Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) published its annual guide to statistics for the 2011 U.S. market of Fair Trade Certified (FTC) products. Since FTC was the recognition system for about 90% of all Fair Trade goods sold in the U.S. in 2011, its statistics tell important parts of the larger Fair Trade story. Some key statistics include: Community development premium payments due to U.S. imports reached a new high of $22 million in 2010, an increase of 50% from 2010. 77% of the total came from coffee ...

On February 14, FTRN produced Webinar 121: “Should Hired Labor Plantations Be Included in Fair Trade?”. The 2 panelists were Ed Canty, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Fair Trade Organic Coffee Buyer; and Rodney North, Equal Exchange, The Answer Man – Information for the Public & Media. You can download the 50-min recording of webinar 121, or register for upcoming webinars, at FTRN webinars. Some of the speakers’ main points from the webinar include ...