There are many ways to take action for Fair Trade — from taking a minute or two to sign a key petition to organizing in your town or place of worship to bring Fair Trade to your community.

Have more ideas to add to this page? Send them to us.

Attend the Largest Fair Trade Conference

From September 10-12, 2010, in Boston, Massachusetts, hundreds of entrepreneurs, consumers, students, activists, faith community members, and others will participate in the largest Fair Trade gathering in North American history, the Fair Trade Futures Conference.

By convening a conference in 2010, organizers seek to

• Build on the enthusiasm, energy, and experience created by the 2005 Conference
• Provide and build knowledge as appropriate to your various roles (consumer, entrepreneur, student, development professional, etc.)
• Provide a clear understanding of how you can implement and increase your commitment to - and passion for - Fair Trade
• Encourage you to fulfill this commitment in large and small ways in your community.
• Explore the successes of and challenges in building continued momentum behind Fair Trade in North America and generate ideas about solutions

The Conference also provides an opportunity to connect established and emerging Fair Trade supporters with the interesting and useful programs already underway to advance the Fair Trade movement.

• Register - Fair Trade Futures Conference
  

Fair Trade Your Supermarket Campaign

Join with other Fair Trade advocates around the country, pushing more and more supermarkets to carry products that are certified to be good for people and the planet.

At the Fair Trade Your Supermarket campaign web site you’ll find:

• Action steps - Steps to you can take to convince a store to go Fair Trade.
• Postcards - Downloadable messages that you can mail to supermarket headquarters, or drop in comment boxes
• What to say - Talking points for sharing the story of Fair Trade with store managers
• In-store messaging - Downloadable shelf-cards to place where a Fair Trade product should be in a store (or drawing other shoppers’ attention to the Fair Trade products that are there)

Fair Trade Your Supermarket website

Call on Congress to Support Fair Farm Policies in the US

The United States Farm Bill was originally designed as a security system for American farmers when the market collapsed during the Great Depression. Today, however, the Farm Bill disproportionately distributes government payments to large-scale farmers, while the majority of farmers receive very little or nothing at all. The legislation also encourages the overproduction of certain crops, notably cotton and rice, which is devastating for small farmers around the world.

• Find out the status of the U.S. Farm Bill
  

Host a Fair Trade Event with Friends & Coworkers

Have fun organizing a Fair Trade event, such as food & drink tastings, craft shows, film showings, music jams, soccer games and fundraisers.  Use the following resources to plan, publicize and produce your Fair Trade celebration:

• Guide to planning many kinds of Fair Trade events
• Free printed materials and FT products to promote or strengthen your event
  
• Recommended films and readings on Fair Trade

Bring Fair Trade to Your Town… or City… or Village

This nationwide initiative connects grassroots Fair Trade activists across the country. Through the Fair Trade Towns program, Fair Traders working locally to promote Fair Trade have the opportunity to share their experiences and tools with one another. The Fair Trade Towns initiative also offers guidance and resources for communities seeking to declare themselves to fulfill the Fair Trade Town criteria. Check out www.fairtradetownsusa.org for more information.

Bring Fair Trade to Your School

• Bring Fair Trade to your School - Take a pop quiz about ways you can make Fair Trade a reality in your school.
• Check out various educational tools.

Get Involved in World Fair Trade Day!

World Fair Trade Day, annually the 2nd Saturday in May, is an international celebration and promotion of Fair Trade. Businesses, nonprofit organizations, churches, student groups, civic associations, stores and activists host events - including Fair Trade food tastings, talks, music concerts, fashion shows and much more - to promote Fair Trade and campaign for trade justice together with farmers & artisans.

Many communities are celebrating World Fair Trade Day a few days before or after the 2nd Saturday in May. WFTD is the largest FT event in N. America, with over 50,000 people having participated in 2010.

• World Fair Trade Day 2010