Feature Article Feature FairTrade & Equal Exchange 86 spezzatino.com Volume 8 SO THERE I WAS, STANDING IN THE RAIN IN CHICAGO. THE YEAR WAS 1999, AND I WAS AT YET ANOTHER PROTEST. THIS ONE FairTrade WAS IN FRONT OF STARBUCKS. Yael Grauer & We were demanding that they start carrying Fair Trade coffee. Starbucks qual had hired some guy in a suit to deal with us. Suit immediately swooped in E after our spokesperson was whisked away by television reporters. Then Suit began to spin. He alleged that Starbucks coffee really was fair trade. No dice. I was well-versed on the issue, and could debate the difference between "fair trade" and "certified fair trade". I navigated through his inac- curacies point by factual point. Suit was obviously annoyed. In- deed, he looked downright shocked xchange when our relentless group refused to discuss this inside the store over a E cup of coffee, and continued to stand in the rain with our signs and flyers, petitioning customers to demand that Starbucks carry certified Fair Trade coffee. He seemed to wonder why all these folks were making such a fuss about some beans. PHOTO: "Coffee She Picked", withonef Volume 8 spezzatino.com 87 IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE HORRORS OF THE MAQUILADORAS, THE COFFEE CO-OP OFFERED SOME OF THE MOST EXPLOITED EMPLOYEES A SAFE AND FAIRLY Feature Article Feature PAID PLACE TO WORK. Starbucks eventually relented and whole beans as Café Salvador. We started selling Fair Trade Certified spoke with the workers. The coffee coffee at all its stores beginning in co-op discussions were a stark contrast October 2000. (Global Exchange, how- to the horror stories we'd heard from ever, feels that Starbucks needs a lot maquiladora (sweatshop) workers more work to be truly fair to farmers days prior, and we were never allowed and continues their campaign. See the inside the factories. latest details at http://www.globalex- The factory workers had told us change.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cof- about their working conditions: dirty fee/starbucks.html) bathrooms, poor ventilation and maggot-infested drinking water. These WHERE COFFEE (AND ITS women worked so hard and earned so DISCONTENT) BEGINS little, about $5 a day. They had trouble Although many of the students pres- maintaining their jobs after the age of ent that day had never met each other, 25 because of injuries caused by repeti- we were united as members of vari- tive work and the heat of the machines. ous campus environmental groups, Many of these garment workers would including SARC (the Student Alliance develop upper respiratory diseases as to Reform Corporations) and SEAC well as throat problems from work- (the Student Environmental Action ing with cotton. Although masks were Coalition). Starbucks, as the largest available, the company refused to let specialty coffee retailer, was an obvi- the maquila workers use them. Work- ous target. ers were often fired for being too old or Although I attended college about having children, and health insurance an hour away, I felt very strongly was grossly inadequate. about the issue. You see, I'd visited In contrast, the coffee co-op was El Salvador over the summer of '98, impressive with its clean bathrooms right after graduating high school. and friendly people. There was a I'd attended an educational vacation preschool and daycare attached to the through the Center for Global Educa- co-op so that rural workers had a place tion, sponsored by the InterReligious to leave their children. 58 out of 268 Task Force on Central America. member-workers were women. Women As part of the trip, I toured a Fair were particularly useful at helping Trade coffee co-operative that exports sort and classify beans by size and 88 spezzatino.com Volume 8 PHOTO: "Coffee Beans", Angela Sevin Volume 8 spezzatino.com 89 weight, as well as removing beans by their organization and figure out how hand. We were told that the men had best to fulfill their vision. tried but did not have the same dex- In 1983, the men began an ongoing terity in their hands and thus mostly relationship with the co-operative I women did this work. toured in El Salvador. Finally, in 1986, Workers’ basic monthly salary (not the three men – Michael Rozyne, Jona- including profit sharing and health than Rosenthal, and Rink Dickinson care benefits) was about $150 more – founded Equal Exchange, a worker Feature Article Feature per month than that of coffee workers co-operative that led the charge to outside of the co-op. Workers had job bring Fair Trade foods, starting with security, because labour was done year coffee, into US grocery stores. round. Outside the co-op, workers of- Fair trade, as defined by Equal ten had to look for seasonal work and Exchange, is "a voluntary program didn't find it. practiced by some importers and food Close to a quarter of workers were companies to create an alternative female. Not only must women in El market for traditionally disadvantaged Salvador endure the often grind- producers in developing countries, ing poverty of their local economies, usually small-scale farmers. The com- they are frequently paid less than ponents include, among other things, their male counterparts. Yet as many a promise to purchase directly from It’s hard enough for researchers have observed, the major- small farmers and their co-operatives, any organization to ity of maquiladora and sweatshop paying mutually agreed-upon prices go from idea to workers worldwide are women. This providing for a dignified livelihood.” implementation. co-operative thus offered some of the Rodney North, Equal Exchange's It’s even harder to most exploited employees in the coun- Information Man, explained in fur- go from ideals and try of El Salvador a safe and fairly paid ther detail what Equal Exchange actu- ideology to place to work. ally does. Their operation now covers implementation. In comparison, coffee produc- an elaborate network of small, mostly tion elsewhere in the country, and organic producers. They’re active at in impoverished regions worldwide, nearly all points along the way from was characterized by low salaries, coffee bush to cup. seasonal labour and a distinct lack of "We import Fair Trade coffee, tea, job security. In addition, large-scale cocoa, sugar and bananas from over farming methods are unsustainable 40 co-operatives of small-scale farm- and create environmental havoc with ers around the world,” states North. clearcutting trees, monocropping, and “90% of these crops are also certified pesticides and chemical fertilizer. organic. We also source from three groups of US farmers for our almonds, EQUAL EXCHANGE pecans and cranberries. We operate In the early 1980s, three men met while one of the country’s largest organic working as buyers for a distributor coffee roasting operations. In addi- who served food co-operatives. They tion to selling through grocery stores recognized that the conventional food and restaurants nationwide, we offer system desperately needed reforms. a popular fundraising program for United by a vision of fairness to farm- hundreds of elementary and high ers and a strong connection between schools nationwide. We run a unique these farmers and consumers, the three interfaith program that distributes met once a week for three years to plan our organic, Fair Trade products to 90 spezzatino.com Volume 8 PHOTO: "Fair Trade", Jon Lewis Volume 8 spezzatino.com 91 Feature Article Feature 92 spezzatino.com Volume 8 FAIR TRADE INCLUDES A PROMISE TO PURCHASE DIRECTLY FROM SMALL FARMERS AND THEIR CO-OPERATIVES, PAYING MUTUALLY AGREED-UPON PRICES THAT OFFER A DIGNIFIED LIVELIHOOD. 10,000-plus churches, synagogues, and much more that needs to be done.” hard-to-miss rectangular red logo or mosques nationwide." Equal Exchange While we should all learn more the black-and-white Fair Trade seal. also operates two cafés in Seattle and about where our food – and favourite If you are a parent or teacher, you can Boston and has an online store. beverages – come from, you don’t have suggest that your school switch to the It’s hard enough for any organiza- to take a trip to El Salvador to make Equal Exchange fundraiser program. tion to go from idea to implementa- positive change. (However, as an edu- If you belong to a faith community, tion. It’s even harder to go from ideals cational experience, I do recommend you might consider Equal Exchange's and ideology to implementation. it.) As consumers you can ask your Interfaith Fair Trade program. According to North, Equal Exchange’s favorite store or café to carry or serve And finally, consider subscrib- biggest challenge has been raising Fair Trade coffee. ing to Equal Exchange's newsletter, enough capital to expand their busi- And not all “Fair Trade” is cre- What’s Brewing, to stay up-to-date on ness without selling out. After all, ated… well, equal. Equal Exchange the latest information. Occasionally when money’s involved, the business deals with small farmer co-ops, not Fair Trade farmers need your help in brew can turn muddy or bitter. large plantations. This is, indeed, an lobbying federal governments. Equal "Unlike most of our peers in the exchange between equals. A fair wage Exchange uses their newsletter to natural foods business we’ve managed to a small farmer goes directly to sup- encourage readers to contact their to do this," North said, "and it’s thanks port that farmer and his or her family. elected representatives to affect criti- to a unique form of stock we sell, and Conversely, trade with large planta- cal legislation. the ‘Equal Exchange Certificate of tions may mean that the plantations’ While in El Salvador, I was offered Deposit’ we offer through Wainwright owners or controlling corporations only weak coffee to drink.