Mankato Area Fair Trade Town Initiative

Annual Report

January-December 2016

1. Following the Mankato Fair Trade Town Declaration 1.1 2016 was the fifth calendar year since the Mankato City Council, on October 24, 2011,

unanimously passed a Resolution containing a Declaration of Fair Trade Town status according to the criteria of the national Fair Trade Towns USA Campaign. Mankato became the first ‘Fair Trade Town’ in Minnesota and the 25th in the country. (There were 44 as at December 31, 2016)

1.2 The meeting of the Fair Trade Towns criteria resulted from the work of MAFTTI, formed in June 2009 following the visit to Mankato of two Peruvian Fair Trade cooperative workers, Eva Pizarro and Ayde Riveros, on May 5 that year. The basic criteria focused on the availability of Fair Trade products in the retail sector, their use in community organizations, media coverage of the campaign and support of the City Council.

2. MAFTTI - structure and status 2.1 The Officers in 2016 were Paul Renshaw (Chair and Lead Organizer), Jane Dow (Vice-Chair) and

Paul Prew (Treasurer). 2.2 Other Steering Committee members were Margo Druschel, Arlene Renshaw, Paulette Bertrand

and, from June, Bradley Wolfe. The committee met every month except in May and July. 2.3 MAFTTI continued to benefit from federal 501(c)3 non-profit status received in September 2014. 3. Objectives, Targets and Results 3.1 At its January meeting the Steering Committee re-adopted a number of modest targets as

MAFTTI continued its work without a specific externally-set goal in mind. The implicit challenge was to define how Mankato could claim to be more of a ‘Fair Trade Town’ at the end of the year than at the beginning.

Objectives Targets Results

Develop special theme for the year - Celebrate 5th Anniversary of ‘Mankato-Fair Trade Town’

College & HS students; MAFTTI Network & more; Media attention

MSU & Loyola MAFTTI-yes; general–no Free Press, KTOE & KEYC

ADVOCACY

Add three to the list of retail outlets that feature Fair Trade items.

Olives

Friesen’s bakery featured in last quarter of the year.

Approach three institutions or businesses about use of FT products.

Not identified VoyageurWeb continues use Fair Trade coffee.

Seek opportunities to present MAFTTI’s vision to local community groups.

As opportunities emerge Contact made with Mankato United Soccer Club and Sertoma.

MEDIA

Plan to secure at least three print media spots per year.

Mankato Free Press

July 30: Letter by Paul R. Oct.26: MFP article re FTT Oct. 29: Thumbs Up!

Online media Mankato Times Oct. 13: Poster for Oct. 27

Plan to secure at least three radio/TV spots per year

WFTD (May) and in Fair Trade Month (October)

Paul R on KTOE (Talk of The Town) 5/13 & 10/20. KEYC-TV news clip, 10/27

Continue MAFTTI Newsletter Monthly Circulation 330-340

EVENTS

MSU Community Engagement Fair, January 21, 10:00-1:00

Increase profile of Fair Trade at MSU

Jane Dow, Bradley Wolfe – low traffic reported

March 5: Surveying the Survey Diane Dobitz, Sally Coomes & 10 MSU “sociologists”

March 20: Sustainability Expo Arlene, Paul R & Carrie Bluth present at MAFTTI table

Maintain MAFTTI’s presence at Mankato Area International Festival, Sunday April 10, 11:00a.m.-4:00p.m.

MAFTTI literature and Fair Trade products

Paulette Bertrand, Cathy Neitge, Laurie Palesotti, Arlene & Paul Renshaw, Bradley Wolfe

April 24: (instead of June) FT Tea See 4.2 below

Promote World Fair Trade Day Saturday, May 14

Display boards by Jane at Coffee Hag, Fillin’ Station, Tandem Bagels, Mary Lue’s Yarn & Ewe. Books at B&N by Paul R and LaRae Bisel (staff). Coffee sampling at two Supermarkets

Display boards and book display as planned Coffee Sampling at Hilltop Hy-Vee & Cub East - volunteers: Carrie Bluth, Audrey von Holt, Laurie Palesotti, Becky Schwartzkopf, Julie Gruber, Paige Heinrich, Zach Waack

Maintain monthly presence at Mankato Farmers’ Market in season

2 volunteers x 4 hours or equivalent, 8:00-12 noon

MAFTTI present 5/21, 6/11, 6/25, 7/16, 7/30

MFM volunteers: Diane Dobitz, Laura Bealey, Jerry Stump, Steve Kidder, Paul Renshaw, Jane Dow, Lyn Dauffenbach, Lara Fletcher (New Ulm), Becky Schwartkopf, Sally Coomes, Paulette Bertrand, Deb Fitzloff.

Prepare float and maintain MAFTTI’s place in the North Mankato Fun Days Parade, Saturday, July 9

11 participants, with Amy Friedman as Carmen M.

Volunteers: Amy Friedman, Eric Ellingson, Mark Levitt, Mike Ferguson, Jane Dow, Mark Friedman, Linda Ganske, Paul Prew, Bradley Wolfe, Arlene Renshaw, Paul Renshaw.

Maintain MAFTTI’s presence at Campus & Community Fair, Wednesday, September 7.

Jane Dow, Zach Waack

Fair Trade Month (October) Maintain displays at Blue Earth County Library and Taylor Library. 5th Anniversary – Mankato-Fair Trade Town: October 24: Report to Mankato City Council October 27: See 4.3 below

Libraries: Arlene produced four boxes for BECL. Deb Fitzloff - two boxes at BECL and second side of trifold for North Mankato.

Reverse Trick or Treat distribution To better 2015 (5,000) 3,845 FT chocolate minis

SCHOOLS & COLLEGES

Support teachers on request Paul & Arlene Renshaw & Jane Dow met with Bridget Prehn/Loyola Catholic School

Use of curriculum material Jane Dow & Carrie Bluth met with Heather Mueller, ISD77 Director of Teaching and Learning

4. MAFTTI Gatherings 4.1 March 5: MAFTTI ‘gathered’ at First Congregational Church to “survey the Survey”, i.e. look into

the primary findings. The attendance of two MAFTTI stalwarts plus the Steering Committee was very disappointing. The event was enlivened, though, by the presence of ten MSU Sociology students, encouraged by Prof. Paul Prew.

4.2 April 28: Fair Trade Tea and Fashion Focus at Messiah Lutheran Church. Ninety attended and enjoyed a special Fair Trade Fashion exhibit created by Paulette Bertrand and Deb Fitzloff. The trailer of “The True Cost” was shown. Tables were set by individuals associated with MAFTTI.

4.3 October 27: Conference and Celebration of 5th Anniversary of ‘Mankato-Fair Trade Town” (October 24, 2011) with guest speaker Mark Ritchie (MN Secretary of State, 2007-2015 and, in 1998, key player in establishing Fair Trade certification in the USA). See MAFTTI Newsletters for November and December.

5. Fair Trade in schools, colleges, universities and congregations 5.1 Parochial Schools: MAFTTI maintained contact with Bridget Prehn at Loyola as she facilitated the

Fair Trade Club in a year that saw wholesale change of leadership at the school. Loyola is participating in a new Fair Trade pilot curriculum, an initiative of Fair Trade Campaigns. Fifteen Loyola students were present at the ‘Fair Trade for a Sustainable Future’ conference at MSU on October 27.

5.2 ISD77 Schools: Jane Dow and Carrie Bluth met Heather Mueller, Director of Teaching and Learning. Heather described the district’s mandate to include sustainable environmental and social justice elements in the curriculum. MAFTTI’s elementary school lessons and pilot lessons from Fair Trade USA were left with her for follow-up in due course.

5.3 Minnesota State University, Mankato: MAFTTI continued to receive help from the MSU Communications Studies Department in processing the results of the Survey distributed in October 2015. Kristen Cvancara, Bradley Wolfe and Erica Fulgham participated in this work, along with Paul Prew (Sociology and MAFTTI Steering Committee) and Paul Renshaw (MAFTTI Chair). MAFTTI also attended the Campus and Community Fairs on January 21 and September 7 and tried to find ways of supporting Fair Trade initiatives on campus. MAFTTI continues to appreciate the opportunity of interacting positively with several faculty members on an individual basis.

6. MAFTTI in the media 6.1 Mankato Free Press

July 30: Letter by Paul Renshaw, “Dunkin’ Donuts Harms Fair Trade”. October 26: MFP article by Brian Arola, “Mankato marks five years as Fair Trade Town”. October 29: MFP Thumbs Up Editorial, “Mankato Leads in Fair Trade Movement”.

6.2 Mankato Times October 13: MAFTTI poster for October 27 events published. 6.3 Radio

May 13: Paul Renshaw on KTOE “Talk of the Town” with Pete Steiner in advance of World Fair Trade Day. October 20: Paul Renshaw on KTOE with Pete Steiner to talk about the 5th Anniversary of ‘Mankato-Fair Trade Town’.

6.4 TV October 27: KEYC-TV News featured a 30-second clip from the ‘Fair Trade for a Sustainable Future” conference. An interview with Mark Ritchie was conducted but not used.

7. Other features of the year 7.1 Report to Mankato City Council: Paul Renshaw and Margo Druschel presented a “Five Years On”

report at the City Council on October 24, the actual 5th anniversary of the Fair Trade Town Declaration.

7.2 MAFTTI Newsletter: Monthly publication for a second year was maintained. Paul Renshaw supplied most of the copy to Paulette Bertrand for editing, design, production and circulation. A regular feature from June onwards was the inclusion of a spot about one or two items available for purchase at The Fair Emporium in St. Peter.

7.3 Barnes & Noble (River Hills), through LaRae Bisel, continued to cooperate with MAFTTI in mounting a display of books related to Fair Trade in the week running up to World Fair Trade Day in May.

7.4 “Reverse Trick or Treat” - October 31: 3,845 Fair Trade chocolate pieces with cards were distributed through these channels: Bethlehem Lutheran 120, First Congregational – 300, First Presbyterian – 300, Grace Lutheran – 100, Holy Rosary Catholic – 300, St. John the Baptist – 1200, St. John's Episcopal – 225, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship – 1300.

7.5 Ten Thousand Villages: During the Thanksgiving-Christmas period MAFTTI activists were prominent among the 23 volunteers staffing the Ten Thousand Villages (Mountain Lake) kiosk at River Hills Mall, again coordinated by Jane Dow.

7.6 Pre-Christmas bazaars: Fair Trade products were sold at special events at Bethlehem Lutheran, First Congregational, First Presbyterian and St. John’s Episcopal churches.

7.7 A Fair Trade Shopping Guide was updated four times and shared in the Fair Trade network through the MAFTTI website and in hard copy.

7.8 Video project: Early in the year Paul R approached Bethany Lutheran College/Stone Path Studios about the possibility of a short, student-made video being produced for the 5th Anniversary of ‘Mankato-Fair Trade Town’ in October. A proposal was agreed and some filming done in the Spring. However, the project was abandoned in August through changes of circumstances on both sides. Jill Fischer (Purple Porchlight Productions) was engaged to film the Anniversary events on October 27 and has taken over the MAFTTI video files from Stone Path for use in future.

8. North Mankato 8.1 When MAFTTI was formed in mid-2009 it was very consciously named the “Mankato Area Fair

Trade Town Initiative” to allow a Fair Trade agenda to develop outside Mankato itself. 8.2 In December 2010 the North Mankato City Council passed a supportive resolution. However, the

very small retail sector always meant that the “Fair Trade bar” would be higher in North Mankato than Mankato.

8.3 During 2016 there was no change in the Fair Trade status of North Mankato, i.e. Walgreens and South Central College are the only entities that contribute towards meeting the Fair Trade Towns retail criteria.

8.4 Institutional support for Fair Trade in North Mankato remains very low, though it does exist. Two churches (Belgrade Avenue UMC and Messiah Lutheran) use Fair Trade Certified coffee. On April 28, 2016 Messiah hosted MAFTTI’s Fair Trade Tea and Fashion Focus. (Three instances of institutional support in North Mankato are required according to Fair Trade Towns criteria.)

8.5 North Mankato remained the venue for MAFTTI’s major public presentation of its concerns in the form of the ’Carmen Miranda’ float in the Fun Days Parade.

9. Better Together 9.1 This network of Mankato area non-profits with a common interest in ‘Sustainability’ was formed

on an informal basis during 2012, the idea stemming in part from the International Fair Trade Towns Conference in Sweden in November 2011 attended by Paul and Arlene Renshaw.

9.2 In 2016 Better Together held its Annual Meeting on February 20, 10.15-12.30 at Twin Rivers Council for the Arts, Mankato. Paul Renshaw spoke about “Pillars of Sustainability”. Kate Taylor spoke about planning for Old Town Mankato redevelopment. Representatives of eight local area non-profits spoke about their work towards ‘Sustainability’.

9.3 BT Steering Group: Paul Renshaw and Lou Schwartzkopf stepped down. Donna Casella and Paul Prew stepped up to join Katy Wortel and Monika Antonelli.

On the next two pages are 16 pictures which selectively give glimpses of MAFTTI’s year.

Paul Renshaw, MAFTTI Chair, December 2016

Film of the year: The True Cost Mankato Area International Festival, 4/10

Mankato Area International Festival, 4/10 Mankato Farmers’ Market

Fair Trade Tea & Fashion Focus, 4/28 Fair Trade Tea & Fashion Focus, 4/28

Coffee sampling at Cub East – World Fair Trade Day, 5/14 Barnes & Noble book display – WFTD, 5/14

Carmen Miranda & escorts in North Mankato – 7/12 Carmen’s Fair Trade propaganda on the road

Deb Fitzloff & Arlene Renshaw – North Mankato trifold Celebration time – Blue Earth County Library

Mark Ritchie, 5th Anniversary – Mankato-Fair Trade Town 5th Anniversary Conference Workshop, 10/27

Celebrating 5 years of Mankato-Fair Trade Town, 10/27 Ten Thousand Villages kiosk, River Hills Mall