Most of the time when I sit down to write a Diary I am immersed is some story related to the darkness of the human heart: sweatshops, corruption, human trafficking, neo-slavery and the like. Sometimes it gets me down. Fortunately for me, my day job is focused on solutions.
I work at Co-op America. Our mission is to:
"Harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society."
To that end we work on many issues and projects. It was my work fighting sweatshops that led me to the Marianas Islands, which led to Abramoff and later to my "hobby" at Daily Kos.
It is great to leave the world of problems and swim in the tangible seas of solutions.
One growing solution is Fair Trade.
And a great example of Fair Trade comes from Jenin, Palestine, where hope is being bottled and shipped to consumers around the globe.
I’m one of those consumers.
Join me on the jump...
Fair Trade is a way for producers and consumers to take control of the supply chain, clean it up and make sure that the producers of the goods we buy are paid a fair wage, that supports their families, their communities and frees people to dream of a better future.
The Fair Trade movement is very strong in Europe. Here in the USA, it is a growing movement. Earlier this year, Co-op America published a Guide to Fair Trade. You can download a PDF of the Guide here and order FREE copies for your friends, clients, colleagues and family, here (we do request a donation to help cover the cost of shipping, if you are able to do so).
The Guide tells many stories about the growing Fair Trade movement and the many, many Fair Trade products one can purchase in America.
One of the stories we told in the Guide was about a new Fair Trade product: Certified Fair Trade Olive Oil from Palestine. The olive oil is one of the products available from the Canaan Fair Trade Association. Here is a quick overview of their story:
Based in Jenin, Palestine, Canaan Fair Trade sells the delicacies produced by over 1,700 small farmers organized in informal cooperatives and represented by the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA). We supply bulk as well as finished and packaged goods to Europe, North America and the Middle East. All of our products are offered with a Palestinian Certificate of Origin. A large and growing portion of them are certified Organic.
We Create Opportunity For Farmers and Communities
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, we 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.
We support farmers in enhancing production procedures and product quality, building their capacities to work collectively, and to sell to international markets.
We educate farmers about sustainable practices and support conversion to certified organic production. We ensure sterling quality standards, while implementing social and economic empowerment programs.
Canaan promotes cross-cultural, interfaith, and multi-ethnic connection of all participants in the production and trade processes: workers, farmers, processors, traders, exporters, importers, distributors, and consumers. The idea is to create one community connected by the fair exchange of goods in a cross-cultural setting.
By giving incentives to produce a high quality product, Canaan and its partners hope to reestablish traditional sustainable farming as an avenue for Palestinian farmers earning a livelihood. Fair trade provides a vehicle for alternative cultural expression and the opportunity for communities caught in conflict to connect with the outside world.
We published an interview with Dr. Nasser Abufarha of the Canaan Fair Trade Association in our Guide to Fair Trade. You can read it here.
I was sold. I ordered a case of Olive Oil and used most bottles as gifts to present friends at dinner parties and special occasions. I’m about to order a couple more cases in advance of the Holiday Season. These are great gifts and there is a story of hope in each bottle or can of Olive Oil. I thought I would share this idea with my Daily Kos community.
One example of how Fair Trade works is the Trees for Life project of Canaan Fair Trade. Here is how it works:
Trees for Life is a program implemented and administered by the Palestine Fair Trade association and in partnership and support of Canaan Fair Trade and our olive oil distributors around the world. The project plants thousands of olive trees in Palestine every year in the period between Tree Day (February 15) and Land Day (March 30). Beside its development aspect, this program helps connect the Palestinian farmers and producers in the fair trade movement in Palestine to the grassroots fair trade movement in Europe and North America in a meaningful way. It is a medium to connect the Palestinian grassroots to the solidarity they have worldwide. The Trees for Life project is solely funded by grassroots movements abroad and solely invested in the Palestinian fair trade movement in Palestine. This project helps offset the enormous destruction of trees by the Israeli occupation army in Palestine.
Trees for Life provide individual Palestinian farmers with 25 to 50 new olive tree seedlings (3 years old) to plant and nurture in order to renew their decimated groves. Allocations of trees is based on meeting the following conditions and according to the priorities bellow:
1- Applicant must be a certified member of the Palestine Fair Trade Association program for the production of olive oil. If a new farmer, applicant must demonstrate readiness to become fair trade certified and be willing to implement fair trade guidelines.
2- Applicant must own a land suitable for the number of trees applied for.
3- Applicant must demonstrate capacity to care for and nurture trees.
4- Applicant must be ready to prepare land for a collective tree plantation day that will be set for the specific village. All trees must be planted the day of delivery. Representatives of PFTA will deliver and distribute the trees and insure prompt planting. Farmers must have land ready and dug prior to delivery.
Priority will be given to the following applicants:
1- Small farmers
2- Young starter farmers that have inherited or acquired land.
3- Women that own their own land and are interested in farming.
4- Farmers that have lost trees due to the Israeli destructions.
Buyers of Canaan olive oil direct retail contribute to this program one dollar from each tin.
Someday, the violence will end in the Mideast. Peace will come and hope will grow out of the years of senseless destruction. I love that the Fair Trade movement is planting these seeds of hope and literally planting the olive groves of the future. In my frustration about the world situation I find it good to know that we can change the pathways of commerce through our economic choices.
The Holidays are a time of big spending. Most of it fuels a global economy way too comfortable with sweatshops, labor abuse, human trafficking, environmental destruction, child labor, war and other shadow material as long as profits are made.
There are alternatives. There are solutions.
Fair Trade is one of them.
If Olive Oil is not your bag, there are many, many other Fair Trade choices. Our 12 Ways to Shop Fair Trade provides a quick overview with links.
And then there is our The National Green Pages with links to over 2,500 companies that have joined our Green Business Network. These are fine companies to do your shopping with if you are concerned about a clean supply chain for the products you buy. In fact, a lot of people use the The National Green Pages to help them find everything they need.
An example of how people can use the The National Green Pages during the Holiday Season is our 10 Green Toys for the Holidays.
There have been a number of Diaries up lately at Daily Kos about products made in sweatshops. Jim Hightower had one tonight about crucifixes made in sweatshops. The problem is clear and so is the solution. It is in your wallet.
When Co-op America was formed in 1982 it was clear that political avenues for change were drying up. This was during the early Reagan years. To meet the challenge, a group of inspired folks decide to create an organization that would promote change through harnessing the economic power of consumers, investors and businesses through an innovative idea:
"Every time you spend or invest a dollar, it goes to work in the world. Too often, it goes to support institutions and corporations that perpetuate injustice, pollute the environment, and destroy communities. But we can change that. We can use economic power to push for socially and environmentally responsible businesses ... and put our society on a more sustainable path."
A good Doctor once said "You have the power!" This is true in politics. And it is true with the economy (IMHO).
The problems must be explored, but I’m glad that I also get to swim in the sea of solutions now and again.
Fair Trade is one of those solutions (and a great choice for any gifts this season).
Cheers