An Awesome Fair Trade Month Giveaway!!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that October is Fair Trade month, a time to celebrate fair wages and healthy, safe working conditions for artisans and farmers? Fair Trade Certification encourages environmentally sustainable business practices and prohibits the abuse of child slave labor, and since the cocoa industry is swarming with accusations of child slavery and other human rights abuses, choosing Fair Trade Certified chocolate is really important. Global Exchange - as we have talked about before - is all about Fair Trade gifts and other supplies. I wanted to share a bit from them about Fair Trade Month that Tex Dworkin, Global Exchange Director of Marketing, Global Exchange Store shared with me: Celebrate Fair Trade Month with Global Exchange What’s the difference between people who choose Fair Trade certified chocolate to hand out to Trick-or-Treaters and those who hand out un-certified chocolate? Lipstick. Kidding of course, but in truth the cocoa industry is no laughing matter. Let’s face it. Chocolate that isn’t Certified Fair Trade is just plain scary. The US Department of State estimates that more than 109,000 children in the Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor,” while the International Labor Rights Forum claims 284,000 children toil in abusive labor conditions in West Africa’s cocoa fields. October isn’t just about Halloween. October is also Fair Trade month, a time to celebrate the economic model guaranteeing fair wages and healthy, safe working conditions for artisans and farmers. Fair Trade encourages environmentally sustainable business practices and prohibits the abuse of child slave labor. Luckily people who purchase Fair Trade Certified chocolate are making a positive difference in the world. For years now, the cocoa industry has been linked to child slavery in Africa, unsafe working conditions for cocoa farmers worldwide, and harmful chemical pesticides that diminish the health of our environment as well as workers in cocoa farms. Fair Trade Certified chocolate guarantees that these and other conditions are prohibited, so consumers can enjoy chocolate as it is meant to be; a tasty sweet experience. Global Exchange is doing its part to ensure that Fair Trade becomes the norm for chocolate and other products, not the alternative. Here are a few ways we’re working to promote Fair Trade: ~ Our Sweet Smarts Fair Trade campaign is a national network of individuals, from young children to senior citizens, whose simple, creative actions to educate and advocate for Fair Trade certified products transform communities and corporations to support small farmers' efforts to build a better future for their families. http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/SweetSmarts.html ~In honor of Fair Trade month, our Online Store is giving out FREE Fair Trade chocolate with every order during October, while supplies last. http://www.globalexchangestore.org/holiday2.html ~Reverse Trick or Treating: A pleasant surprise will greet nearly a quarter million people distributing candy at their door, when youth reverse the Halloween tradition to hand adults a sample of Fair Trade chocolate. http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/reversetrickortreating/ ~Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit: The first of its kind, our Fair Trade Trick or Treat Kit has everything you need to make Halloween something special. It includes Fair Trade Trick-or-Treat chocolate to hand out, a Halloween decoration, a Fair Trade is Boo-tiful poster to hang in your window, and more! http://www.globalexchangestore.org/trickortreatkit.html So in honor of Fair Trade month (and Halloween!!), we're sending one lucky reader a FREE Fair Trade Trick or Treat Action Kit. The Fair Trade Trick or Treat Kit has everything you need to make Halloween something special. It includes Fair Trade Trick-or-Treat chocolate to hand out, a ghostly Papel Picado Halloween decoration, a Fair Trade is Boo-tiful poster to hang in your window, festive spooky postcards and an ecofriendly bag for Trick or Treating. To win this free kit, simply post a comment to this blog by Oct. 22nd with your thoughts about the Fair Trade Action Kit, along with your email address so we can let you know if you've won, and you're automatically entered for a chance to win your free kit! As I have said before, this is a great way to get involved with Fair Trade Month. I mean, you are going to be buying candy for the kids anyway - might as well make it fair and get a great word out at the same time! Heck, it could even be free! Don't want to wait until the end of the contest?? Your are in luck! You can purchase your action kit and other Halloween stuff at the Global Exchange Store! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, fair trade month Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!