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Fair Trade Towns USA is an organization that encourages towns and cities across the United States to adopt a commitment to fair trade in their communities. This organization seeks to accomplish this goal by raising awareness about fair trade and social and economic justice. Its purpose is to provide opportunities for producers in developing countries to earn a living wage.〔Bromage, Andy. "Burlington Vows to Play Fair...Trade." Seven Days, 2009. retrieved from ProQuest Database: http://search.proquest.com/altpresswatch/docview/363157931/1335CC1F9538B5751E/3?accountid=14244〕 Such opportunities generally come in the form of direct market access and fair prices for their products. Fair Trade Towns USA aims to join consumers, activists, socially responsible businesses and retailers, faith-based groups, and local government in its promotion of fair trade communities. The organization awards the Fair Trade Town status to cities and towns that meet certain criteria. They provide guidelines for meeting these criteria and offer informational resources that are designed to help community leaders accumulate local support.〔http://www.fairtradetownsusa.org/about/〕 == History == The history of fair trade in the United States began in the 1990s, when the use of fair trade labels was introduced to help visually distinguish products. Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) was formed to set fair trade prices, and TransFair USA took the lead in the U.S. Its labeling efforts contributed to an average annual growth in the sale of fair trade coffee in the U.S. reaching 79% in 1999. Then, throughout the early 2000s, major chains in the U.S. such as Starbucks and Wal-Mart begin selling fair trade products. Fair trade sales in the U.S. averaged an annual growth of 50% throughout the decade.〔Glazer, Sara. "Fair Trade Labeling: Is it helping small farmers in developing countries?." CQ Researcher, 2007. retrieved from EBSCOhost Database: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2007051800〕 Following the proliferation of Fairtrade Town in the UK, Media, Pennsylvania became the first fair trade town in the U.S. in 2006.〔 Today there are 25 U.S. Fair Trade Towns in total. Below is a list of these towns as of December, 2011.〔 * Amherst, MA * Ballston Spa, NY * Berkeley, CA * Bluffton, OH * Boston, MA * Brattleboro, VT * Buena Vista, CO * Burlington, VT * Chicago, IL * Chico, CA * Conway, MA * Greenwich, CT * Healdsburg, CA * Highland Park, NJ * Madison, WI * Mankato, MN * Media, PA * Milwaukee, WI * Montclair, NJ * Norman, OK * Northampton, MA * Red Bank, NJ * San Francisco, CA * Taos, NM * Teaneck, NJ There are also forty-three cities across the U.S. that currently have fair trade campaigns in progress.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fair Trade Towns USA」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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