Jocelyn Boreta - Global Exchange

Looking for affordable, meaningful gifts this holiday season? Let’s make it easy for you. As the buyer for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store, I spent months connecting with our artisan partners to bring in a line of unique gifts that carry a story AND fit your budget. Here are my top 5 picks well under $10….perfect for your unexpected guest, teacher, neighbor, co-worker and loved ones.

1) Hand-Carved Olive Wood Heart $3.95:

Each one of these hearts is unique, as special care was taken to retain the natural grain and curvature of the olive wood they were carved from. Each is hand-carved by an artisan of the Kamba people living in the bush of Eastern Kenya. Special permits must be received to fell an olive wood tree, and the carvers make use of every inch of this prized wood.

These hearts make a perfect gift for a far away friend because they slide nicely into a Christmas card envelope. They also make a thoughtful gift for your best friend or partner, as they can be held well in a pocket.

2) Organic Fair Trade Chocolate $.25-$4.50:

We proudly carry Equal Exchange’s line of premium organic Fair Trade Chocolate crafted from the purest ingredients and grown with care by small farmer co-ops in Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Panama and The Dominican Republic. Equal Exchange only sources from small farmer organizations because they believe they are the heart and soul of Fair Trade.

On your way to a holiday party? Choose from Organic Dark Chocolate with Raspberries, Coconut, Caramel Crunch Sea Salt and more to pair with a bottle of holiday spirits. Or better yet check out Equal Exchange’s recipes for Chocolate Sugar Cookies or Earl Grey Tea Chocolate Cake. Mmmmm.

3) Hand-Pounded Desert Bells $2.50:

These bells are made by rural artisans in a small cooperative in the Kutchchi desert region of western India. Each bell is first pounded into shape by hand, and then buried under the hot desert sand in a kiln. This age-old technique of metalwork is what gives each piece its unique patina and tone.

What a great gift for your neighbor! On a small piece of ribbon, the bells can tie off the wrapping on a plate of fresh baked cookies. They make for beautiful tree ornaments!

4) Hand-Carved Kisii Stone Animals $3.50

These festive little animals are hand carved from solid kisii or “soap stone” by Gusii artisans in western Kenya. Each piece is then hand dyed (using non-toxic dyes) and etched at the Ndima Crafts finishing shop in Nairobi. Kisii Stone is a metamorphic rock, soft due to its high talc content, that has been used as a medium for carving for thousands of years.

A perfect fit for a child’s small hand, these animals are a great addition to a Christmas stocking. They also make a great gift for teachers or childcare providers!

5) Prosperity Hens $6.50

These colorful strands of hens are handmade in the stark desert region of northern India by a group of women who have formed a crafts co-operative, creating an economy where none existed. Hens are a symbol of prosperity and this strand crafted from fabric scraps, is intended to bring prosperity into the home. Carefully chosen glass beads, silver ornaments, and the unique tinkle of each hand-formed bronze bell reflect the personal touches of the women.

This is a perfect gift for your family. Hang it in your home to bring your loved ones prosperity this holiday season and into the New Year!

Come visit us at the Global Exchange Store in Berkeley, CA for a wide selection of Fair Trade holiday gifts that simply fill the heart!

The following piece is part of our ‘Women Around the World Inspiring Change’ blog series that will run until Mother’s Day 2014.

So far, we have featured a women’s group in Nogales, Mexico Hogar de Esperanza y Paz/Home of Hope and Peace (HEPAC), María Estela Barco Huerta, an incredible leader of DESMI (Desarrollo Económico Social de los Mexicanos Indígenas), and a partnership between the Fair Trade company, Equal Exchange, and women in the 10 primary societies of Gumutindo Coffee Co-op in Uganda.

Now, meet the women behind a Fair Trade tagua jewelry business in Bogota, Colombia.

Tagua Artisan and Business Woman Lizzie Zuniga

Tagua Seed Jewelry Artisan and Business Woman Lizzie Zuniga

Arriving from the airport into the Colombian capital city of Bogota, the main avenue is lined with the brilliant color of public art.

Every wall along Avenida Gaitan (named after the populist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan) tells a bold story of armed conflict and the resilience of the peoples’ movement for peace and justice. I was in Bogota to spend time with the artisans who produce the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store’s line of Fair Trade tagua seed jewelry. In one mural an indigenous woman, wrapped in the cloth of her cultural heritage, outstretches her hands to the cars rushing past. The word “Esperanza”, or “Hope”, is painted in neon behind her. The women artisans we have partnered with in Bogota are working for just that.

Tagua Seed Pod

Lizzie Zuniga moved to Bogota from Chiquinquira, a small town in the Western Boyaca Province located three hours north from the capital city. She and her partner Nicolas survived their first years in the city making and selling tagua seed jewelry in the street. Tagua seeds grow wild in Boyaca and when Lizzie and Nicolas moved to the city they depended on this natural resource of their homeland to sustain their new urban livelihood.

Whole Tagua seeds that have been died green

Tagua seeds grow in large pods on the trunk of Ivory Palms. The seeds remain gelatinous until the pod falls to the ground, where it can be peeled open to harvest the hard, smooth white seeds. Lizzie explains to me that the harvest cannot be rushed, as the resilience of the seeds depends on their full maturation. And so her business in Bogota grew, slowly and organically, with the tagua seed at its heart.

In her own words:

“Tagua is where I am from. It is part of my family and who I have become. On two different occasions when Nicolas and I had nothing, no shelter or food, we were able to rise and stand with tagua.”

Tagua seeds thinly sliced, dyed and ready to be made into jewelry

Today Lizzie runs a sustainable ten-year old business that employs seven artisans in the full-time production of tagua jewelry. She has partnered with a friend from Chiquinquira, who transports the tagua harvested by local farmers during their off-season, to the city where is it sorted, peeled, tumbled smooth and sliced into slabs in her workshop.

Mother of three, expert dyer, and business woman Sandra Navarette

Sandra Navarrete has worked with Lizzie for four years in all stages of tagua jewelry production. She has developed a full knowledge of the trade and considers herself a master artisan and business woman.

In her own words she describes her position:

“I find purpose and possibility in my work. I am a mother to three daughters and I am very proud that I have developed the capacity and confidence to run a business. I know all the processes involved.”

She has chosen to work in the dying of the tagua slabs, a highly technical process in which eco-friendly dies are used to set brilliant reds, greens, and indigos. Sandra’s favorite color is purple, though the perfect red is the color she finds the most challenging to achieve.

The Lizzie Penant cut from Tagua Seed and available now is stores or as part of our Mothers Day Gift of Membership program

The Lizzie Pendant cut from tagua seed and available now in the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores or as part of our Mother’s Day Gift of Membership program

The final product is a sustainably sourced, elegant piece of Fair Trade jewelry that can be sold to sustain a growing community of artisans that have relocated to Bogota from outside provinces. A large population of people, displaced from rural areas by decades of political violence in Colombia, lives in deep poverty on the outskirts of Bogota. The women of these communities are rising to create a future for their families through their work as artisans. In Lizzie’s case, she stays connected to the earth and her origins through the seeds that she works with. For her, tagua is a seed of hope or esperanza.

Stop in the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store in Berkeley this Mother’s Day to pick out your favorite from a wide selection of tagua jewelry pieces handmade with love by Lizzie and Sandra. My favorite is the Lizzie pendant, cut in the shape of a tree from a tagua seed, which comes in all colors.

You can make your Mama proud this Mother’s Day by gifting her a Fair Trade ‘Proud Mama’ gift box that includes the Lizzie pendant, along with a Putumayo “Women of the World” music CD, Fair Trade Equal Exchange chocolate bar, and a tin of Proud Mama coffee from Equal Exchange.

Get your Proud Mama Gift Box today!

UPDATE (May 5, 2014): Thank you to everyone for your 25 years of support. Our San Francisco Noe Valley Store is now closed. Please be sure to visit us in Berkeley, CA where we will continue to offer a wide selection of beautiful, functional Fair Trade product.

This spring, we will be closing the doors of our 24th Street store due to the skyrocketing costs of running a small business in San Francisco. We stand in solidarity with the growing number of families and local businesses who have also been affected by this surge in rental rates. This closure is not a reflection on the state of Fair Trade business, but rather a reflection on the shifting face of a city that is no longer able to foster the growth of small, local businesses.

As a founding member of the Fair Trade Federation, we stand for full transparency in the global marketplace. We want you to know your purchasing power: who, where, and how your purchases affect real change. We want you to be sure that your purchases go towards supporting economic justice through Fair Trade, NOT towards covering the violently inflated cost of rent in San Francisco.

Jocelyn and weaving partners in Guatemala Photo Credit: Global Exchange, September 2012

When I sit down with Brenda Chacach, Mayan businesswoman and Director of Maya Works, our responsibility at the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores to our artisan partners remains clear. While she works hard to empower over 125 indigenous women in rural Guatemala in the production of the highest quality hand loomed cotton, we must work hard to run strong, sustainable Fair Trade stores that house their beautiful wares that provide you, the conscious consumer, the opportunity to invest in them.

For over 25 years, the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores have taken this clear commitment to the artisan seriously and have worked hard to create thriving stores as community spaces where we can come together to celebrate and support the work of artisans around the world. Our stores are alive with the stories of prosperous cultivation, craftsmanship, and community support.

We have been in business at our San Francisco Noe Valley location (4018 24th Street) since 1989, constantly adjusting our footing in a changing marketplace. We are not immune to the forces changing the face of our San Francisco community, and the most recent wave of rent increases have also affected us, and we are taking action so that it does not affect our artisan partners around the world.

So where do we go from here? For years we have been building local partnerships and securing promising opportunities through a united creation of marketplaces that support people-over-profit.

Our Berkeley store, open since 1991 (2840 College Ave @ Russell) will continue to offer a wide selection of beautiful, functional Fair Trade product.
We plan to reopen the Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store this Fall 2014
We are exploring options to open a new brick-and-mortar store as part of a progressive, community-based project. More details to come soon!

Thank you to the San Francisco Noe Valley community for 25-years of support. We look forward to seeing everyone at our Berkeley store and other Global Exchange events around the Bay Area. Please keep our community vibrant by continuing to support your local businesses and organizations.

TAKE ACTION

Shop our MOVING SALE at the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store in San Francisco, CA.
Continue to visit us at our location in Berkeley, CA at 2840 College Ave (map)
Sign up to receive information about our online store and new brick-and-mortar store location to open soon!

It’s time for the Global Exchange Holiday Party at our Fair Trade Stores in Berkeley and San Francisco, Wednesday, December 4 from 5-8pm!

Holiday parties are a time to come together and celebrate our values. They’re also time a to get a little dressed up. At Global Exchange, we choose to celebrate community, culture, and sustainability through our clothing and jewelry.

In the spirit of coming together, we had the pleasure of collaborating again with LOFT1513, a San Francisco based shop where local designers feature one of a kind, handmade apparel, for this blog post.

As you can see, I was excited to model our selection of Fair Trade sterling silver and gemstone jewelry made by second generation silversmiths in Bali, Indonesia, along with a few awesome, locally designed and made dresses from LOFT1513.

U.S. based small business owner, Stacey Greengard started the Fair Trade wholesale business Kasih as a way to partner with Balinese silversmiths in the creation of high quality, unique jewelry, and to support her family as a single mother.

Kasih, which means “give and love” in Indonesian, makes down-payment on production, involves the artisans in democratic decision making and in the creative design process, and provides stable income for a growing number of families in the field. Stacey and her son Raman are considering moving to Bali because they’re so close to the families they work with.

LOFT1315 carries a variety of cocktail style dresses in rich reds, delicate laces, and warm knits that pair perfectly with Kasih Fair Trade jewelry—sweet or statement-making, always sustainable.

In preparation for our photo shoot, Fair Trade Stores Program Director Jocelyn Boreta and I walked into LOFT1513 to pick out some beautifully crafted party dresses. We were inspired by the independent spirt of the space, and encouraged by intern and designer Noel to try a few on that you see here.

Whatever your style inclination, we’re excited to see you concious shoppers in your most festive Fair Trade ensembles at this year’s Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores Holiday Parties!

TAKE ACTION!

Come enjoy some holiday cheer and find gifts for your loved ones, while creating a more sustainable and just world. We’ll see you there!

Where: The Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores

When: Wednesday, December 4^th from 5PM-8PM

20% OFF for Global Exchange Members on this Special Night! (Not a member yet? No problem! You can become a Global Exchange member today.)

I had the good fortune of being welcomed to Global Exchange as a sales associate at the San Francisco Fair Trade Store a few weeks before Global Exchange’s 25th Anniversary celebration. I met many new people and felt an inkling my new job would suit me in ways I didn’t know yet.

Since then, I’ve learned more about how Fair Trade works than I imagined I could. While buying Fair Trade products has always been a way for me to support sustainable economic and environmental practices for workers whose livelihood depends on it, it’s now a way to connect with people in a way I didn’t before. I’m beginning to feel the love.

I like things: fashion, texture, beautifully crafted, soulful goods I can wrap around my shoulders, press my cheek to, or bounce thoughtfully in the cup of my palm. But things are things. I thought, Fair Trade products are still things.

That’s the nature of it, but there’s also that feeling you get knowing the story behind each handmade item…the love. For example, when you hold an Andes Gifts alpaca wool hat in all its squish-soft, insulating gorgeousness, and you know it’s making a positive impact on people’s lives and the environment, it becomes more than a thing, it becomes a gift.

challenge-header-2 Andes Gifts, based in Davis, California, provides free knitting instruction, as well as successful micro-loans to increase earning capacity, to women in rural indigenous communities in Bolivia and Peru. Within some of the most economically impoverished areas in the western hemisphere, Andean communities often unravel due to disjointed childcare, work, and family structure.

The opportunity to knit colorful, intricate designs and make a living through Andes Gifts helps these communities stay together.

Knitters work in their homes or in co-ops where they have access to the resources they need, and work as much as they need to at their own pace. Women can stay close to their children and participate in local traditions. Knitters provide for themselves and their families, and make statements like, “I plan on knitting until I’m a grandmother”. That’s a loving thing for all it’s implications.

TAKE ACTION!

We invite you to visit our Fair Trade stores in Berkeley and San Francisco, CA to see for yourself the beauty of Andes Gifts.

At the Global Exchange Stores in San Francisco and Berkeley we have boxes and boxes of new products arriving daily for the new fall season.

Jocelyn Boreta, buyer for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores, with artisan partners in Guatemala

Wondering how we choose our Fair Trade products for fall?

Fall is the special time of year when our partners in Fair Trade introduce their new collections, and every year, as the buyer for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores, I attend the New York International Gift Show where I can see, touch, and sometimes try on what’s new in Fair Trade. A growing number of Fair Trade businesses have booths at this show, which is great to see.

Here are a few of my favorite finds from this year’s show:

Coming Soon!
photo credit: Mercado Global

Weekender Bag Hand-Loomed in Guatemala by the Mayan Women of Mercado Global

I love the rich color and texture of this bag. A beautiful example of the combination of Mayan craftsmanship with modern design.

Mercado Global is a social enterprise which builds change from the ground up in rural Guatemala: providing education, tools, and access to international markets so that women can build their own businesses and invest in their own communities.

“Through my work, I see that women do have the power to transform their communities, even the world” said Santa Aju, a Mercado Global Artisan Partner.

From one of the most marginalized populations in the world, their artisan partners are rising to become leaders in their communities and a source of change in global sourcing practices.

Coming Soon!
photo credit: Handmade Expressions

Vintage Journal Handmade from Recycled Cotton Rags in India by the artisans of Handmade Expressions

I love these journals for their smart design, cute line drawings and soft cotton paper.

They are made by a man named Wasim and his family in Sanganer village, in west Rajasthan, India. His family has been in the paper making industry for over 80 years, an artistic tradition passed down from one generation to the next. The raw paper is made from recycled cotton rags and the exquisitely crafted journals are bound by hand.

Wasim’s workmanship is excellent and he earns a lot of respect in the community for his art. He mentions that it is hard work, but he enjoys the satisfaction of creating something so beautiful and the opportunity to express himself creatively. He hopes that this art stays

alive in times to come.

Handmade Expressions works with over 5,000 artisans like Wasim in the production of Fair Trade products.

100% Alpaca Poncho hand knit in Peru by the artisans of Indigenous Designs

This piece is simply incredible. The 100% alpaca knit is soft and light, for beautiful movement during wear. It’s design is bold, functional and from the heart. I ordered an extra one for myself, and another for the manager of our stores.

For 20 years, Indigenous Designs has been committed to:

Supporting and preserving fair trade wages and artisan cooperatives
Investing in natural and organic fibers and environmentally-friendly dyes
Spreading the beauty of handmade, eco fashion.

They work with over 300 knitting and hand-looming artisan groups in rural South America, mostly in the areas surrounding the Pampa Canahuas Reserve in the South of Peru.

Mario and Maria Huisa, two of Indigenous Designs’ many artisan partners, started with only one knitting machine and the passion to make a difference in their community. Today, Mario and Maria have built a new home, own ten knitting machines, four linking machines and provide work for up to 40 artisan knitters within their community.

TAKE ACTION!

Come see for yourself all the new Fair Trade products we have rolling in. The Global Exchange Stores are located in San Francisco and Berkeley, so stop by and check out our new fall selection!

And while supplies last……enjoy a FREE 12 oz bag of Fair Trade Peace Coffee with your purchase of $20 or more!

When I walk into my dad’s house it’s filled with paper. He fumbles with his new smart phone by day, but when the evening rolls around he finds no greater pleasure then thumbing through print magazines. He flips through the glossy pages to find recipes for the grill, good hiking trails, used car parts in the classifieds, and to learn about the newest innovations in his industry.

I also share his love for information in print. Like him, I end most days away from the neon computer screen, curled up flipping pages. But with my work in Fair Trade and studies in Anthropology, our interests don’t always line up, nor do our reading topics.

I usually don’t find my dad deep in his reading about cultural heritage and weaving in the highlands of Peru. And he probably won’t read this blog. But where we do come together is in the celebration of craftsmanship, resourcefulness, and ingenuity in design.

So when I told him about a group of artisans in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam who are making beautiful, functional housewares out of recycled magazines similar to those he has stacked around his apartment, he wanted to know more.

We print lovers know paper can really pile up. And the thought of newspapers and magazines being printed on fresh paper everyday is disturbing to many.

This is why my Dad and I are so excited about the scrap paper industry, which taps into the ongoing potential of collecting paper scraps and upcycling them into viable end products.

A growing number of paper upcycling efforts are popping up in the U.S, including undeliverable mail being made into new envelopes and scrap paper getting recycled into biodegradable mulch mats for reforestation projects.

In Ho Chi Minh City, 60 artisans are employed in the creation of housewares handmade from recycled magazines and newspapers, coiled and wound in the same style as their traditional bamboo tableware. The beautiful frames, bowls, plates & coasters wound from yesterday’s news, hold the dual function of brightening up your home while reducing the amount of scrap paper in the waste stream. My dad thinks that makes sense.

The business was started by Hien and Binh who were trained by their uncle Duc in traditional paper craft. With the support of Mai Handicrafts, a Vietnam based World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) member that provides sustainable employment and business development opportunities for Vietnamese artisans, the business grew by incorporating their traditional techniques in the creation of innovative, functional products.

Today, 20 artisans work together in a workshop that undergoes regular inspection according to WFTO standards and 40 more work from the comfort of their homes.

Visit Global Exchange for recycled paper Father’s Day gifts!

The Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores have partnered with Mai Handicrafts to make this innovative product line available to you. My Father’s Day gift this year will be a photo of Dad and me in a recycled magazine frame. What better gift for Father’s Day then a gift that just plain makes sense!

Tagua Earrings in Stunning Springtime Turquoise

It’s almost Mothers Day, and mom who knows right from wrong better then anybody, doesn’t want a gift sourced from others’ suffering. As a daughter, adoring aunt, and buyer at the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores, I know that Fair Trade jewelry is always the right gift for mom. Jewelry sales soar in our stores this time of year and luckily we have a large selection of jewelry that is sourced right.

A majority of the jewelry in the mainstream market is sourced from silver and gold mines in the Global South. The extraction of these metals is highly toxic and destructive to mining communities and environments. Countless examples exist of high fatality rates in miners, poisoned water sources, sickened families, and destroyed ecosystems. Check out the powerful example of Canadian Goldcorp mine in Guatemala from the perspective of the indigenous Mayan community in the award winning documentary Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth.

Here’s where it gets complicated: silver and gold smiths from the hill-tribes of northern Thailand to the pueblos around Mexico City continue long traditions of metal work that supports their communities and families. We believe that the work of these small-scale gold and silver smiths should be supported, and for this reason we carry a limited amount of their jewelry in our stores.

While the primary focus of the Fair Trade craft movement up until now has been the labor that goes into the final product (gotta start somewhere), many of us are asking what about the raw materials?

Amazing alternatives to gold and silver are available today. Much of the jewelry we carry in the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores is handmade from recycled metals or natural materials. My favorite line is the jewelry made from tagua nut, also known as eco-ivory for its color, beauty and resilience. The smooth white palm seed, about the size of an avocado pit, is collected from the rainforest floor after having fallen as fruit and usually stripped of its edible layers by animals.

Before the invention of plastics, and when ivory had become scarce, tagua seeds had been used for hundreds of years as a raw material for luxury goods, but with the invention and increased use of plastics, tagua was not put to use. In the last decade, with an increase in environmental awareness, tagua is valued again for its beauty and characteristics as a natural, biodegradable, and renewable resource. The tagua used in the production of our jewelry, is sourced from strictly government-controlled environments, making sure that sufficient seeds are left to perpetuate the palms and the tagua native habitat.

Unlike many lines of seed jewelry, which may be playful but not a substitute for gemstones set in silver and gold, this line of tagua is simple and stunning. The smooth ivory-like seeds are carved into slabs, died in vibrant color, and sometimes etched into elegant, one-of-a-kind pieces. And like gemstones or precious metals, I was thrilled to learn that tagua comes in different qualities depending on where it is sourced. The tagua jewelry that we carry is handmade in Colombia, where the level of moisture in the air determines the quality of a seed that can be carved into a solid smooth slab.

63 artisans in Bogota, Colombia find full-time work in the production of the tagua jewelry that we carry. The company assures that all business decisions are made democratically, with pricing being set collectively by the workers. A majority of the artisans make the jewelry in their homes and come to a center, which conducts regular 3^rd party inspections and evaluations for work-site safety, to drop off their product and attend meetings.

This Mothers Day, explore your options, and use your buying power to promote socially responsible industry that has a positive impact on people and native habitats. I know mom would approve!

Check out our full selection of Fair Trade jewelry at the Global Exchange Stores today!

Delicious Peace Grows In a Coffee Bean. Photo credit: Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Fair Trade coffee is about to get an extra shot of deliciousness in Washington DC with the screening of the award winning documentary film Delicious Peace at the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store (inside Busboys and Poets @ 5th & K).

The Peace Movement and the Fair Trade Movement meet in Uganda with amazing farmer and activist JJ Keki, who fearlessly crossed religious boundaries to build economic prosperity and peaceful community. This inspirational documentary film tells the story of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish coffee farmers in Uganda coming together in the wake of the Idi Amin regime of terror and intolerance.

JJ Keki Founder and Chairman of the Cooperative, Jewish

JJ Keki Founder and Chairman of the Cooperative and his youngest son Aaron look over the Namatala River Valley, and the slopes of Mt. Elgon. Photo Credit: Thanksgiving Coffee Company

In Uganda today, small-scale coffee farmers account for over 90% of the country’s revenues. These farmers face small profits due to inefficiencies within the Ugandan government and exploitative market intermediaries.

With the support of US-based non-profit organization Kulanu, JJ Keki and a revolutionary group of farmers successfully organized The Peace Kawomera Cooperative; and rightfully named their coffee Mirembe Kawomera, meaning Delicious Peace in the local Luganda language.

They’ve partnered with Thanksgiving Coffee Company, an artisan coffee roaster in Northern California, to make Delicious Peace Coffee available to you. The coffee is available at our Global Exchange Stores.

The Peace Kawomera Coffee cooperative, which has grown to over 1,000 members, is the first Fair-Trade certified Ugandan coffee to be sold in the United States.

With the United States consuming 1/5th of the worlds’ coffee, our purchasing power has strong impact in Uganda. When consumer choose Fair Trade coffee, we’re helping to ensure that coffee farmers receive just compensation, competitive prices, access to financial stability, equal distribution of benefits among the cooperatives, and the opportunity to be apart of a sustainable business that supports their community.

TAKE ACTION!

Deena Shadrack is a leader in the Abayudaya (Jewish) community, strong advocate for womens’ rights, a coffee farmer, and a mother to many. Photo credit: Thanksgiving Coffee Company

Come view a powerful film that follows these farmers and their amazing work!

What: A Special Film Screening of Award Winning Documentary Delicious Peace

When: April 2, 2013 from 6-8pm

Where: Global Exchange Fair Trade Store (inside of Busboys and Poets); 1025 5th Street NW Washington, DC 20001

The 40-minute film will be followed by a panel discussion with Jeff Goldman (Executive Director of the Fair Trade Resource Network), myself (manager of the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store in DC & VA), and others. Don’t miss out on a post discussion FREE tasting of Delicious Peace coffee!

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RSVP: Let us know if you’re planning to attend, Rsvp on Facebook. Or just show up!

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The decision between buying Fair Trade vs. local, as far as I’m concerned, is a decision between buying better vs. better. Both buying practices are rooted in knowing where your money is being spent and the impact on community.

As a buyer for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores, I strongly support Fair Trade as an alternative to international trade policies that promote the exploitation of workers and degradation of environment. I also recognize that investment in local food and craftsmanship is what keeps our communities thriving (not to mention reduces our dependency on fossil fuels).

That’s why it was such a difficult decision to drop a line of local product from our Fair Trade Store in San Francisco in order to meet the Fair Trade Federation mandate.

According to the Fair Trade Federation (FTF): “Items sourced in the Global North are not considered sourced under Fair Trade Federation Principles, because producers/artisans/farmers in the Global South face greater economic and social difficulties, as well as greater structural barriers to sustainable development – resulting in greater economic and social marginalization.”

As a founding member of the FTF, we support this standard and realize that our work as a Fair Trade retailer is most importantly to provide market access to small-scale producers in the Global South.

Fire & Light Table Setting

What we are losing: We just got in our last shipment of Fire & Light colored glass tableware handmade in Arcata, CA. We love Fire & Light because they are revolutionarily local, sourcing their glass from residential recycling bins and hand-pouring each piece. The result is an incredibly unique tableware that is durable and rich in color & light…it literally glows. I’m tempted to get a set before we sell out. Come get it at the Global Exchange Store in San Francisco while you still can!

What we continue to support: We continue to carry product sourced from economically and socially marginalized communities in the Global North, like Sweet Dreams eye-pillows handmade in San Francisco by the young women leaders of Turning Heads.

Sweet Dreams lavender eye pillows handmade in San Francisco

We continue as a drop site for three local Community Supported Agriculture programs: Frog Hollow Farms, Eating with the Seasons, and Mariquita Farms. Sign up for your CSA today!

As a community member, I know it is a critical time to support local business and I choose to invest in the work of local artists, available at small businesses and craft fairs throughout our city. Shout outs to our neighbors in Noe Valley at Isso, where you can find the best jeans made in San Francisco; Loft 1513 owned and operated by the designers it features; and Easy Breezy serving up delicious locally sourced Straus frozen yogurt.

Our decision to support Fair Trade is not a decision between good vs. bad buying practices, but a decision to focus on what we do best: providing you the opportunity to support craftsmanship and community in the Global South through Fair Trade.

Top 5 Fair Trade Gifts Well Under $10