The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

   EARTH’S SWEET PLEASURES IS ON A QUEST TO CREATE THOUSANDS OF “FAIR TRADE HOMES” FOR WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY, 2010

EARTH’S SWEET PLEASURES is a part of “Fair Trade My Home,” a grass-roots campaign of fair trade companies, individuals and organizations who are inviting friends and fans to join the fair trade movement and make their home a “Fair Trade Home” in honor of World Fair Trade Day, May 8th, 2010. The goal is to create as many self-declared Fair Trade Home’s as possible by having people submit a photo or video showing which fair trade goods they regularly purchase and use in their home. Submissions are being gathered at www.fairtrademyhome.com  Fair trade is an alternative way of doing trade, where the people producing a product are treated fairly, paid fairly, and are being fair to the environment. A home that is committed to the purchase and use of fair trade goods is a “Fair Trade Home.”  What was started in America by one woman with a vision has become a global movement involving over 60 countries, 1.5 million workers. In America, over 1,500 companies and retailers offer fair trade goods, there are 13 fair trade towns, and over 300 college campuses that support fair trade.  The purpose of Fair Trade My Home is to raise greater awareness of fair trade to the American consumer, so that each person will choose to integrate more fair trade purchases into his or her regular buying habits, and cut down on poverty both in America and around the world.  EARTH’S SWEET PLEASURES not only creates fair trade products/supports fair trade, it is actively encouraging the community to join in making homes fair.

ABOUT WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY - World Fair Trade Day is a global celebration of fair trade and will be held in 2010 on May 8th. In North America, Fair Trade Resource Network is leading the World Fair Trade Day 2010 event with complimentary efforts from the Fair Trade the White House campaign. In 2009, World Fair Trade Day involved 65,020 people at 456 events covered by 101 media stories. www.ftrn.org.

ABOUT FAIR TRADE MY HOME - The theme of Fair Trade My Home is an extension of the Fair Trade the White House campaign, a coalition of fair trade vendors and organizations which are inviting the First Lady to join the fair trade movement and make the White House a “Fair Trade Home.” www.fairtrademyhome.com   www.fairtradewhitehouse.com  

valentine’s day simplify your holiday (from New Dream.org)

Do you sometimes feel that traditional displays of love and caring for the planet just aren’t in harmony?  This Valentine’s Day, you don’t need to buy expensive jewelry or chocolate to show someone how much you care.  New Dream’s new Simplify Your Valentine’s Day Guide, an expansion of our perennially popular Simplify the Holiday’s guide, will show you how to celebrate a simpler and less consumption-oriented Valentine’s Day this year.  The guide is filled with concrete advice on how to find environmentally and socially-responsible alternatives to traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, as well as recommendations on how to organize a memorable, non-material oriented holiday.  New Dream also extends a very special thank you to everyone who submitted their personal stories for inclusion in the guide!

Change the Way We Celebrate Valentine’s Day:     

Every year, do you think to yourself, “I really want to get ny loved ones something special for Valentine’s Day, but I’m tired of the same old consumer junk?”   Why not treat your loved ones to really special gifts this year?  Give Valentines from the heart.  Choose something that makes you feel good inside.  For example, why not plant a tree in your loved one’s honor?  Visit the Arbor Day Foundation for the gift of a tree.  Or, perhaps you could give a donation in your loved one’s name to one of the many Haiti relief efforts, like Mercy Corps, my personal favorite.  If you feel like you want to put something more tangible into your loved one’s hands, try fair trade, organic chocolates and/or flowers.  Earth’s Sweet Pleasures makes delicious organic, fair trade fudge.  Visit It’s Only Natural Gifts and Kate’s Caring Gifts for all natural, fair trade gift baskets.  Try Organic Bouquet for delivered flowers, or Google a local organic flower grower.  You can also visit websites such as TransFair, Rainforest Alliance and New Dream for more ideas.  These sites will lead you to ever more information on sustainable gift giving and continue to open your horizons to a new way of being. 

 Get signatures for the petition to First Lady Michelle Obama to Fair Trade the White House!

Melody Meyer, Board member Organic Trade Association and Chair of CDFA Organic Advisory Board is seen in this photo with a cacao producer from Equador.  Ms. Meyer is Director of Procurement for Alberts Organics, who is one of the supporters of Fair Trade the White House.  Get involved!  Sign the petition to First Lady Michelle Obama to get fair trade products into the White House.  Fair Trade month is coming up in October, and this is why the big push is on for signatures.  Tell everyone you know.  Facebook it, Twitter it, MySpace it! 

Below is a copy of the petition to Fair Trade the White House.  You can sign the petition at the official site.  Just click on the picture! 

Dear First Lady Michelle Obama,

As a nonpartisan coalition of Fair Trade organizations, vendors, and consumers, we cordially invite you to help extend the fair trade movement by declaring the White House a “Fair Trade Home.”

For more than sixty years, the Fair Trade movement has strived to create social and economic opportunities for the world’s poorest communities. As you know well, it is the poor who most acutely feel the effects of economic turbulence, climate change, and isolation. Fair Trade combats these issues.

As you may be aware, the movement toward ethical and sustainable consumption has grown to include faith-based centers, college campuses, businesses and individuals. The United States is also home to eleven “Fair Trade Towns/Cities” including Media, PA, Brattleboro, VT, Milwaukee, WI, Amherst, MA, Taos, NM, Northampton, MA, San Francisco, CA, Montclair, NJ, Ballston Spa, NY, Chico, CA, and Bluffton, OH.

Knowing that you and the President share these values, we invite you to extend the Fair Trade movement by making the White House a “Fair Trade Home” and increasing the number of items used by the White House which have been sourced according to Fair Trade principles. By requesting that your staff purchase items like food, body-care, and clothing made or sourced under Fair Trade Principles, your family’s example would show Americans how their purchasing habits can alleviate poverty, reduce inequality, and create opportunities for people to help themselves.

As a coalition of organizations, vendors, and consumers supporting Fair Trade, we represent 69 organizations, account for over $3.8 billion in annual sales and work with approximately 55,310 artisans, farmers and producers around the world.

We look forward to your RSVP. 

   Earth’s Sweet Pleasures is an official supporter of Fair Trading the White House!