• Global Exchange
• TransFairUSA
• The Forest Stewardship Council
• International Trade Agreements

You can make a difference!

Additional Fair Trade Links/Resources:

• Current Coffee Crisis - Coffee prices are currently at an all time low. Learn more about the latest news on the coffee crisis affecting the world market.
• Global Exchange
• TransFairUSA
• Fair Trade Federation
• Fair Trade Resource Network
• Equiterre
• Global Exchange and the Archdiocese of San Francisco - learn more about what the Archdiocese of San Francisco has been doing in conjunction with Fair Trade!!

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Fair Trade Information:

Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between consumers in North American and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The chief concern of the Fair Trade movement has been to ensure that the vast majority of the world's coffee farmers (who are small holders) get a fair price for their harvests in order to achieve a decent living wage. Coffee farmers are often paid prices for their harvest that are below the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt.

Fair trade guarantees to poor farmers organized in cooperatives around the world: a living wage (minimum price of $1.26/pound regardless of the volatile market); much needed credit at fair prices; and long term relationships. These fair payments are invested in health care, education, environmental stewardship, and economic independence. Fair Trade Certified coffee is the first product being introduced in the United States with an independently monitored system to ensure that it was produced under fair labor conditions. Fair Trade allows community development, health, education, and environmental stewardship for coffee farmers around the world.

As consumers, each one of us has tremendous power, through our shopping dollars, to make a difference in the lives of others. In today's competitive coffee market, roasters and retailers are extremely responsive to consumer demand. With our consumer spending choices we may unknowing;u affect people's lives and livelihoods in faraway, unknown places around the world. The products we often enjoy are made under terrible exploitation, in conditions that harm the environment and poor communities. The Fair Trade Initiative addresses the dire situation of poverty in Central America in accord with the church's social teachings on promoting justice by being responsible for the moral implications of our consumer choices.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) shall promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.

Environmentally appropriate forest management ensures that the harvest of timber and non-timber products maintains the forest's biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.

Socially beneficial forest management helps both local people and society at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to long-term management plans.

Economically viable forest management means that forest operations are structured and managed so as to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial profit at the expense of the forest resources, the ecosystem or affected communities. The tension between the need to generate adequate financial returns and the principles of responsible forest operations can be reduced through efforts to market forest products for their best value.

Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)

The proposed U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) promotes trade liberalization between the United States and five Central American countries: Costa Rica,  El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.  Modeled after the ten-year old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), CAFTA is widely considered to be a stepping stone to the larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that would encompass 34 economies. CAFTA must be approved by the U.S. Congress and by National Assemblies in the Central American countries before it becomes law.