It’s a ‘point of pride’

If Chico can be a “Tree City USA” as a “point of pride,” why not a “Fair Trade Town” as well? That was the question Sue Hilderbrand (pictured), director of the Chico Peace and Justice Center, asked the City Council Tuesday evening (Oct. 21).

She and the group Chico Fair Trade Town Coalition were seeking authorization of a resolution declaring Chico a fair-trade town. It would have no direct impact on the city or local businesses, she explained. The goal was to identify Chico as a town that supported fair trade, which she defined as trade in products made by workers earning minimum wage and enjoying sanitary conditions, not employing child labor and marketed directly, bypassing middlemen.

Chico is already meeting the requirements to be designated a fair-trade town, Hilderbrand said. A resolution would enable folks to say, “Yippee! We’re a fair trade town.” The group is promoting the effort.

By the 5-2 vote, with Councilmen Larry Wahl and Steve Bertagna dissenting, the council voted to draw up the resolution.