TransFair USA

Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Then don’t miss the post below from our friends at TransFair USA.

Gorgeous bouquets of roses, mouth-watering candy hearts, romantic dinner reservations—and Fair Trade. There are so many ways that you can make Fair Trade a part of this Valentine’s Day, which is why February 14th holds a special place in our hearts at TransFair USA.

TransFair USA is a nonprofit, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. We enable sustainable development and community empowerment by cultivating a more equitable global trade model that benefits farmers, workers, consumers, industry and the earth. We achieve our mission by certifying and promoting Fair Trade products in over 60 countries around the world.

So how can you help? The Gifts of Fairness giving program allows you to give a gift that changes the world.

What’s Valentine’s Day without chocolate hearts? Now you can make them Fair Trade Certified chocolate hearts with heart-shaped bonbons from Divine Chocolate. Looking for a more seductive gift for your sweetheart? Check out Theo Chocolate’s Aphrodisiac Confection Collection.

Do you have a date to impress? Then pick up Theo’s Chocolate and Wine Pairing Kit. The kit comes with several varieties of Fair Trade Certified Theo chocolate and offers suggestions of great wine to pair it with. Buy a bottle of Fairhills Bus Stop Red and enjoy some great vino AND help build a school bus system for the children of over 800 farm employees in Mendoza, Argentina. Or pick up some Solombra Merlot and help buy bricks for the community hospital that is being built in the Famatina Valley of Argentina. Watch this video to learn more.

As it turns out, many Fair Trade Certified products are also common cupcake ingredients (sugar, coffee, chocolate). Look for sugar from Wholesome Sweeteners or Alter Eco at your local store or order online. And those that aren’t so common (roses, tea, bananas and honey) are potential components in exquisite recipes. Carefully selecting ingredients that are responsibly grown and traded ensures that each cupcake is Made with Love.

And last, but not least, flowers! Show that special someone in your life how much you care by giving her/him Fair Trade Certified flowers. The Fair Trade Certified label on your bouquet means that flower workers—most of whom are women—can put food on their tables, send their children to school, invest in community development, and use sustainable farming methods. Watch this video to learn more.

Hey, if you’re already planning to buy any chocolate, flowers, or wine for Valentines Day, consider buying Fair Trade. Check out this note we got from TransFair USA below.

-Margaret McDonnell, ONE NGO Partnership Coordinator

This Valentine’s Day, it is easier than ever to show someone you care with gifts that benefit farming communities around the world. Fair Trade Certified flowers, chocolate and now wine are available in retailers nationwide and online.

Fair Trade Certified flowers are already helping ensure that flower workers like Nancy Segovia of Agrogandera, a flower plantation in southern Ecuador, receive fair wages, a safe work environment, paid vacation, maternity and sick leave and access to child care.

Fair Trade Certified cocoa is helping the farmers of the Kavokiva cooperative in the Ivory Coast to fund scholarships and school supplies for members children, build a healthcare center and establish a women’s literacy program.

Fair Trade Certified wine is helping wine producers like Marie Malan to move from her previous position as a domestic servant to the esteemed position of Farm Manager at Stellar Organics, an award winning organic vineyard in South Africa.

By choosing Fair Trade Certified products you are directly supporting a better life for farming families through fair prices and just labor conditions, direct trade, community development and environmentally sustainable farming practices.

This Valentine’s Day, pledge to make all of your purchases Fair Trade Certified and encourage your family and friends to do the same. As a special bonus, our friends at 1-800-Flowers are offering 15% off your next purchase of a Fair Trade Certified bouquet to everyone who takes the pledge. Forward this message to family and friends and they can receive the gift too. To take the Fair Trade Valentine’s Day pledge and forward a beautiful Valentine’s Day eCard to your loved ones, click here.

To find out more about where you can find Fair Trade Certified flowers, chocolate and wine in stores and online please visit our beautiful “Fall in Love with Fair Trade” website.

Thank you and Happy Valentine’s Day!

-James Guzzi, TransFair USA