An Invitation from Fair Trade Puget Sound
Seattle is the center of the worldwide market in specialty coffees. It's also a community that values social justice and environmental sustainability. We believe that we as a city can make a difference, ensuring that coffee producers are paid a fair price for their product, by expanding the market for Fair Trade Certified coffees.
Fair Trade Puget Sound is a coalition of community groups, businesses, NGOs, faith communities, students, and individuals who have come together to spearhead an effort to educate local consumers about fair trade coffee. We aim to measurably increase the availability and consumption of Fair Trade Certified coffee within Seattle and throughout the greater Puget Sound area.
We're not aiming to pass a law mandating fair trade, or to protest or antagonize anyone (least of all the coffee companies who are pillars of our local economy); our goal is to work in collaboration with businesses, universities, faith communities, and other organizations to promote more awareness of, demand for, and sale of Fair Trade Certified coffee. We see fair trade as a promising approach to alleviating third world poverty, one that is based on voluntary participation in markets; we believe positive education about its benefits through an inclusive, focused campaign is the key to its expansion.
We believe that by bringing together diverse sectors of our community -- especially including business -- to stand up for fairness and environmental sustainability, we can redefine our relationships with those who produce the commodity that has become our city's signature beverage. We want to be the first city in the United States to do this as a community, declaring ourselves a Fair Trade Town.
Please join us!
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