Confused by all the different socially-conscious certifications on coffee products? Imagined-Community has a very convenient and informative guide.

The Fair Trader, from Catholic Relief Services, has posted online teaching modules for bringing fair trade principles into secondary school classrooms, as well as links to educational resources from other organizations as well.

The Guardian reports that soaring commodity prices for coffee, tea and cocoa have led some to question the long-term viability of the fair trade model. Coffee, tea and cocoa prices have soared to multi-year highs in recent months as turmoil in stock markets has sent investors in search of safe places to put their cash. [...]

From AmOnline.com: A new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, “The Next Step in the ethical consumer revolution,” reveals Fair Trade sales across Europe, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Japan have experienced double digit growth since 2002.

Rachel Dixon in The Guardian interviewed three fair trade producers–of coffee in Costa Rica, tea in Kenya, and cotton in Mali. Also on the Guardian site is a slide show of pictures from a banana growing cooperative in Ecuador.

Father Shay Cullen does a good job in the New York Times of summarizing how fair trade effects women in particular. A good read for International Women’s Day

Julius Ethang’atha, representing smale-scale tea producers in Kenya, talked to the BBC while visiting Scotland during Fairtrade Fortnight. He described fair trade’s effects: We identified the most disadvantaged tea-producing factory in my area and established a pilot programme to help them work to produce tea for the Fair Trade market. Since then, the social impact [...]

We are launching this new blog feature to provide our supporters with regular news about Fair World Marketplace and fair trade news, both local and international. Watch this space, subscribe to our RSS feed, or book-mark us in your “favorites” list to keep informed on fair trade issues and opportunities!

Join us in celebrating The International Women’s Day 2008 theme of “Investing in Women & Girls:  Financing for Gender Equality” Fair trade provides hope & financial empowerment for disadvantaged women and  support VERA HOUSE at the same time   March 15-31st Every purchase between March 15-31st enters you into a drawing for a sterling silver [...]