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

Last month Jocelyn Boreta, Program Director of the Global Exchange Fair Trade stores, traveled to Guatemala to work with some of our producer partners. She shares highlights (and beautiful photos!) of the trip with us:

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Weaving Sustains Family During Harvest Time in the Mayan Highlands

The September sun sits low over the cornfields in the Mayan highlands. Hours on a dirt road outside Comalapa, Guatemala, Arcadia Jutzuy bends over her loom while her husband Jesus watches from the eaves of their family’s small home. I was on the road to meet the artisans we work with at Global Exchange, to support their work and carry their voices home with me.

Arcadia Jutzuy smiles from the loom

It’s harvest time in Guatemala, where 76% of the poor depend on subsistence crops for their livelihoods (USAID 2010). Jesus should be busy picking corn to fill the family’s winter storage and sell in the market. He anxiously explains that this year’s corn yield is much reduced from the last, as was the previous harvest and the one before that. He can no longer harvest enough corn to sustain the consumption of his family of six, let alone provide for additional income through its sales.

He explains that the soil has been depleted through the use of chemical fertilizers. All across the volcanic highlands, agro-chemicals marketed under appealing names such as Vista Volcanes, were introduced to immediately increase yields. But as chemically induced crops strip the soil of nutrients, farmers must add even more chemical fertilizers to sustain their crops the next season, creating a cycle of dependence on the agrochemical industry. Fluctuating chemical costs and deteriorated soil quality have left many families destitute.

Arcadia now weaves to provide her family with an income. She is the leader of a group of eight Mayan women weavers in the rural region outside of Comalapa who have partnered with MayaWorks, a Fair Trade non-profit organization that works with over 125 indigenous women throughout the highlands of Guatemala to support their families through their weaving.

Felecita Choguix working at the loom

One mile down the road, Felecita Choguix weaves to supplement her husband’s work in the fields, with the goal of sending their eight children to school. Her neighbor, Quina Colaj, weaves as the head of her family, supporting five children and her husband who cannot work due to an accident.

MayaWorks believes:

“The economic stability of women is the first step to securing safety, education, and productivity for indigenous Guatemalan communities.”

Towards this goal MayaWorks provides: 1) ongoing skill development and business trainings; 2) microloans for investment in equipment and small business; and 3) access to education through literacy workshops, scholarships and academic support for artisans’ children.

Global Exchange has partnered with MayaWorks to make an exclusive line of Fair Trade product available to you at our Fair Trade Stores.

As the Program Director of the Global Exchange Fair Trade stores, I am thankful for the amazing opportunity to be able to sit with Arcadia, Felecita and Quina and discuss the real challenges of raising a family and how they are empowered through their work. Arcadia describes her work as being critical to sustaining her family during the difficult failure of their milpa (cornfields). Hopefully through the reintegration of sustainable agriculture techniques, such as the use of nitrogen fixing green manures, organizations such as Semilla Nueva, can support small farmers in a transition back to healthy yields and food justice.

TAKE ACTION!

• Enjoy & share photos from the trip, which are now posted on our Facebook page.
• Support Guatemalan Producers: You can directly support the work of Arcadia, Felecita, Quina and many other women living in the Guatemalan highlands this harvest season by visiting the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores where we carry brightly colored 100% cotton aprons & potholders, pouches, worry dolls, scarves & more!

Global Exchange Fair Trade Sales Associate- Part time

Do you or someone you know have retail experience and a passion for Fair Trade? Then check out this position that just opened up…

Washington DC/ Arlington, VA

Job Requirements:

• Excellent customer service skills, friendly and outgoing attitude
• 2 years of retail experience preferred
• Knowledge of book buying and sales
• Solid written and verbal communication skills
• Strong sense of design established through merchandizing
• Highly motivated and creative
• Organized and detail-oriented
• Ability to take initiative on projects; work independently as well as able to work as part of a team
• Flexibility; ability to work in a multi-cultural and diverse environment
• Demonstrated interest in human rights and social justice work
• Basic computer skills, knowledge of Quickbooks and Quickbooks Point of Sale a plus
• Ability to work weekends and commit to extra hours during the Christmas holiday
• Ability to arrive to work on-time and committed to getting daily tasks done

Responsibilities Include:

• Customer service and sales
• Knowledge of store product
• Understanding and commitment to Fair Trade
• Be on time, prepared, committed and engaged in your work
• Store opening and closing procedures
• Able to keep store tidy, clean, and organized
• Maintain a positive, helpful and appropriate attitude towards co-workers and clientele
• Create signage for store displays with direction from manager
• Use of Quickbooks Point of Sale and cash drawer
• Be able to participate in physical labor including lifting boxes, climbing on ladders, and
  moving furniture
• Share responsibility for store maintenance, including cleaning the store,
  the bathroom, and taking out recycling and trash
• Support the Store Manager in any additional tasks or responsibilities

This is a part time position. Must be able to work weekends. Salary negotiable based on experience.

To apply, please send cover letter, a full resume, two references, and one additional page concretely answering the following questions:

1. Please describe your commitment to Fair Trade.
2. Please explain how your job related skills lend themselves to this position. And/or how your life experience and life values can help you fill this position successfully. Please share any retail responsibilities you have had.
3. Briefly highlight any other aspects you would like to mention about your suitability for this position.

**Please email your resume to: ashleyf@globalexchange.org

***Please do not call about this position

Check out our website for the whole list of actions, or follow us @gxfairtrade or on Facebook where we will deliver your daily action each morning at #fairtrade31.

Today is Action #22…Build Your Own Fair Trade Day of the Dead Altar!

Dia de los Muertos is a traditional Meso-American holiday dedicated to the ancestors. Rather than mourning death as purely tragedy and loss, Dia de los Muertos honors both death and the cycle of life. The celebration acknowledges that we still have a relationship with our loved ones whom have passed away.

In Mexico, on Dia de los Muertos families and friends gather in local cemeteries to be with their loved ones and construct private altars, which contain everything from photos, favorite foods, and other memorabilia, in hopes that deceased souls will journey back for the Dia de los Muertos celebration.

Stop by your local Bay Area Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores for all you need to build your own Dia de los Muertos altar!

The San Francisco (map) and Berkeley (map) Global Exchange stores are stocked with everything from retablos to sugar skull molds and meringue power to paper marigolds. Be sure to check out our colorful collection of beautiful skeleton statues, hand-made in Mexico; we have Fridas, DJs, soccer players, CEOs, skateboarders, and more!

This year we have a beautiful selection of retablos, boxes or shrines with hand painted doors which open to hold hand carved figures in colorful scenes of daily life in Peru- such as markets, shops, harvests, weddings and other ceremonies.   Our retablos are made by internationally renowned retablos maker Claudio Jimenez Quispe. Originally from a family of retablos makers in Ayacucho, Peru, where he has trained large communities of retablos makers, he now works in Lima.  Come check out the work of one of the finest craftsmen in the world!

In San Francisco, Dia de los Muertos has been celebrated in the Mission district since the early 70s with art, music, performances and a walking procession, which help us contemplate our existence and mortality — a moment to remember deceased friends and family, and our connections beyond our immediate concerns. This years’ celebration will be held on Friday, November 2^nd. Find out more about the procession.

For those in the East Bay, the Fruitvale Dia de los Muertos celebration will be held on Sunday, October 28^th in the Fruitville Village. More information is available on their website.

TAKE ACTION!

Join Global Exchange for $35/year and we’ll send you a gorgeous customized Global Exchange tote bag from Handmade Expressions women’s cooperative in India, a No-Nonsense Guide to Democracy, Globalization or International Development and a bag of Equal Exchange chocolates!

Fair Trade Federation Conference attendees

Beyond the Label: Building Better Fair Trade Businesses: A look at the 2012 Fair Trade Federation Conference

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In the midst of Fair Trade labeling debate small businesses that link consumers with artisans and farmers in the Global South maintain a clear focus: How do we continue to support the artisan communities we have partnered with in bringing Fair Trade products to our customers?

While the debate between Fair Trade labeling organizations Fairtrade International (FLO) and Fair Trade USA (formerly Transfair USA) rages on, 162 Fair Trade retailers (myself included), wholesalers and producers gathered last month in Bellevue, Washington for the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) Conference to strengthen connections, share information and ultimately better our businesses.

FTF is a trade association that strengthens and promotes North American organizations fully committed to Fair Trade, a just and sustainable global economic system in which purchasing and production choices are made with concern for the well being of people and the environment.

Founded in the late 1970s by a group of alternative trade organizations, including Global Exchange, FTF has 248 current members, with a majority engaged in the production and sales of Fair Trade crafts and an increasing percentage of Fair Trade commodities. The FTF recently opened up membership to include fully committed Fair Trade cafes. FTF business membership is determined by an initial screening and an annual renewal process.

Fair Trade Federation logo

The FTF member logo, while not a label of Fair Trade certification, is used to identify member businesses. This is particularly useful in the identification of Fair Trade crafts, since there is currently no certification label for craft products that represents the diversity in raw materials and production techniques.

Most FTF members seem to agree that a certification of crafts would hurt Fair Trade craft production on all levels by generalizing standards and thus creating an advantage for larger scale factory based production.  Currently under debate is the question about whether FTF member businesses should be allowed to include the FTF member logo on Fair Trade products they sell. The FTF board of directors is in the process of developing a new policy about this based on member feedback.

As the program director of the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores, I attended the FTF Conference with the intent to build coalitions, share best practices and bring home concrete strategies for building on our 20 years in Fair Trade business….to get beyond the label.

Throughout a series of workshops, transparency was encouraged as a core principle of business growth.  FTF members opened their books to each other, sharing costing procedures, design expertise, inventory control and financial management.  In a world where cutthroat competition rules the marketplace, it is a refreshing reminder that cooperation and full-disclosure are pillars of strength within the Fair Trade movement.

Hmong weaver in Thailand Photo Credit: Global Exchange

The FTF defines transparency and accountability as one of its core principles:

“Fair Trade involves relationships that are open, fair, consistent, and respectful. Members show consideration for both customers and producers by sharing information about the entire trading chain through honest and proactive communication. They create mechanisms to help customers and producers feel actively involved in the trading chain. If problems arise, members work cooperatively with fair trade partners and other organizations to implement solutions.”

In a roundtable session between Fair Trade producers, wholesalers and retailers, a jarring reference was made to the “gas station model” in which four gas stations open on opposite corners of the same intersection.  This intersection becomes a destination and business for all four establishments improved.  Similarly, the bolstering of Fair Trade business must be done collectively and with the well being of artisans and farmer producers at its core.

During conference meal times, Fair Trade percussion instruments were distributed amongst producers, retailers and wholesalers and successively played to create layers of rhythm.  The heartbeat of the rhythm was held by the producers and the wild music-making a blaring representation of how the Fair Trade movement differs from conventional business.  The gas station model is one example of how Fair Trade business can apply conventional business techniques to strengthen our business models which are based on more than just the bottom line, but rather people, planet, AND profit.

While the labeling of Fair Trade certified commodities is critical in defining the future of the Fair Trade movement, we continue to move forward as a growing Fair Trade business network committed to strengthening Fair Trade as a positive alternative business model.

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TAKE ACTION!

Keep up-to-date about Fair Trade news, events and more…

• Subscribe to our Fair Trade blog to receive new Fair Trade blog posts automatically.
• Sign up for our Fair Trade email list to receive regular updates on our Fair Trade cocoa campaign as well as other news from the Fair Trade movement.

Saturday Aug 14, 11am-4pm
Global Exchange Fair Trade Store
4018 24th Street @ Noe Street, San Francisco

Bring your kids out to the Global Exchange store in San Francisco to join in the making of a mural that follows “Fair Trade Chocolate’s Journey from Bean to Bar”.

A fun educational neighborhood activity to foster learning about Fair Trade and a time for parents to taste FREE Fair Trade Divine Chocolate!

The cocoa for Fair Trade Divine chocolate is grown in the southern regions of Ghana by a farmers’ co-operative called Kuapa Kokoo. Most Ghanaian cocoa is grown on small family farms, and is usually intercropped with other plants and trees, such as plantains, maize and spices.  Cocoa trees grow to between 12-15 meters high and produce blossoms which when pollinated turn into cocoa pods.  Each pod contains 40 seeds which become cocoa beans.  It takes one tree’s whole crop for the year to make three big bars of Divine.

To harvest the cocoa, the pods must be cut from the trees, split open and the slimy pulp containing the beans scraped out. The bitter cocoa bean is subsequently wrapped in plantain leaves to ferment and then dried under the sun.

The beans are then shipped to Europe where they are roasted, crushed, and ground into a rich cocoa butter.  The cocoa butter is combined in varying proportions with sugar and milk and stirred continuously over several days, then cooled and molded into the delicious chocolate bars we enjoy at home!

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Saturday Aug 7, 11am-4pm

Join us at the Global Exchange San Francisco and Berkeley stores to celebrate Fair Trade fashion!

Come enjoy a free Fair Trade iced tea while we feature our colorful, comfortable and affordable line of Fair Trade women’s clothing and accessories.

• 100% cotton, colorful dresses hand block printed in India
• Beautifully embroidered light cotton blouses also from India
• Everyone’s favorite line of simple, soft cotton dresses and fitted shirts in a wide selection of this seasons colors. Handmade in Bali
• Silk and cotton scarves from around the world.  Perfect for summer evenings or to add a dash of color to your outfit.

All of our Fair Trade clothing and accessories are handmade by women’s cooperatives and artisan groups. Livable wages, good working conditions, no assembly line factory production – that’s what you’re getting when you shop Global Exchange.

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Global Exchange Fair Trade Berkeley Store
2840 College Ave (Between Russell St. and Stuart St.)
Berkeley, CA 94705 (map)
510.548.0370

Saturday July 31, 11-4pm

Join us at the Global Exchange stores in San Francisco and Berkeley to learn about the exemplary practices of Fair Trade company Divine Chocolate and to sample a FREE selection of their fine Fair Trade Chocolate:

70% Dark Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with Raspberries, Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut, White Chocolate with Strawberries and more!

At the heart of Divine’s heavenly tasting chocolate there is a unique story. Not only do the Kuapa Kokoo farmers’ receive a Fair Trade price for their cocoa, but they also own 45% of the company, and therefore have a direct influence over how the company is run and share in the profits from the chocolate.

Kuapa Kokoo – which means good cocoa growers – has a mission to empower farmers in their efforts to gain a dignified livelihood, to increase women’s participation in all of Kuapa’s activities, and to develop environmentally friendly cultivation of cocoa. Kuapa strives to ensure that all its activities are transparent, accountable and democratic. It doesn’t cheat the farmers by using inaccurate weighing scales, as other buying agents often do, and because it operates so efficiently, it can pass on the savings to its members. After seeing the benefits Kuapa gains for its members, more and more farmers want to join and the association now has upwards of 40,000 members organized in approximately 1300 village societies.

Cocoa from Ghana is of a high quality and trades at a premium on the world market.   Kuapa Kokoo’s motto is pa pa paa – which means the best of the best in the local Twi language.

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Global Exchange Fair Trade Berkeley Store
2840 College Ave (Between Russell St. and Stuart St.)
Berkeley, CA 94705 (map)
510.548.0370

Date: Wednesday, July 28
Time: 5:30 – 7:30pm
Where: 4018 24th St, San Francisco CA 94114 (map)

As participants in this year’s Fair Cocoa Harvest Reality Tour, Keri and Hime traveled to the Dominican Republic where they worked along-side farmers of a Fair Trade cocoa cooperative (CONACADO) to harvest cocoa. Having shared in the daily lives of small-scale farming families, they can share with us their understanding of what Fair Trade means for producers.

Fair Harvest is not intended to be a tour or tourist visit, but rather to be a lived experience that will motivate the participants to be committed fair trade advocates when they return. Spend your vacation harvesting social justice while learning about the beautiful culture, biodiversity, sustainable development and history of the Dominican Republic!

Learn about the importance of Fair Trade in the cocoa industry and how certification and economic alternatives can dramatically improve the lives of producers.

Join us Saturday July 24, 11-4pm
at the Global Exchange San Francisco and Berkeley stores.

Come check out handmade hearts pieced together from recycled plastics, cut from recycled oil barrels  and carved from river stones in Haiti, sold in support of the “Million Hearts” program, which aims to generate an estimated $1,000,000 to benefit Haitian artisans.

This nationwide Fair Trade movement will get much-needed commerce flowing through Haiti’s culturally and economically important artisan businesses. In addition, a portion of the purchase price of each heart is donated to the HAND/EYE Fund’s Artisan Grant program. The program, which is already assessing the needs of artisan businesses on the ground in Haiti, gives cash grants between $50 and $2000 to artisan businesses who apply for funds to replace earthquake-shattered equipment and shelter, or other assistance needed as a result of the devastating January 12 disaster.

The stone hearts, available at Global Exchange are made in the Haitian town of Leogane, located very near the quake’s epicenter. The town was leveled in the quake. Since then, nearly 13,000 hearts have been produced and shipped to the US. Through the purchase of these hearts, $15,000 has already gone to build shelters for the stone artisans of Leogane. As of May, 10 temporary homes had been constructed.

Come support Haiti’s hands and hearts at work!

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Global Exchange Fair Trade Berkeley Store
2840 College Ave (Between Russell St. and Stuart St.)
Berkeley, CA 94705 (map)
510.548.0370

image: hand/eye/blog.

Join us Saturday July 17, 11-4pm at the San Francisco and Berkeley Global Exchange stores to taste Canaan FairTrade, organic olive oil from Palestine, the ancient home of olive oil.

Canaan olive oil is produced by farmer cooperatives that are members of the Palestine Fair Trade Association.  Canaan Fair Trade uses the fair trade concept to empower marginalized Palestinian rural communities caught in conflict so they can sustain their livelihoods and culture. To that end, they have built direct working relationships with these communities, paying sustainable prices for their agricultural products to ensure fair wages for labor along the supply chain.

Also check out our colorful cotton aprons from around the world perfect for hosting a Fair Trade dinner party!

Global Exchange Fair Trade San Francisco Store
4018 24th Street (near Noe)
San Francisco CA 94114 (map)
415.648.8068

Global Exchange Fair Trade Berkeley Store
2840 College Ave (Between Russell St. and Stuart St.)
Berkeley, CA 94705 (map)
510.548.0370

(image: Canaan Fair Trade)