It's Been a While!

Hey Guys,

Apologize for the lack of blog activity recently, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy!

Earlier in February, we hit the road to pay a visit to Media, Pennsylvania - the first Fair Trade certified town in the United States! We were hosted by Ira, a founding member of Media's Fair Trade committee, who was able to provide us with some great insight into their efforts there. We sat in on a committee meeting, where we heard about the local movement to establish a farmer's market in their town. Two days and almost 800 miles later, we were back in Meadville, full of energy and new ideas for our own Fair Trade movement!

Another exciting development was our recent meeting with Allegheny College President, Jim Mullen. We sought to inform him of our efforts, and also get him on board. It went well, and at tomorrow we will meet with him and some other community members who we hope to enlist to help make Meadville Fair Trade Certified. Check back soon for updates on that meeting!

Our First Efforts

Over the past few weeks, our group has been taking the initial steps towards making Meadville a FairTrade Certified town. We have regular weekly meetings; Sunday at 7PM, Wednesdays at 5PM, and Fridays at 12:30PM. If you are interested in dropping by and checking up on us, contact me beforehand for a location, as they change from week to week.

Here's what we've accomplished so far:

- We have met with our adviser, Professor Maniates, on several occasions to discuss a course syllabus and general strategy.

- As a group, we journeyed through downtown Meadville and the outskirts of town to visit business owners. The primary intent was fact-finding, and we took note of which businesses already carried FairTrade products. In addition, we also introduced our group and our intent to owners. During these meetings, we gathered contact information to use in the future when promoting FairTrade products. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and we look forward to including many of these business leaders in our plans.

- We have made contact with FairTrade activists in the first FairTrade town in the US, Media, PA. We are planning a fact-finding visit to Media sometime at the end of the month pending funding from ACCEL.

-We have reviewed the requirements for attaining FairTrade certification, and are pleased to report that we are closer then we thought! While many stores in Meadville already carry FairTrade products, we must make a concentrated effort to expand availability to offices, organizations, and more retail stores.

What we still need to Do:

-At this point, it's a lot!

-One of our priorities is calling attention to our efforts to make Meadville FairTrade certified. After all, all these FairTrade products will be for nothing if people don't know where or why to get them. We are producing an editorial for submission to the Meadville Tribune to raise awareness of our efforts. We are also working on having a public screening of FairTrade videos.

-To qualify for FairTrade certification, we have to get the community involved. We are identifying various figures in the community, from politicians to business owners to religious leaders who can help us in our efforts. When assembled, these people will form a committee that will work to further the cause of FairTrade in Meadville.

-Finally, we are looking to pass a resolution through the town council in support of FairTrade and our efforts to expand it. This is a low-level priority at this point.

Our committee is meeting in a few hours, and I'm very excited to see the excellent work everyone else has been putting together! Check back regularly for updates on our latest efforts!

-Brian

First Posting

Join us in our efforts to make Meadville, Pennsylvania a certified FairTrade town!

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