Mohammand Riaz is content. His four children are healthy and well. The winter wheat, which he is cultivating on his two hectares, is looking good. Last season, his main crop of rice yielded an exceptional five tons, which he could sell for a profit to the rice mill.

Mr. Riaz is 45 years of age, lives in Sialkot Pakistan, and works at our partner’s certified Fair Trade sports ball production facility. Two thirds of all soccer balls produced worldwide are manufactured in his home town.

It takes 690 stitches to turn 32 pentagonal and hexagonal panels of synthetic leather into a soccer ball. Depending on the quality of the ball an experienced stitcher can stitch three to five balls per day. The most tricky bit is the final seam, which has to be done blind - through adjacent seams - and without puncturing the eco-certified latex air bladder.

Mr. Riaz credits his good harvest to Fair Trade…several years ago his employer, Talon Sports, became the first Fair Trade supplier of soccer balls in the world. The initial run of sports balls were sold to a cooperative in Italy.

Whenever Mr. Riaz stitches a ball which has been ordered by Fair Trade Sports, he is guaranteed a wage which is about 50% higher than what is usually paid in the industry.

Another part of the Fair Trade premium we pay (but don’t pass on to you the consumer) goes towards financing a health care program for all workers involved in the sports ball production at our facility - because Fair Trade orders are still the exception to the extent that getting a Fair Trade ball to stitch is a bit like winning the lottery. The health care plan, on the other hand, continuously benefits all employees and is an industry-first for workers like Mr. Riaz.

On top of this, the Talon Fair Trade Welfare Society provides small loans to workers who want to develop a second source of income, since the stitching of sports balls is highly seasonal - the years of World Cup Soccer are good - the years in between can be lean.

Mr. Riaz applied for a loan to purchase an irrigation pump for his farm; two-thirds of the loan is already repaid - and is now micro-credit loans for some of his colleagues.

The positive cycle created by the Fair Trade movement (and supported by you) continues…

Fair Trade Towns USA is a new campaign organized by local and national Fair Trade advocates to encourage and support the Fair Trade Movement in the US.

Following the example of the Fair Trade movement in Europe, the campaign supports local “grassroots” groups by offering tools and resources to become a Fair Trade town or city. Fair Trade Towns brings these local groups together, united with the common goal of making Fair Trade products the standard in the U.S. - one community at a time.

The town of Media, PA is the first Fair Trade Town in the US. They recently ordered a slew of Fair Trade soccer balls, footballs, and basketballs to outfit their schools, parks, and recreational leagues. Perhaps your town is next!

Special thanks to Melody Hamby for the great photo!

We kicked off Fair Trade Month a day early in Los Angeles at the Just Lives Festival in the Hollywood Farmer’s Market.

This wonderful event is organized by Fair Trade LA, Catholic Relief Services, and the  Progressive Jewish Alliance.

What fun to smell delicious Fair Trade coffee wafting through the air while listening to a few inspired acoustic musical performances. And seeing the wide variety of Fair Trade products available was fun, too, including our Fair Trade footballs.

In addition to our Fair Trade soccer balls and volleyballs, our Ultimate discs were seen flying through the festival as well, upsetting only a few cups of coffee.

:)

Coop America’s new Guide to Fair Trade (PDF) was recently released for both consumers and Fair Trade advocates.

The Guide features descriptions of national and international Fair Trade products (such as our Fair Trade soccer balls) with an extensive directory of businesses and organizations offering those products.

In addition to general information on Fair Trade, there are personal testimonials and suggestions how to involve yourself more as a consumer in the overall Fair Trade movement.  I liked the step-by-step plan of action for mobilizing consumers and local producers, such as hosting Fair Trade events and petitioning local supermarkets to carry more Fair Trade products.

This is a great tool to empower consumers! The more consumer demand for Fair Trade, the more people we help around the world!

Join us as we celebrate October as Fair Trade month!

What is Fair Trade? Glad you asked. Our friend Siel in Los Angeles (aka Green LA Girl) has a great primer on the subject.

When you are out in your local marketplace this month, please consider whether a Fair Trade version of the product you seek exists. The obvious one this month is chocolate as Halloween approaches. If your local market does not carry Fair Trade chocolate, ask the manager for it!

Our friend Dean (of Dean’s Beans fame) is active with the other project we invest alot of time into, the abolitionist group Not For Sale. He has transformed Dean’s Beans into one of the first abolitionist companies in the US.

Dean has also recently uploaded a few videos that speak directly into the heart of what Fair Trade means to an individual producer and community, based on his work in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea. Recommended and uplifting!

The Green Festival is coming to Seattle (where Fair Trade Sports is
based) this Spring!

Green Festival is a joint venture between Global Exchange and Coop America. I’m serving on the Host Committee to welcome this show to our city. We met last week at the Seattle Aquarium for a work session that was 50-people strong. Seattle-area leaders representing
groups ranging from electric vehicles to green media to social justice nonprofits. Exciting!

My favorite part was Global Exchange Co-Founder Kevin Danaher’s short talk about the two cycles currently at odds in our world…the Money Cycle and the Life Cycle. His question/challenge to our team was, “Which cycle will dominate?”

    

I know which cycle my crew will work towards…LIFE!

The good folks at Equal Exchange have just updated their fundraising program to include a new incentive…an EE-branded Fair Trade soccer ball!

The largest worker-owned coffee roaster in the country, Equal Exchange offers tours to fundraising groups for coffee and chocolate tasting. In some areas (such as Portland, OR), they will also send a crew out to your school assembly to help launch the new program.

Contact them if you are interested, and be sure to tell Kelsie we said hello!

And if you need a Fair Trade soccer ball (or any of our other sports) branded with your organization’s colors and logos (minimum order 250 balls), just let us know! If you need less than 250 sports balls, just head over to our Gear Shop to see our volume pricing on all orders of 10+ balls.

Sustainability is simple. It’s about living in a way that leaves the world better for future generations. Who doesn’t want to do that?

My friend Sami at The Change helped Larry and his crew put together the enjoyable site Sustainability School. Suggest you check it out when you have a few free minutes.

Who’s Larry? Why, the infamous Larry from Larry’s Beans, of course.

From our friends at Transfair…a cool Top 12 list of ways that each of us can support Fair Trade throughout our day.

Here’s the short version, you can read the full version on their site:

Vote. Ask. Host. Join. Celebrate. Learn. Donate. Introduce. Start. Fundraise. Give. Serve.

Just the short version is enough to start kicking off exciting ideas in
my head. Kudos to the Transfair staffer who created this list!