BREAKING NEWS: Sweetwater at the Orange Brew!!!

LAUNCHING OCTOBER 29, the Orange and Brew-- a student cafe at the Reitz Union at the University of Florida, will EXCLUSIVELY serve Sweetwater Organic Coffee!

Be there for the opening!

Friday, Oct. 12
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
J. Wayne Reitz Union, Rm. 282

Fair traders!

Students Making Trade Fair presents...

"Just Coffee for Social Change!"

A forum discussing the current fair trade movement, its successes and failures, and what student campaigns in both the United States and abroad have accomplished.

We'll be joined by Alfredo, a member of CECOCAFEN, one of the largest coffee cooperatives in Nicaragua (http://www.cooperativecoffees.com/producers/cecocafen/ ); Joe Curnow, a longtime United Students for Fair Trade activist and outgoing national coordinator; and Andrew, incoming USFT national coordinator (http://www.usft.org/). The group is traveling the United States throughout October for Fair Trade month and will stop in Gainesville to spend the afternoon with us. After the event, we will head to Gainesville's Sweetwater Organic Coffee Company for a tour and coffee tasting (http://sweetwaterorganiccoffee.com/).

Please join us! Fair Trade coffee and catering provided!

Sincerely,

The Fair Trade Team

Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner

Interview links: Muhammad Yunus on

Charlie Rose show. If you aren't familiar with Dr. Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006, please watch the short ABC News segment about him and the international success of microlending.

CHARLIE ROSE INTERVIEW:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3gpqQ68ctmk

ABC NEWS: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mQ030y37uMQ&mode=related&search=

U.S. pushes Costa Rica to sign CAFTA

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (AP) — The White House said Saturday that if Costa Ricans voted against joining a free trade agreement between the United States and Central America, the Bush administration would not renegotiate the deal. The Costa Rican government has scheduled a referendum on it on Sunday.
The White House also suggested that it might not extend trade preferences now afforded to Costa Rican products and set to expire next September. “The United States has never before confronted the question of extending unilateral trade preferences to a country that has rejected a reciprocal trade agreement,” the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, said in a statement.
Costa Rica is the only one of the six Latin American signatories to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, that has yet to ratify it. The treaty is in effect in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
The White House urged Costa Ricans to recognize the benefits of the agreement, which it said include expanding Costa Rica’s access to the American market.

(Virginia Zet breastfeeds her son Brian Tubac Zea (3 months) during a corn and bean farmers protest against CAFTA, in Guatemala City, May 13, 2003. Protesters gathered near the hotel where U.S. and Central American officials were gathering to discuss trade.-- photo from google images.)

Protesting with Immokalee Workers

Members of our organization marched Wednesday at our campus Burger King to protest the chain's unethical purchasing of tomatoes from migrant workers who get paid subhuman wages for their work.

Read the article at: http://alligator.org/articles/2007/10/04/news/campus/protest.txt

Watch video of the protest at: http://www.alligator.org/media/bkprotest/
(photo from the Independent Florida Alligator)

JUST COFFEE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE!

Fair traders!

Students Making Trade Fair presents...

"Just Coffee for Social Change!"

A forum discussing the current fair trade movement, its successes and failures, and what student campaigns in both the United States and abroad have accomplished.

We'll be joined by Alfredo, a member of CECOCAFEN, one of the largest coffee cooperatives in Nicaragua (http://www.cooperativecoffees.com/producers/cecocafen/ ); Joe Curnow, a longtime United Students for Fair Trade activist and outgoing national coordinator; and Andrew, incoming USFT national coordinator (http://www.usft.org/). The group is traveling the United States throughout October for Fair Trade month and will stop in Gainesville to spend the afternoon with us. After the event, we will head to Gainesville's Sweetwater Organic Coffee Company for a tour and coffee tasting (http://sweetwaterorganiccoffee.com/).

Please join us! Fair Trade coffee and catering provided!

Friday, Oct. 12 at 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

J. Wayne Reitz Union, Rm. 282

(Pictured is Chris Bacon, awesome scholar and activist... google Chris Bacon and Nicaragua!)

FIRST MEETING OF FALL SEMESTER!

Hey Everyone! Students Making Trade Fair will be having its first meeting Tuesday, Sept. 25 in Rinker 220 at 7:30pm. There's so much to get motivated about! The Fair Trade Team has several old and new campaigns this semester. We'll be organizing around getting more Fair Trade options on campus. This includes expanding our current coffee campaign. We're also working closely with the UF Department of Sustainability to get sweat-free athletic wear on our campus. Additionally, our fair trade activism spreads throughout Florida as we join the efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee (CIW) to help end farm-worker abuse (http://www.ciw-online.org). Please check out the links to our other blogs to learn more information.

UF Sweatfree http://ufsweatshopfree.blogspot.com
UF Coffee http://ufcoffee.blogspot.com

MEETING! BE THERE! This Monday, Feb. 12

Monday, Feb. 12 we will be having our first general body meeting of the semester in Rm. 121 of the Reitz Union at 8:30 p.m.

Don't miss this opportunity to get involved in Students Making Trade Fair.

We had so much fun last semester, volunteering at our local farmers markets, group socials and holding our first Fair Trade Holiday party. We have big plans for this semester and many opportunities for YOU to participate with the Fair Trade Team! Get updates by joining our listserve at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/fair-trade-uf?hl=en

UF SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE

Be on the cutting-edge! Learn what's going on at UF and schools around the country as we try to be a more sustainable. It's more than just reduce, reuse and recycle. AND, Carl Hiaasen, noted journalist and author, will be the featured speaker.

VISIT
http://www.sustainable.ufl.edu/conference/schedule.asp

MORE Fair Trade AT UF!!!!!!!!!!!!

As of today, the University of Florida will serve Sweetwater Organic Coffee at Fresh Food Company in Gator Dining-- one of our school's largest dining halls. This is the first time Sweetwater coffee will be served on campus, through a contract with Aramark. This means that all the coffee served will be organic and 80 percent of it will be FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED. UF is the first school in the country to have a local company contract with the the food giant (from what I'm told). This might be a national trend. And, the university made this decision with very little pressure from student groups. Sweetwater coffee will be replacing the Starbucks kiosk previously at the dining hall. UF is one of the largest universities in the country, with a student population that nears 50,000.

vist:

http://www.sweetwaterorganiccoffee.com

ALSO FORMER PERUVIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT UF AT 7:30 p.m. at the Reitz Union. Alejandro toledo will speak about international Free Trade agreements and Peru's role, battles over trade.

TUESDAY, OCT. 3 LIBRARY WEST 7 P.M.

Please meet at Library West on the first floor (just take a left when you enter the building). If you plan to be more than 10 minutes late, please call.

Agenda:
1. Introductions: 5 min.

2. What's Fair Trade?: 15 min.
- Learn what the movement's about and what we've accomplished on campus.

3. Brainstorming: 15 min.
- Goals for the semester and school year

4. Officer Elections: 20 min.
- nominations for President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary
- Brief introductions by candidates discussing their experience
- Q & A by members (you're a member of SMTF if you're on the listserve)
- Voting

SEE EVERYONE SOON!!!! To learn more about Fair Trade visit some of the links on the right of this page.

Fair Traders go to South Africa/China

Michael Pedron, Evan Garfield, and David Borenstein rock! Litterally. Last school year they formed the musical group Umoja* Orchestra, a combination of world music and their own eclectic sound. What makes the group (10- members strong) super special, among other things, is their use of Fair Trade instruments. One fair trade percussion instrument is shaped like a frog, and Garfield bought the wooden reptile at Alternatives Global Marketplace in West Gainesville (Alternatives Global Marketplace: Alternative Clothing and Fair Trade Store o 4203 NW 16TH Blvd., 32605, (352) 335-0806).

This summer Garfield and Pedron spent time in South Africa, part of a UF honors program. Although the two embraced South African music, they aren't sure how these influences will affect their future sound.

“I can’t think of any one particular aspect of South African music that’s got into our band some how. But the experience as a whole has obviously affected me dramatically," says Pedron.

"Dramatically" includes learning about the issues affecting Zimbabwean immigrants*, many farmers who've fled their country and make South Africa a temporary home. These exiles earn their livelihoods by selling wares on the street to tourists like Pedron, who says he bought a thumb piano from one such artisan.

And half way across the world, David Borenstein taught English in a rural Chinese community.


*Umoja means unity in Swahili. Garfield and Pedron are taking Swahili courses this semester.

*To learn more about Zimbabwe and recent news visit http://www.zimonline.co.za/