Read all about it!

Fair Trade Delmar Campaign has been receiving some great local media coverage lately as we near our goal of declaring Bethlehem the second Fair Trade town in New York state (Ballston Spa is the first).

Read all about us in the Spotlight: Fair Trade initiative moving forward, Sweet tooth for fair trade and Town Board talks fair trade.

And in the Times Union: Bethlehem could be fair trade town

I have also started blogging on Fair Trade for the Times Union Bethlehem blog - look out for my posts, and feel free to join in the conversation by adding your comments: to date there's Fair Share and Look for the label.

Chocolate - poetic inspiration!

Congratulations to the winners of our recent Chocolate Poetry contest! Here are the winning entries (also published in the Spotlight Newspaper):

CHOCOLATE
Chocolate
Hot fudge sundae
Over the top, yummy
Cocoa
Lovely
Awesome
Tantalizing
Enjoyable
"Sticky delicious mess."

By Tristan Tearoe, 4th grader


Dance to the chocolate
Dance to the music, right?
Wrong! Dance tothe chocolate!
Dance to the chocolate
Dance to the chooooooocolate!
Yay!!!

By Bernie Crane, 2nd grader


Chocolate Poem
Chocolate makes me happy
When I am sad
Chocolate makes me happy
Then I am glad
Chocolate makes me happy
I could eat it every day
Chocolate makes me happy
I hope chocolate never goes away.

By Steven Stitzer, first grader

The three poets read their work aloud very professionally at our Chocolate Sunday event, and were presented with Fair Trade prizes. Books/resources about Fair Trade will also be presented to their schools.

Set Fair for Sunday

Fair Trade Chocolate Sunday is just around the corner! Come and join us this Sunday May 2 from 2:00-4:30pm at Delmar Reformed Church (386 Delaware Ave) for family fun with a chocolate theme.

Design a chocolate wrapper, print a cocoa-card, or try out the Bean to Bar game. There's a chocolate information station and a story-of-chocolate quiz. Hands-on activities will introduce you to Ghana, a cocoa-growing country. And you can find out how Fair Trade helps the farmers who produce the cocoa for our favorite candy treats.

With Mother's Day in mind, shop at our Fair Trade craft market. Or win a great gift in our raffle.

Take part in our Chocolate Challenge to win a free Divine FT chocolate bar! And enjoy a free scoop of Ben & Jerry's FT ice-cream, too.

Come and have fun! We can't wait to see you there!

Fair Trade on the radio

In case you missed it, here's an interview all about Fair Trade with WAMC's Joe Donahue, broadcast this morning.

Click here to learn more about the Ballston Spa Fair Trade conference that was discussed.

Save the date!

Save the date for our Fair Trade Chocolate Sunday on Sunday May 2nd, 2–4:30pm at Delmar Reformed Church, 386 Delaware Ave, Delmar NY.

There'll be lots of fun for families, including a Chocolate Sunday Challenge plus crafts, music, stories and hands-on activities.

Find out where chocolate comes from, sample FREE Fair Trade chocolate and ice cream (with thanks to Divine and Ben & Jerry's), and learn how our chocolate choices can change lives.

See you there!

Calling young poets...

Fair Trade Delmar Campaign invites local children to enter a Chocolate Poetry Contest.

Write a poem inspired by CHOCOLATE and win...chocolate (of course!) and other Fair Trade goodies, plus a book about Fair Trade for your classroom or school library. Winning poems from three age categories will be published in the Bethlehem Spotlight and online on this blogspot.

There will be one winner each in the categories: Grades K-3, 4-5, 6-8

Revised final deadline for entries is Friday April 23rd.

Prizes will be awarded at the Fair Trade Chocolate Sunday event being held at Delmar Reformed Church on Sunday May 2nd - see here for details.

For full competition details, including where to send your entries, click here.

Fair Trade schools

Fair Trade Delmar Campaign enjoyed being part of a World Rally at Bethlehem Middle School last Friday evening. It was a great opportunity to meet kids, introduce them to the ideas behind FT and invite them to try some Fair Trade hot chocolate (made up with locally produced milk) as they thought about the question "How can we make a fairer world?"

We also displayed information about Fair Trade Schools - a thriving movement in the UK (where there are thousands of participating schools) but a new concept here in the USA. Much like the Fair Trade Towns movement, schools commit to meeting five goals:

1) Form a steering committee;
2) Write and adopt a whole-school Fair Trade policy;
3) Buy, use and promote Fair Trade products within school;
4) The whole school learns about Fair Trade issues;
5) The school promotes and takes action for Fair Trade in school and in the wider community.

If you would like to know more about becoming a Fair Trade school, please get in touch: fairtradedelmarny@hotmail.com

Sharing the love

Make Valentine's Day extra-special this year - "share the love" by treating your sweetheart to a fair trade gift.

You can find gifts and jewelry locally at:
Peaceful Inspirations, Four Corners, Delmar
Ten Thousand Villages, Stuyvesant Plaza

And Fair Trade chocolate at:
Delmar Health Hut, Delaware Ave, Delmar
Delmar Reformed Church FT sales table, Four Corners, Delmar
Delmar United Methodist Church, Kenwod Ave
- Equal Exchange FT sale 2nd Sunday of every month (including this Sunday, Feb 14)
Honest Weight Food Coop, Central Ave, Albany
Hannafords, Delaware Ave, Delmar
Price Chopper (Slingerlands bypass)

Here are some lovely cards to download:
Celebrate an Organic Valentine's Day!

And why not ask your local liquor store or favorite restaurant to source some Fair Trade wine?

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Fair start to the New Year

Although we are well into January, it's not too late to make a New Year's Fair Trade resolution.

You probably already have a commitment to choosing the FT option when buying coffee, tea, chocolate and cocoa. But did you know that there are many other FT products out there? Fruit, flowers, wine, sugar, rice, nuts, spices...

If you cannot find these FT products at your local store, please ask! Let the store manager know that you are eager to buy more Fair Trade products and that he/she will earn your customer loyalty by stocking them.

Consumer demand for FT has had a huge influence on manufacturers and retailers in the UK: Fair Trade is definitely mainstream in the British market.

The same change can happen here in the US - but we need to ASK for that change.

Happy New Year!