NATALIA CHOI ’11 EMMA WILLARD SCHOOL TROY, NY How to turn your school into a Fair Trade Institution

How did it all start? AWARENESS about modern day slavery on campus! [Speaker Benjamin Skinner and Katherine Chon] Fair Trade = practical way for everyone to join the fight to end slavery and promote sustainable and just communities in especially the developing countries of the world  Student initiative to bring more Fair Trade options on campus grow into a campaign to become a fair trade institution Campus clubs: -SlaveryNoMore : sponsored events and presentations to the school community 20 members, 2 faculty mentors -Eco-Emm Fair Trade: regular sales of Fair Trade products (chocolate and coffee, jewelry and woven and knitted goods) 10 members, 1 faculty mentor

Criteria for Becoming a Fair Trade School 1. Campaigns for Fair Trade education, awareness and growth 2. Have a written Fair Trade Policy/ Resolution. 3. Sells or serves Fair Trade products in all outlets. 4. Uses Fair Trade products at internal meetings and events. 5. Have a Fair Trade University Steering Group.

1. Raising Awareness Be informed and share the word! Critical component of the campaign Having a club dedicated to raising awareness is extremely helpful Important to have support of not only the students, but also the faculty, dining hall/school store manager, and the administration *The adults on the campaign are extremely helpful because the campaign takes time and students leave after graduation Stress the importance of everyone’s role in supporting Fair Trade. Everyday choices by every consumer can make a difference! Be creative!

- Meeting Fair Trade cacao farmers from the Dominican Republic -Spring Break Trip to Nicaragua to visit Fair Trade cooperatives Research and find out more about FT and share! Present Powerpoint/video presentations Write about Fair Trade in your school newspaper and Blog Mass with links and information about Fair Trade related events Create posters or signs for the school store, dining hall, cafes to inform community about Fair Trade Hold an Assembly/ pep rally on Fair Trade Organize a Spring break trip to visit Fair Trade farms! (Nicaragua- Matagalpa Tours)

Fair Trade Iron-on’s to raise awareness and fundraise Hold events for the community to learn more about Fair Trade Sponsor Movie nights [Dark Side of Chocolate, Stolen Childhoods] Get students to sign Petitions (Raise the Bar Hershey’s) Hold regular Fair Trade sales Bake using Fair Trade ingredients and hold a bake sale Create Fair Trade / sweat- shop free apparel Celebrate World Fair Trade Day (May 14,2011) Valentines and Halloween are excellent time for raising awareness about Fair Trade chocolate

Valentine’s Card for Hershey’s after watching “The Dark Side of Chocolate” “Be a Bucket Boy” Day on World Fair Trade Day

2. Fair Trade Policy/ Resolution 1.Outlines reasons for why the school should be a Fair Trade Institution * Tailor the reasons for your particular school [Emma Willard School is the first secondary school to provide girls the same education as boys, so the resolution mentioned how by being Fair Trade, women are empowered] 2. Outlines criteria school will meet in order to be a Fair Trade school *“whenever possible, consistent with the terms of the foodservice contract.”

Get approval of the Fair Trade policy by appropriate student, faculty, and administration governing bodies (depends on each school’s structure) Steps Emma Willard School took to get approval -Talked about what the Fair Trade resolution was and answered questions at student class meetings and got signatures from over 200 students getting approval that they want to see more Fair Trade on campus -Presented a powerpoint at a faculty meeting and got unanimous approval of the resolution -Presented the resolution and got unanimous vote from the student council -Students met with members of the administration (head of school, chief of finances) several times and went through drafts of the resolution -Presented a powerpoint at the Board of Trustees meeting in May 2010, answered questions and worked on details and got the approval in November 2010 Getting the Fair Trade Resolution Approved

Presenting to the Board of Trustees What to present when proposing the resolution: What is Fair Trade? Why should the school be Fair Trade What has the school done so far and what does the school need to do to become Fair Trade? How will the efforts be sustained long-term? Costs and Benefits of becoming a Fair Trade school Tips: -Have handouts of the resolution and other resources about Fair Trade -Offer a contact addresses for questions after the presentation

Typically Asked Questions Cost?  The transparency of the process of Fair Trade allows direct interaction between the producer and the suppliers, which cuts out the middlemen who raise the price in conventional trading.  Compared to other non-Fair Trade certified items of similar quality, Fair Trade items are competitively priced.  Other FT schools have not seen a significant increase overall ($1 increase per student at UW-Oshkosh to serve FT coffee)  “Whenever feasible” Long-term, how will the campaign be sustained?  Fair Trade Steering Committee will continuously monitors progress  Active Clubs raising awareness inspires students to be involved in promoting FT

3 & 4 Have Fair Trade goods in School To get Fair Trade items in the Dining Hall, School Store, School events - Talk to the managers for the dining hall and school store and also the person in charge of the school’s finances -Research about the food provider company and if it has Fair Trade products **“Whenever possible”** Growing effort to bring more Fair Trade under the supervision of the FT Steering Committee

Examples of Fair Trade items on Campus FT Tea, Coffee, Jasmine Rice, Sugar in dining hall FT Coffee and sugar served in school events FT Divine chocolate, hair scrunchies in school store FT Dr. Bronner’s soap in the health center FT coffee, tea, artisan crafts sold by the Eco- Emm Fair Trade club

5. Fair Trade Steering Committee Representatives from the following groups: -Students -Administration -Faculty and Staff -Dining Service Responsibilities: -Oversee a Fair Trade School campaign action plan; -Monitor the progress of the Fair Trade campaign and policy implementation and documenting that progress; -Submit an annual progress report to the national Fair Trade University governing body. -Meet twice per semester (4 times a year) Make decisions based on consensus. Facilitations of meetings rotates each time.

Summary: Criteria for Becoming a Fair Trade School 1. Campaigns for Fair Trade education, awareness and growth 2. Have a written Fair Trade Policy/ Resolution. 3. Sells or serves Fair Trade products in all outlets. 4. Uses Fair Trade products at internal meetings and events. 5. Have a Fair Trade University Steering Group.

Timeline of Emma Willard School and Fair Trade June 2006: Emma Willard School’s dining services agreed to 100% Fair Trade coffee (now currently include sugar, tea and rice in their FT products) September 2006: Creation of the Eco-Emm Fair Trade group Mar 2009: Creation of the club SlaveryNoMore May 2009: Meeting with dining hall services and the Chief Financial Officer April 2010: Students present and get approval from students and faculty May 2010: Proposal to become a Fair Trade school officially presented to the Board of Trustees by the students June-October 2010: Meetings and s between trustees, administrators, faculty and student leaders to work on details of Fair Trade School Campaign. July 2010: Faculty room switches to 90% Fair Trade coffee choices, (with goal of 100%) November 2010: Becomes a Fair Trade High School!!

What’s Next after the Recognition Fair Trade Steering Committee monitors progress and makes sure that the criteria are still met and Fair Trade presence expands Re-apply each year to be recognized as a Fair Trade institution

Press Coverage after Recognition as a FT institution Press coverage: -Local TV station news station interview with the education reporter -Named one of 5 “Human trafficking Heros of 2011” by Change.org -Post about recognition on - Coverage in local Times Union newspaper - Posted to Care2 make a difference, w/15 million members - Seen on many web sites, including: National Coalition of Girls Schools FairTradeFederation.org Fair Trade Sports TopTenFairTrade.com Fair Trade Resource Network Global Exchange Viewchange.org albany.com FairTradeUSA Fair Trade Coffee News

General tips  Knowledge is power: Learn more about Fair Trade and also your school  If you can invite speakers to speak at your school, they can be very helpful  Get support from a various parts of the school: Try to recruit underclasswomen, get faculty mentor(s)  Document events (helps when you have to finally apply to be recognized as a Fair Trade institution and can be a resource to others)  Be Creative and have FUN!

YOU CAN DO IT!

QUESTIONS? Other good resources: Fair Trade Towns USA website New York Fair Trade facebook page