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!

Fair Trade chocolate sampling

Fifteen members of the Students for Peace and Survival group at Bethlehem High School got together yesterday to learn about Fair Trade. I hope they enjoyed this short video, Fair Trade the Story. Some informed discussion followed. As for the chocolate tasting, I know that went down well - Equal Exchange Milk, Dark with Almond and Extra Dark (71% cacao) Chocolate were enthusiastically sampled. As one student said, "If all Fair Trade chocolate tastes as good as this, I'm definitely buying Fair Trade!"

You can buy Fair Trade chocolate in Bethlehem at:

Delmar Reformed Church (Equal Exchange)
Delmar Health Hut (Divine)
Slingerlands Price Chopper, Organic and Natural section (Equal Exchange, Green & Blacks Maya Gold)
Hannafords

Everyone loves a parade!

The 3rd annual Bethlehem Holiday Parade takes place in Delmar this Friday, Dec 4th, from 6pm. Starting at the Town Hall, floats and fire trucks will parade up Delaware Avenue to Four Corners.

Fair Trade Delmar Campaign will be taking part, handing out FT chocolate and information. Come and cheer us on - or even better, join us.

If you need a cup of Fair Trade hot chocolate to warm you up after the parade, head to Delmar Reformed Church which is holding an Open House and will be glad to welcome you.

And if you are looking for holiday gifts, check out Peaceful Inspirations, open until 8pm this Friday and offering a 15% discount on Fair Trade Christmas ornaments.

Buy Fair, Buy Local for the Holidays

Holiday giving brings joy to our loved ones - and it can really benefit our local and global community, too. How about making up a basket of Fair Trade goodies for someone special this year? Here are some places in Bethlehem where you can buy Fair Trade:

Peaceful Inspirations - gifts
Delmar Farmers' Market at Delmar Presbyterian Church (Delaware/Cherry Ave), Saturdays 9am-1pm - gifts, coffee
Delmar Marketplace - coffee
Delmar Health Hut - coffee, chocolate, personal care products etc
Delmar Reformed Church (not-for-profit table) - coffee, tea, chocolate, nuts etc
Hannafords (organic and natural section) - various
Price Chopper (organic and natural section) - various

And while you are out shopping, why not take a FT break at one of these cafes:

Perfect Blend
Java Jazz
Four Corners Luncheonette
Brueggers
Dunkin' Donuts

Keep on supporting Fair Trade all year round and help build a fairer more sustainable world.

The weekend the world came to Delmar!

There was a great turnout for the two Fair Trade craft markets held over the past weekend (November 14 & 15). Congratulations to the organisers of both these excellent events, held at Delmar Reformed Church and Delmar United Methodist Church. I lost count of the number of countries that were represented - Malawi, Vietnam, Ecuador, Tibet, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan...the list was endless. And the crafts were BEAUTIFUL.

Different vendors attended each of the events, so well done those shoppers who came out on Saturday and Sunday and saw the best of both!

If you missed these sales, don't despair - there will be another chance to shop Fair Trade for the holidays on December 12 and 13 at St Thomas School, Delmar, after each Mass (from 5 pm on Saturday, and 7:30, 9, 10:30 am and 12 noon on Sunday). Again it will be a whole new set of vendors, so even those who came to this month's events won't want to miss out!

Thank you, shop hoppers!

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in Delmar's First Fair Trade Shop Hop. It's great that many local independent businesses are supporting Fair Trade, and that customers are showing they appreciate this commitment.

The lucky winners of the Shop Hop prize drawing have now been chosen and contacted. Congratulations all you winners! Thanks go to the businesses who donated gift vouchers: Ten Thousand Villages (Stuyvesant Plaza), Delmar Health Hut, Peaceful Inspirations and Java Jazz Cafe.

To those who took part but didn't win a prize - better luck next time! Meanwhile, please keep on promoting social justice by supporting Fair Trade in our community. Together we'll make Delmar a Fair Trade Town!