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So I thought I should probably read up on Fair Trade (which I kept calling “Free Trade” by mistake) for when I was asked a question. Around Dexter, these people are going to ask questions. They care. I started with the Fair Trade Certified website: http://www.transfairusa.org The overview gave me these insights:
Wow. While I had my head buried in my own deal here at the shop, I didn’t realize people around the world were struggling to get ahead too. The world suddenly got smaller, or my heart suddenly got bigger. Something like that. Then came the stories.
“I know that part of the Fair Trade income my colleagues and I generate is used to buy medicine for Cooperativa Café Timor’s clinics. For that I am very grateful, as clinic staff saved my wife’s life.”- Alfonso Sarmento, Cooperativa Café Timor, East Timor. Timor is an island between Australia and Indonesia. In the 90’s it won it’s independence from Indonesia, but the war tore the country to pieces. Coffee sales have been used to rebuild the small nation – especially the health care system. Mobile units are purchased which then travel up to the remote villages. About 18,000 people are treated each month now. For the Fair Trade co-op (CCT) members and their families, services are free.
“Ten years ago, our children couldn’t study past the age of eight because there was no bus to school and no money. Now our kids can go to school with the help of scholarships from the coop’s fund. One is getting a business degree, and the other is in high school.” - Sabino Brenes, a farmer from Costa Rica’s COOCAFE coffee cooperative Geez. Things I take for granted are a big deal to these people. Realizing their deprivation and subsequent gratitude, I suddenly feel shamed for the things I fret over. How small I have been living within myself. I live in a time of comfort and convenience. I get peeved at inconvenience. I feel guilty, but it is with a certain sense of cleansing. Clarity has come. My perspective has changed. I’ve gone beneath all the layers and touched who I really am- who I really want to be. I’ve remembered the bigger things to live for – things of compassion. People aren’t just actors in the movie screen of my mind. They hurt, laugh, live and die as much as I do. They have dreams for their children. And like me, they don’t want a hand out. They want to earn their own way into better things. My morning cup just got exponentially more significant. And here all along I thought I was helping them. |
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I admit it. The reason I began using Fair Trade coffees in the shop was because I found out they were a higher quality coffee. Being a little guy in the big world of coffee, one of my key niches is to create an outstanding cup of coffee. It’s about the only advantage I can grip. Good coffee starts with a good bean. Any worldly, social benefit kind of thing from buying Fair Trade, well, that’s ok too.
"APARM began to sell its coffee at the Fair Trade price and I regained hope for a better future. Thanks to Fair Trade, my family now owns a house, all four of my children have finished primary school, and two are currently attending high school. Our situation has greatly improved.” - Yldefonso Riva Trigoso, APARM cooperative, Peru
Then there was this one.