At the moment M&M's has a new campaign out to vote for a new color of M&M. Please go to the M&M's web site and vote for fair trade chocolate. The site is  http://gcv.mms.com/us/ All you have to do is, go to vote, and when it offers you the colors you have the option of writing in your color choice. So write in "Fair Trade Certified Chocolate" or something along those lines. That way they'll receive lots (hopefully) of votes to encourage them to start buying fair trade.

If you are interested in a more thorough action, check out the following email which I received from Global Exchange (one of the organizations that is working hard to pressure Starbucks to sell fair trade coffee):

Poverty Wages & Slavery Making Your M&M¹s Bitter?!

Here¹s what you can do!:

M&M/Mars is currently asking consumers to vote for a new color of M&M¹s.
On March 30th, participate in a Nationwide Day of Education and Action to
rally the vote for Fair Trade Certified chocolate, the color of freedom and
dignity!

No matter what the shade, make my M & M's Fair Trade!!

On March 30, activists across the USA will go to their biggest local movie
theaters to ask people to fill out special ³Fair Trade M&M¹s Ballots!² It is
easy to organize something in your community! We can send you a packet of
materials including everything you need: special ballots, flyers, background
information, guidelines for planning your event, and more. E-mail
 melissa@globalexchange.org with your address to have the materials sent to
you. If you can't organize something on March 30th, don't worry- you can
still help by collecting ballots before and after the day. Get in touch
today!

For more information e-mail  melissa@globalexchange.org or see
 http://www.globalexchange.org/cocoa



BACKGROUND: CRISIS IN THE COCOA INDUSTRY!

€ POVERTY WAGES: ³We had very hard times in the 1980s when the price of
cocoa beans went down. The money we used to get from selling our cocoa beans
to the government didn¹t give us enough to buy materials or a pump for our
own water supply. Many farmers were so desperate that they sold the cacao
trees for wood.
- Asamoah, cocoa farmer from Kuapa Kokoo

€ CHILD SLAVERY: The US State Department, the ILO, and UNICEF have recently
reported child slavery on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, the origin on 43%
of the world¹s cocoa. ³Beatings were a part of my life. Anytime they loaded
you with bags and you fell while carrying them, they beat you and beat you
until you picked it up again. I was always thinking about my parents and
how I could get back to my country. I had seen others who tried to escape.
When they tried they were severely beaten.²
- Aly, 14, former slave

THE PROBLEM?
€ Global cocoa prices have plummeted in recent years, leaving cocoa farmers
unable to meet their own needs or pay their workers adequately.
€ Some US Chocolate companies including M&M/Mars have pledged to work
towards ending child slavery by 2005. However, their plan does not
guarantee fair wages for adults, which is the only way to insure that
slavery and poverty are both brought to an end.

THE SOLUTION!
€ Fair Trade Certification, which guarantees a minimum price of $.80 per
pound, would allow cocoa plantation owners to pay their workers a living
wage AND cease the practice of child slavery.

Mars is one of the largest American chocolate companies and a leader in the
global chocolate industry. They are the 4th largest private company in the
US and their 3 owners are worth a combined $27 billion. Surely they can
afford to offer the Fair Trade alternative!


**Don¹t Delay! Contact us today to get started right away!**


Melissa & Deborah

--
Deborah James, Fair Trade Director
 deborah@globalexchange.org
Melissa Schweisguth, Fair Trade Coordinator
 melissa@globalexchange.org
Global Exchange
415.255.7296 x245 or x352
415.255.7498 fax
2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110
 http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/coffee
 http://www.globalexchange.org/cocoa

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