Love and Fair Trade-themed Mardi Gras parade with NFT and PFC

Norman Fair Trade is teaming up with the Prairie Folk Circus this Saturday, Feb. 13, for Norman's 16th Annual Mardi Gras Parade.  Based on the parade theme, "All You Need Is Love," the groups decided to join forces to promote loving your neighbor by buying Fair Trade.

The parade begins at 6:45 p.m at the Santa Fe Depot on Jones and will proceed east along Main St, turn south on Crawford and loop back to the Depot on Comanche. The family-friendly parade attracts hundreds of attendees and dozens of floats every year, with entries including performers, civic and arts organizations, youth groups, churches, and businesses.

PFC and NFT members will dress in Fair Trade-themed costumes and hand out Fair Trade chocolate donated by Native Roots Market. PFC will also take to the streets with hula hoopers, jugglers, unicyclists, roller-skaters, dancers, and stilt-walkers.

The 2010 parade is dedicated to Norman’s non-profit agencies who work hard to better the lives of children, families, elders, and animal friends in our community.

Fair Trade & food services

There are many ways in which Fair Trade Certified products are distributed to consumers: Your local coffee shop, the neighborhood grocery store and large retailers.  Now you can add food service to the list!  Through TransFair USA's partner Sodexo, Inc., Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and sugar are reaching more people than than ever before.  Each day, Sodexo provides food service 10 million people in 6,000 locations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including hospitals, colleges and universities, school districts, independent schools, corporations, the federal government, military bases and conference centers.
Talk about expanding the reach of Fair Trade! Sodexo’s commitment to Fair Trade and sustainability delivers far-reaching impact to millions of farming families and their communities.

On Wednesday, February 3 a live Question and Answer discussion was held with TransFair USA CEO Paul Rice and Sodexo Vice President of Corporate Citizenship Arlin Wasserman.  They discussed why Fair Trade is a key element of Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow Plan and the company’s Aspretto brand coffee services, which boasts 100% Fair Trade Certified coffee, in addition to a variety of Fair Trade Certified teas and Fair Trade Certified sugar.