Making a Big Difference by Drinking a Cuppa
By Betty Lucas
As we enjoy our coffee after Mass or buy some Fair Trade coffee, tea, cocoa or chocolate at the monthly sales, are we really aware of the impact of our small, everyday choices?
Sales of Fair Trade products continue to grow, and have increased 41% from 2005 to 2006. This directly benefits more than 1.4 million producers and workers globally. Around the world, there has been impressive growth in many Fair Trade products -- cocoa by 93 percent, coffee by 53 percent, tea by 41 percent and bananas by 31 percent. In the U.S., nearly 700 U.S. companies now sell Fair Trade Certified products in about 40,000 retail locations.
Why support Fair Trade? To begin with, farmers and workers receive a fair price for their products, which is a matter of economic justice. That in turn makes for quality products since cost-cutting practices don't have to be used. Since most fair trade coffee, tea and cocoa are shade-grown and organic, there is attention to environmental sustainability. And the result has major benefits of empowerment and economic stability within the local communities.
Here are a couple of examples of the impact of Fair Trade:
From a coffee cooperative in Ethiopia - "Before Fair Trade, people used to walk 15-20 kilometers to a nearby school or to get to a health center. Because of Fair Trade there is now a health center in our village, a school and a clean water supply station. But this is just a start. Fair Trade is just asking a fair price for our product. We don't ask for charity; we ask for the right price for our product."
From the Fair Trade Samabeong Tea Estate in Darjeeling, India: Since participating in Fair Trade, Bishnu Chetri's life has completely changed. Participation in the Joint Body [worker's organization] has given her immense confidence and self esteem. Now she is not the shy and timid Bishnu she used to be. Bishnu never got a chance to go to school, so when an adult education program was launched using Fair Trade premiums, she enrolled. Now she can read and write. Her two children attend high school, which is run using Fair Trade premiums. Similarly, the cow loan program has been helpful because of the surplus milk and cow dung she can sell. The solar home lighting system, cooking gas program, and drinking water projects have also been very helpful, not only to Bishnu but to the whole community. To see why some folks support Fair Trade, see this short YouTube video http://youtube.com/watch?v=r7OtbmQgJ2MM
Fair trade principles are everyday examples that support Catholic Social Teaching, particularly in the "option for the poor and vulnerable" and "the dignity of work and the rights of workers". Purchasing fair trade products, such as coffee, tea and chocolate, gives us the opportunity to take action on this social teaching.
Fair trade products are certified by TransFair USA http://www.transfairusa.org/ and if authentic, the item should have the fair trade certified label.
St. Pat's gets our coffee from Equal Exchange in Boston, and they just celebrated their 20th anniversary! To read the story of how three New England food coop managers started their fair trade journey, go to www.equalexchange.com/story
To locate local Fair Trade roasters, coffee shops, and grocery stores, check out Fair Trade Puget Sound http://www.fairtradepugetsound.org/ for updated listings.
Look for, and ask for, fair trade coffee and tea as you go about your daily life. We can all do our part to promote a more just world.
