Manager, USA
- Kim Black | Consumer, USA
- Mary Havill | USA
- Danielle Brown | USA
- Anne Mitchell | Consumer, USA
- Stewart Lone | USA
- Cindy Wlazelek | USA
- Anna Maria Maestas | USA
- Laura Cline | USA
- Lisa Zambrano | USA
- Ann Imholtes | USA
- Michael Stinnett | USA
- Anna C. Carter | USA
- Ben Sigelman
- Pedro De Jesus
- John Schmerler
- Josh Lynch
- Nick Magel
- Rachel Burdeski
- Nick Guroff
- Annie Groff
- Rebecca Brown
- Sarah Schanck
- Dawn Arens
- Hemdah Salonimer-Horner
- Olivia Frank
- Judith Jaurrieta