So I’ve mentioned Fair Trade LA a couple times now. I can feel my LA readers thinking — Huh? What fair trade group in LA?

Which is what I thought, till a few weeks ago, when Shachar emailed me via the blog. He and a small group of other fair trade activists are working to put together a more cohesive group of Angelenos committed to fair trade issues. This group: Fair Trade LA.

Meaning: Fair Trade LA’s just getting started. Join now, and you’ll be one of the foremothers (or fathers) of the organization. You’ll be able to tell future generations about it — “Yeah, I spearheaded it!” — long after Fair Trade LA’s revolutionized our metropolis.

Fair Trade LA’s an open, democratically-organized group of concerned people — students, activists, atheists, catholics, you name it! — who’ve come together due to one common goal: creating social justice around the world.

What’s been invigorating for me so far: Finding passionate, committed fair trade activists whom I’d never even been aware of! This includes Gordon, an Oxfam CHANGE dude at UCLA, and Catholic Relief Services, a faith-based group currently buying fair trade products and selling them — at cost — to its members, to make the products as affordable and as wide-reaching as possible (like my Valentines Day Party!).

I’ll be honest — The first Fair Trade LA meeting I went to was a dinner at Joan’s house. When she started praying pre-meal, my atheist soul was ready to bolt. Interestingly, Joan actually REVISED her prayer (she didn’t know what my religious affiliation — or the lack thereof — was, and didn’t want to be divisive) into a more broad blessing type thing — even cracking jokes in the middle!

Not to say I’ll be finding religion anytime soon (ever, more like), but I found Joan’s open-minded efforts heartwarming and encouraging. We may have different belief systems and come from different backgrounds, but we can unite toward a common goal: social justice.

The first Fair Trade LA event’ll be an educational one — to introduce a wide group of Angelenos to the fair trade movement, and to work to bring more fair trade products into the LA area, making fair trade stuff more widely avaliable and accessible.

Interested? Then join! Either visit the Fair Trade LA website/blog, or email fairtradela@gmail.com. Hell, just email me, and I’ll hook you up.

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