Forget the world-class skiing and art. There's a new reason to visit Taos: The small northern New Mexico burg was recently designated a "Fair Trade Town."
The recognition, awarded in March by the nonprofit Asheville, N.C.-based Fair Trade Towns USA, came a month after the Taos Town Council approved a resolution "recognizing the value of 'Fair Trade' in vastly improving the lives of farmers and crafts people around the world, and encouraging all Town of Taos businesses and institutions to sell and use Fair Trade products whenever possible."
"There are a lot of people here already involved seriously with Fair Trade. The council said, 'We should be there, too,' '' Taos spokeswoman Cathy Connelly said.
Taos is the first community in the western United States to earn the designation— a rather impressive accomplishment, according to Fair Trade Towns USA officials.
"It's quite a feat to be first in the West when you're up against super-progressive places" like San Francisco, said Sara Stender, the organization's campaign coordinator.
Other communities in the Fair Trade Town club include Media, Pa.; Brattleboro, Vt.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Amherst, Mass.; and Northampton, Mass. More than 400 cities in Europe have also earned the designation.
"We thought it would be beneficial to the area and to our community," Taos Mayor Bobby Duran said when asked why Taos sought to earn the recognition. "Besides, it also puts us on the map as a Fair Trade community."
He added, "The town is really endorsing this."
To achieve a Fair Trade designation, communities must accomplish five things, according to the Fair Trade Towns USA Web site. They are: pass a resolution supporting Fair Trade; create a local Fair Trade steering committee to ensure continued commitment to the community's Fair Trade status; offer a range of Fair Trade products in local shops and restaurants; have workplaces and community organizations that use Fair Trade products; and attract popular support and media coverage to the Fair Trade effort.
Stender works closely with each community's steering committee, but she noted that Fair Trade designation status is not the equivalent of third-party certification. Also, while Fair Trade Towns USA does have a verification process for municipalities, it doesn't necessarily include personal visits, which was the case with Taos.
For its part, the Taos town government has agreed to purchase Fair Trade products, including coffee and office supplies, "when such products are available and competitively prices," according to the town's resolution.
As for how many of the town's goods are currently Fair Trade, "We don't have a percentage. We're going for 100 percent, if we can do it. Right now, we're still getting organized," Connelly said.
"To a great extent, we hope to show that buying local and buying Fair Trade are not mutually exclusive," she said.
The Taos Fair Trade Steering Committee, which is appointed by Duran, is made up of about a dozen people representing factions of the community, including businesses and religion organizations.
The committee is still in the process of forming Fair Trade goals for Taos, said Steve Gloss, founder and president of the Taos nonprofit Sustaining Cultures, steering committee member and a driving force behind the town's quest for Fair Trade status.
Possibilities include increasing the number of businesses that carry Fair Trade goods and implementing Fair Trade education in the schools, he noted.
"Fair Trade is fundamentally about people and treating them fairly. That's the bottom line," Gloss said.
