Fair Trade
“Fair Trade” refers to the exchange of goods based on principles of economic and social justice. The key objectives of Fair Trade are to empower low-income artisans around the globe to better their conditions, and to promote understanding between them and people of developed regions. Organizations who are members of the Fair Trade Federation pledge to pay fair wages, provide equal opportunities for all people, and engage in environmentally sustainable practices. They also work toward building long-term trade relationships, providing healthy and safe working conditions, and providing financial and technical assistance to workers whenever possible.
Fair Trade advocates generally agree that the producer should earn enough not only to cover material and labor costs, but also to improve the standard of living for the producer’s family, cooperative, and community.
See the fair trade article in the Fall 2008 edition of Gift Shop Magazine, which includes a feature on The Mission Marketplace.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE WORLD OF FAIR TRADE
One of the biggest benefits of being part of the Fair Trade movement is discovering new ways in which people are choosing to make a positive impact upon the world.
- Are you a chocolate lover or a chocolate connoisseur?
While a chocolate lover may go gaga for a convenience store chocolate bar, a connoisseur will opt for a dark chocolate with the finest ingredients and no additives.
Recently we were invited to visit a little chocolate factory called Mindo Chocolate. Mindo is one of few “bean-to-bar” factories in the country, and owners Jose Meza and Barbara Wilson control every step of the processing right next door in Dexter. The result is a chocolate made from only three ingredients that one long-time customer refers to as a “religious experience.” Barbara Wilson is quick to reveal what makes the chocolate so divine; it’s all in the beans.
To celebrate their 30th anniversary, the couple took a six-week trip through Ecuador, and along the way visited the Amazon basin, where cacao trees originated, and where the world’s highest-quality beans are still grown. Meza and Wilson were already roasting and processing their own coffee and began to take an interest in crossing over to chocolate.
They visited a chocolate co-op farm, Kallari, where they were given an opportunity to learn the process. From Kallari, Meza and Wilson gleaned some all-important advice: Inspect the pods, not just the beans from cacao farmers. Finding an Ecuadorian farmer who was able to comply with those standards was not easy, but they did. (Though Mindo Chocolate is not certified fair trade yet, the farmer is paid at fair trade prices, and the pods are in optimum condition, Meza and Wilson say.) When they made their first batch of chocolate from scratch, they realized there was no going back.
Meza and Wilson had recently opened a restaurant and hotel called El Quetzal in the town of Mindo, an ecotourism hub in Ecuador. When Wilson started using their artisan chocolate in the restaurant brownies, it created quite a buzz.
Though Ecuador is ideal for growing the cacao tree, it is too humid for much of the processing. In November of 2009, Meza and Wilson became licensed to do the processing in their home-factory in Dexter. The equipment needed is not readily available in the States; most pieces they use are small appliances that have found a second calling in the chocolate factory, like a Champion juicer that breaks down the cacao nibs that are shipped from El Quetzal. Other equipment comes from India, and one piece was designed and constructed in part by Meza himself (a retired mechanic and founder of Arbor Motion on State Circle.) Their chocolate bars are quickly showing up on the shelves in the Mission Marketplace. This gourmet chocolate may be priced a bit more that you will find at the local grocer, and many consumers say they are worth every penny.
When we met Meza and Wilson, we right away got the impression that we would one day be able to say “We knew them when…” Wilson assured me that she does not aspire to “bigness or fame,” but instead to “eat delicious chocolate, drink delicious coffee and have fun.” We have a feeling she may end up with more than she dreamed of. “I can’t do anything small,” Meza counters, and explains that he really wants to help raise the standard of living for the people in Mindo, where they currently have five full-time employees.
- We were excited to hear Fair Trade and Sustainability mentioned at The Food Network Awards. The Khaya Company won the Food Network's Edible Entrepreneur of the Year Award! The Khaya Cookie Company Creates Opportunity One Bite at a Time. We hire men and women from townships across South Africa to bake handmade cookies. We bring them fresh to your door in the United States. We provide men and women with a steady income and a sense of pride and dignity. Check out this link, and watch/listen to the video. http://www.khayacookies.com/
- Make a Global Difference! What’s wrong with buying regular coffee? What impact can consumers have on global economics? In Fair Trade: A Beginner’s Guide author and activist Jacqueline DeCarlo makes sense of current debates in socially responsible purchasing, and reveals why Fair Trade means more than just bananas, coffee, and chocolate for both consumers and producers. Stressing Fair Trade as a positive alternative to poverty, environmental destruction, and human exploitation, this book is packed with inspiring ways to make a difference. With comprehensive coverage of Fair Trade principles, its evolution into a powerful economic and social justice tool, and ways to become personally involved on a local or international level, this book will encourage readers of all backgrounds to help end a key source of global injustice. Jacqueline DeCarlo is Fair Trade Program Advisor to Catholic Relief Services. Jackie encountered Fair Trade while investigating the situation of refugees and immigrants in Central America in 1999 and soon thereafter became a volunteer with the Mut Vitz Coffee Cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. Se became the director of the newly independent Fair Trade Resource Network in 2001 and led that organization’s growth and development before joining Catholic Relief Services in 2005. Visit her blog at: http://jacqdecarlo.blogspot.com/.