Taos, NM
(April 21, 2008) - The
town of Taos New Mexico has earned the designation as a Fair
Trade Town. In February 2008, Town
councilors passed a resolution and enacted stringent
guidelines to prepare for the coveted designation. Taos is the
first Fair Trade Town in New Mexico, and the first in the
Western United States.There are already more than 300
communities in Europe recognized as Fair Trade
Towns.
Fair Trade
is a rigorous third party certification guaranteeing excellent
products for consumers: goods produced in a sustainable
fashion; safe and healthy working conditions; no slave, forced
or child labor; the encouragement of long-term relationships
between producers and buyers; and an internal structure for
producers that allow decisions about profits to be made
democratically.
"We know the importance of Fair Trade and
recognize our responsibility to help educate others, including
art and culture tourists, about the importance of Fair Trade,"
said Town of Taos Mayor Bobby F. Duran. "We view buying
fair and buying local as objectives that are not
in competition but are complementary. For example, in Taos,
customers can buy Fair Trade coffee through our local Taos
Roasters -- either directly wholesale, or retail through our
numerous coffee houses or grocery stores," continued
Duran.
"Fair Trade is a market model that allows
farmers and producers of goods a fair price for their
products, and establishes economic sustainability and security
for entire communities," said Chris Pieper, Chair of the new
Town of Taos Fair Trade Steering Committee, and owner of the
local Mudd & Flood Mountain Shop.
"It is also a
designation that means people are being treated better
relative to buying non-Fair Trade items," said Steve Gloss,
founder of Sustaining Cultures, a nonprofit educational
organization in Taos focusing on cultural awareness.
"Now, we must actively
educate our local consumers - and visitors - to change our
purchasing habits by 'voting with our hands' when we reach for
that pound of coffee, bananas, or bunch of flowers for
Mother's Day," said Gloss who was the impetus for the town's
resolution.
Fair
Trade goods are increasingly available in Taos as more retail
outlets and grocery stores are carrying Fair Trade lines.
Products are easily identified with the TransFair
seal.
With
adoption of the resolution, the Town of Taos joins only five
other cities and towns in the United States who have become
Fair Trade Towns. There are over 300
communities in Europe who have adopted these guidelines to
become Fair Trade Towns. Fair Trade Town
U.S.A. status requires the qualifying community to have:
- Passed a resolution supporting fair trade.
- Offer a range of readily available fair trade products
in the area's shops and local cafes
- and catering establishments.
- Numerous workplaces and community organizations that use
fair trade products.
- Media coverage and popular support for the fair trade
city campaign.
- A local fair trade steering committee to ensure
continued commitment to fair
- trade city status.
For more information about locating Fair
Trade products go to http://www.transfairusa.org and www.fairtradefederation.org .
For more information on meeting city certification guides
visit www.fairtradetownsusa.org.
To view the town's Fair Trade Resolution visit:
http://www.taosgov.com.
For more information
contact:
Sara Stender,
Fair Trade Towns USA,
(828) 658-1340 or (802)
356-0551
sara@fairtradetownsusa.org
or
Steve Gloss,
Taos Fair Trade Steering
Committee
Sustaining Cultures
(505)
751-0959
sgloss@sustainingcultures.org
