Consumer stories

LFTN works to create connections

It's an exciting time for the Local Fair Trade Network. We've been in greater contact with the rest of the domestic Fair Trade movement, leading to some changes in strategy and a re-focusing on our essential: bringing people together to create Fair Trade. This summer LFTN hosted a visit by the Agricultural Justice Project, the group that has put together the draft of standards for domestic fair trade that we based our Pledge on. The AJP are working with two of our member co-ops and several farmers in a pilot project towards a certified domestic fair trade label. Because AJP now plans to have certified products from these farms in stores in 2007, we agreed to suspend our own labeling project and instead focus on growing participation in the Fair Trade system from people in our region, including providing support for AJP's pilot project. LFTN will only be able to change our region's food system if we truly are a network of the people who grow, process, sell and eat food. To this end, we are working to involve more people and organizations, in LFTN and to make LFTN a community where ideas can be shared and collaborations can occur. To this end, we are embarking on several projects: One is this web site itself. We have designed this site to be both a place to get information about Local Fair Trade efforts and a place to discuss what efforts should be made and how they should be carried out. This site and our e-newsletter will also act as a connection between our region and the broader domestic Fair Trade movement. We are also developing a presentation on the mission of LFTN and the domestic Fair Trade movement as a whole. We will soon begin presenting this information to co-op management and boards, farmer organizations, consumer organizations and faith groups in order to gain a commitment by these key actors in our food system. In order to help bring the farm workers voice to the movement, we are working with Centro Campesino (in Minnesota), Community to Community Development (in Washington State) and CATA Farm Worker Support (in the Mid-Atlantic states) to host the nation's first farm worker conference on Fair Trade. Tentative plans are to hold the conference in Owatonna, MN in the Spring of 2007. Of course, all of this work requires money. While we are seeking funding from foundations, LFTN needs to be accountable, and funded by, our local Fair Trade movement. Please become a member of LFTN and join with others to create a local economy we can be proud of.