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BY SARAH PETERSON

In print | November 29, 2007

For students who love neighboring Media’s small, welcoming shops and restaurants - and for those who haven’t yet been - there’s now a new impetus to visit. Not only is Media, Pa. a great place for going out or hanging out, but as of summer 2006 it is also holds the distinction of being the United States’ first Fair Trade Town. As a result of this, Fair Trade-Certified food and drink are more widely available along with handicrafts and other goods.

The change has also led to wider awareness of Fair Trade, and ongoing educational efforts both local and global.

Two summers ago, the Media Borough Council passed a resolution in favor of supporting Fair Trade and also agreeing to serve exclusively Fair Trade coffee at its events. This commitment met one of the five requirements for a town to be designated Fair Trade, according to standards set by British and European Fair Trade movements. There are over 300 Fair Trade Towns in Europe, and currently a number of towns and cities in the United States are following in Media’s footsteps.

These include Brattleboro and Milwaukee, which has declared itself the country’s first Fair Trade city. Amherst, Portsmouth, Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the cities also getting involved in the movement.

The definition of Fair Trade varies according to the type of product being certified. Products are certified according to standards set by an overseeing organization, which focuses on providing fair compensation to workers, and upholding labor and environmental standards in the production process.

The movement towards Fair Trade status began in 2005, when local entrepreneur Hal Taussig decided that it would be great for Media to be a Fair Trade Town, the first in the country. Taussig is the founder of Untours Travel, and since 1995 has been putting all of his profits from that endeavor into a foundation that provides low-interest loans to underprivileged people looking to start their own businesses.

Elizabeth Killough, the associate director at the Untours Foundation, started to explore the possibility of a Fair Trade Media. The campaign quickly took on a life of its own and was met with surprising excitement. One of the first steps Killough took was to bring the issue of Fair Trade to the Media Business Authority. With conscious consumerism gaining popularity everywhere, business owners in Media saw many good reasons to support Fair Trade.

“They got the idea immediately,” Killough said. “They understood the ethical reasons and the marketing advantage.”

Not only was the proposal met with little opposition, but the Business Authority arranged for the issue to be put onto the Media Borough Council’s agenda for the monthly meeting two days later.

At the time of the Council’s passage of the resolution, Media was already fulfilling the second and third criteria of Fair Trade Town status — that is, businesses and workplaces were already providing and using Fair Trade Certified products. What remained after the Council’s decision was for a coalition to form, and for the media to cover the issue.

Both these criteria were quickly achieved. The Media Fair Trade Committee meets weekly at the Coffee Club Cafe in Media, which sells Fair Trade coffee from supplier Green Mountain Coffee Roasters - which is also the coffee supplier for Sharples and Tarble. And in terms of press, America’s First Fair Trade Town has received coverage in newspapers, environmental blogs-and in Martha Stewart’s magazine.

On July 8, 2006, the borough declared itself a Fair Trade Town.

“It went way faster than anyone expected,” said Selene Whole Foods Co-op’s General Manager Ira Joseph, who estimated that it took little more than six months to get from the idea’s inception to its realization.

The only expressed concern within the community was that businesses who didn’t stock Fair Trade Certified products might be “put down” in the process of publicizing the decision. The decision’s supporters insisted that the campaign would only highlight the establishments that did sell certified products.

As a result, more businesses have started to carry certified products — including chocolate bars that had initially been distributed as part of an educational raffle promotion. Since the decision, a Ten Thousand Villages store has moved into downtown Media, selling Fair Trade handicrafts and artwork.

In the past year and a half, the Fair Trade Committee has generated a wide volunteer base and a mailing list of over 1,000 email addresses. However, the campaign has continued its educational efforts both in Media and throughout the region.

According to committee member and Media businessman Tom Hibbard, children at the Media Youth Center have been educated about Fair Trade as it relates to the production of sports equipment, such as soccer balls.

Hibbard explained that the children have learned to be more aware of where such products come from, and to “respect the men and women making the equipment you use.”

The committee and the Media Arts Council are currently sponsoring a poster contest, asking participants to present work following themes that include “Buy Fair, Buy Local” and “A Better World Through Fair Trade.” The deadline is in February, and the entries will go on display at the Coffee Club Cafe. Interested Swarthmore students are invited to participate, and can find out more through the Media Arts Council site.

The committee has also brought speakers and discussions to both Villanova University and Haverford College.

Fair Trade has been a prominent issue on the Swarthmore campus in recent years. During the 2004-2005 school year, a group of labor-conscious students working through the Swarthmore Progressive Action Coalition began campaigning for more Fair Trade Certified coffee on campus.

“We went to Dining Services and they were really nice and helpful,” said Sarah Roberts ’08, who was part of the campaign. The coffee in Tarble and Sharples was switched to Fair Trade Certified.

Like the Media Fair Trade Committee, the Swarthmore campaign sought to educate students about Fair Trade and also about the government’s participation in free trade agreements. “Part of why Fair Trade is so important is because of the unfair things that our government is doing,” Roberts said.

“I do think that education is an important part of any activist campaign,” she added. “But I’m not convinced that that needs to be the end goal. So it’s good for us to learn about Fair Trade so that we can buy Fair Trade coffee for ourselves at the grocery store. But education needs to have a goal, and the goal is to buy Fair Trade stuff and get the government to change it’s policies … The most important thing we did is to get Swarthmore to start buying Fair Trade coffee,” Roberts said.

Killough and the Media Fair Trade Committee agree, and encourage residents to spread the word about Fair Trade by asking for Fair Trade products when they shop and go out to eat.

“The goal is to sell Fair Trade products, however that happens,” she said.

The criteria of being Fair Trade

What it means to be a Fair Trade town is to meet the following five critera, according to www.fair-trade.org, the Web site for the Fair Trade Foundation:

1. Local council passes a resolution supporting Fair Trade, and agrees to serve Fair Trade tea and coffee at its meetings and in its offices and canteens.

2. A range of (at least two) Fair Trade products is readily available in the area’s shops and local cafés/catering establishments. It should be easy for local people to find Fair Trade products as they do their everyday shopping.

3. Fair Trade products are used by a number of local work places (estate agents, hairdressers etc) and community organizations (churches, schools etc)

4. Attract media coverage and popular support for the campaign.

5. A local Fair Trade steering group is convened to ensure continued commitment to its Fair Trade Town status.

Compiled By Sarah Peterson

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