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We are Introducing FREE Information Webinars for Producers!
Our first
English Webinar
August 5, 2015
10 a.m. Eastern Time
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New Licensing Partners
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We welcome
Berief Feinkost, from Beckum, Germany, a
n independent family enterprise in the production of quality vegetable based food. Since its founding more than 30 years ago, Berief Feinkost has evolved from an experienced tofu maker into a nutrition specialist for high end cutting edge soy products.
We also welcome
SoloCoco, based in Miami, FL. Founded in 2013, SoloCoco distributes a high quality virgin coconut oil. Their sister company, Clarke's Organics located in the Dominican Republic, grows the coconuts and produce this excellent oil using a process called D.M.E. (Direct Micro Expelling).
These two companies, founded and owned by the same people, ensures nothing less than a top quality production process from growing the coconuts to the finished product . . 100% organic, unrefined coconut oil.
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Quick Links to Cooperating Certifiers
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Share with Your Colleagues
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Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance
collaborative excellence and accountability
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We are happy to announce some things we've made progress with in the last few months.
~One is the resources page on our web site where farmers, cooperatives and key development partners can download helpful documents such as simple employment contracts, "umbrella" contracts for seasonal workers, a basic occupational health and safety policy, and templates for the planning and evaluation of community development projects. The purpose of these documents is to provide general guidance: the documents can be amended and altered according to the specific needs of the operation.
~We are also introducing free producer information webinars in Spanish and English. The first English webinar is scheduled for August 5th. Please email Eileen if you would like to register. We will announce the producer webinars on the homepage of our web site on a regular basis. ~In addition we are continuing our efforts to post all current inspection and certification documents for inspectors and certifiers on our certifier forms web page, which requires a password. If you are an authorized inspector or certifier representative, please contact Eileen for the password. ~Finally, we are happy to announce that our newsletter will soon be published in Spanish and German.
We hope you're enjoying your summer - or winter for some of you.
For the FairTSA team Winfried Fuchshofen
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| An Extraordinary Community Development Project at Villa Lobo |
Our mission at FairTSA is to support rural communities so they become thriving, livable and economically viable entities where people have a life worth living and a future. Farm workers, often the poorest and socially most disadvantaged part of the rural population, are clearly part of our vision of Fair Trade. Villa Lobo, one of our Certified Producers, is a banana farm in the Dominican Republic owned by Biotropic SRL, a daughter company of Biotropic GmbH in Germany.
The 2015 Community Development Project is about protecting the farm workers at Villa Lobo by working on their immigration status. This project is unprecedented, and will literally mean saving Villa Lobo and the working lives of the farmers.
According to the New York Times there are roughly three quarters of a million undocumented workers from Haiti working in the Dominican Republic. Most of the workers are employed in construction and agriculture, and many have lived in the DR for 40 years or longer. In 2013 the Dominican Republic Supreme Court stripped tens of thousands of children born to undocumented immigrants of their statehood. A subsequent law threatens most of the undocumented Haitian immigrants with deportation. After international protests and backlash, the DR government allowed the stateless workers to apply for Haitian citizenship and proper DR work permits until mid-June 2015. Following this date, the Dominican Republic seems intent on massive deportations of undocumented workers.
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| Workers waiting at the provisional immigration center at Mao, DR |
As of June 17, 2015 Biotropic SRL has successfully helped all of their farm workers apply for Haitian citizenship! The final goal of this project is getting valid Haitian passports and documentation for the roughly 200 workers and their families at Finca Villa Lobo by April 30th, 2016.
This Community Development Project is nothing less than a great accomplishment for all involved!
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A Visit to Celebes Coconut Company
in the Philippines
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In April 2015 Winfried Fuchshofen, Executive Director of FairTSA, had a most inspiring visit with Celebes Coconut Company in Butuan City, Mindanao.
One day of the visit was primarily dedicated to observing the facilities and working conditions for regular and contract workers. Celebes is already paying a decent minimum wage for all contract workers, and is now in the process of upgrading locker rooms and sanitary facilities.
A part of the afternoon was used for
a training of the FairTSA committee,
with an introduction to the community
development plan and evaluation form,
as well as general principles on how
to facilitate community development.
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Celebes FairTSA Committee having fun
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The following day was dedicated to visiting existing projects and evaluating the site of a
new project. One of the ongoing efforts is the
distribution and installa
tion
of 100 solar panels for
families without access to
electric power. After hand
ing over 10 more panels, a
trip to the huts of the recipients were in order. These huts can only be reached by foot or motorbike, not even a dirt road is in place.
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| Winfried & the Village Captain heading to the huts |
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Check out this inspiring short video of FairTSA's visit to Celebes Coconut!
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Lastly, the site for a new well project was discussed with members of the indigenous people of Mayo-os, a small village with 250 people, who currently have no reliable access to clean drinking water. It was decided to go ahead with the project, which should be completed by the end of July. At the end of the trip, Winfried offered thanks and appreciation to the staff of Celebes who are out in the fields day in and day out, for their dedication and commitment to support the development and well-being of the rural communities they work in.
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| Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance PO Box 791 New Lebanon, NY 12125 518-794-0286 [email protected] http://fairtsa.org |
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