Legislation supporting Fair Trade Certified Goods has been introduced into the NJ State Legislature.

The South Jersey Fair Trade Alliance is very excited to inform you
about Bill #AR178 to support Fair Trade in the State House! The bill
can be viewed here.

The Bill to support fair trade was submitted by Assemblyman Frank Blee
and has been assigned to the State Government Committee. The Bill is
asking that the food service providers for the State House complex
serve Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate. It is also intended to
inform legislators and the public about the current crises that small
farmers are enduring because of the unfair prices that they receive.
It also acknowledges that Fair Trade is a viable solution to the
problem.

Currently there are millions of small farmers that are selling their
goods below the cost of production while the coffee industry is seeing
record profits. According to the U.S. State Departments 2001 report,
they found over 15,000 children in Ivory Coast alone that had been
sold into forced labor on coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations. The
report also found an estimated 250,000 children working in unsafe
conditions such as using machetes, applying pesticides and herbicides
without protection in the west African region.

The Fair Trade certification ensures that there is no child labor, a
living wage is paid, environmental sustainable practices must be
implemented, and there must be democratic organization and safe
working conditions. This is just some of the criteria that must be
met. We encourage everyone to call their Assemblyman regardless if
they are the ones listed below because at some point in the near
future it will come up for a full vote.

You can support the South Jersey Fair Trade Coalition´s (SJFTC) work to get this legislation passed in the NJ Legislature by contacting your representative - Find your representative here. - or contact the SJFTC directly through email: southjerseyfairtrade@hotmail.com or by phone: (609) 713-7272.