Resources
RESOURCES FOR TAKING ACTION
There are many resources available to help us learn more about fair trade, global economic justice and concrete actions we can take to make a difference. We invite you to learn more through the various organizations and resources provided below.
Fair Trade Resource Organizations
Co-op America
www.coopamerica.org
Co-op America is a non-profit dedicated to helping people use their economic power to create a more socially just and environmentally sustainable world.
Co-op America has many programs, check out information about the following subjects:
Sweatshops: www.sweatshops.org
Forest preservation: www.woodwise.org
Responsible Companies: www.responsibleshopper.org
Fair Trade Federation
www.fairtradefederation.com
The FTF is an association of Fair Trade wholesalers, retailers and producers committed to building the Fair Trade economy.
Fair Trade Resource Network
www.fairtraderesource.org
The Fair Trade information gateway! FTRN raises consumer awareness about improving people's lives through fair trade alternatives.
TransFair
www.transfairusa.org
TransFair USA is an organization that oversees transactions between Fair Trade Certified products in the US and their international suppliers to ensure that the suppliers are being paid a fair price for their products.
Consumer Education, Fair Products and Services
National Green Pages
www.greenpages.org
Search for over 25,000 products and services from 2000 socially responsible companies in 170 categories.
SweatFree Communities
www.sweatfree.org
SweatFree Communities assists sweatshop workers globally in their struggles to improve working conditions and form strong, independent unions.
Responsible Investing
The Community Investing Center
www.communityinvest.org
Created in partnership with the Social Investment Forum, we aim to get investors to put one percent of their portfolios into community investments which would put over $15 billion to work in rebuilding low-income communities in the U.S. and abroad.
Social Investment Forum
www.socialinvest.org
Created in partnership with the Social Investment Forum, this website offers detailed information on concepts, practices and growth of socially responsible investing.
Student Movements
United Students for Fair Trade
www.usft.org
USFT is a collaboration of students working towards economic justice through the promotion of fair trade products, principles and policies.
Social Justice Mission Trips—See for yourself!
Witness for Peace
www.witnessforpeace.org
Witness for Peace works for human rights, peace, justice and sustainable economies through socially responsible travel, personal experience, popular education and grassroots activism.
Independent Media Resources
Dollars and Sense
www.dollarsandsense.org
The magazine of economic justice.
Mother Jones
www.motherjones.org
North American Congress on Latin America
www.nacla.org
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1966 that works toward a world in which the nations and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean are free from oppression and injustice, and enjoy a relationship with the United States based on mutual respect, free from economic and political subordination.
Books
Esperanza en Accion encourages you to support your local independent bookseller. For online purchases we recommend Powell’s Books, www.powells.com
The Best of What we Are: Reflections on the Nicaraguan Revolution by John Brentlinger
Insights into the history of the Nicaraguan revolution.
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
A chronicle of US history from the bottom up.
Americans Who Tell the Truth by Robert Shetterly
Portraits and biographies of inspiring American citizens.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
A book about where our food is made, how it is made and by whom.
Fair Trade: A Beginner’s Guide by Jaqueline Decarlo
Grounded in the inspiring power of Fair Trade as a positive alternative to poverty, environmental destruction, and human exploitation, this enlightening book explains how we can make a difference.
Fair Trade For All by Joseph E. Stiglitz
This book explores the way in which fair trade can make a difference in the development of third world countries.