UUs Choose Justice Through Fair Trade

Every time you purchase coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate bars, organic sugar, tamari roasted almonds, dried sweetened cranberries, and roasted salted pecans through the UUSC Coffee Project, Equal Exchange makes a contribution to our Small Farmer Fund. Visit UUSC's Coffee Project for more information on how to order.

Among the several hundred residents of Smithville, Ga., you will find Carrie Thomas, Gussie Bess, and Ruby Hawkins. As leaders of the Southern Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative, they produce some of the most delicious pecans you will ever taste. Their pecans are sold as fair trade, through the UUSC Coffee Project.

The UUSC Coffee Project is a collaboration between UUSC and Equal Exchange, a worker-owned, fair trade company based in West Bridgewater, Mass. Through the project, UUs buy fair trade coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate bars, and other tasty treats in their churches. It is a way for UUs to learn about fair trade — and express their values through informed consumer choices.

Since the project was launched in 2001, hundreds of UU congregations have made the initiative a huge success — representing the highest participation rate of any denomination in Equal Exchange's Interfaith Program. In 2008 alone, UUs purchased 45.3 tons of fairly traded products; since 2001, well over 250 tons.

"Our top sellers are French Roast Coffee and Very Dark Chocolate," shares Marc Ferrara, who heads the UUSC Coffee Project at All Souls Church, Unitarian, in Washington, D.C. "But the lesson goes beyond the specific merchandise that we sell. These products are case studies of costs hidden in a very imperfect economic system."

Fair trade advances workers' rights

In many parts of the world today, patterns of economic globalization are placing small-scale farmers at a significant disadvantage. Marginalized by trade policies that do not take their needs into account, small farmers see little to no return on their hard work, and in many places, they face significant obstacles to claiming their human rights.

As an alternative, small-scale farmers and producers are organizing into democratically governed cooperatives and selling their products through a system called fair trade. Fair trade distributes wealth more equitably by guaranteeing workers and farmers a decent wage so they can afford basic necessities for their families and invest in the long-term growth of their businesses.

Says Ferrara, "With fair trade, we support dignified workers earning a fair return. They are able to unite democratically, keep their children in school, and provide health care and a brighter future. What's not to like here?"

Ferrara and his coffee team at All Souls are helping families connect their Coffee Project purchases directly to their UU values, in particular the interdependent web of all existence and the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Fair trade practices are playing an increasing role in the United States. The domestic fair trade movement has grown out of an understanding that fairness should not only be promoted in the realm of international trade, but also in our own backyards.

For Thomas and her pecan team in Georgia the benefits of fair trade have been clear. When they started their co-op back in 2004, they knew next to nothing about pecan processing, maintaining equipment, or building sales and inventory systems. But they knew their community needed an economic anchor that could provide living-wage jobs for local residents and after-school programs for neighborhood kids.

Today, Southern Alternatives is the only African American-owned pecan-shelling facility in the United States, and it employs community members in one of Georgia's poorest counties. "Our bigger thing is helping our community," says Thomas. "We work hard at that."

Putting UU principles into action

Al Benford, a member of Unitarian Universalist Society: East in Manchester, Conn., learned about fair trade while volunteering on a UUSC JustWorks camps in Guatemala in 2006 and an Equal Exchange Fair Trade delegation to Nicaragua in 2003. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to convince UU congregations to get onboard with the UUSC Coffee Project. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive: "By using fair trade coffee, they're doing something tangible that has a demonstrable effect on the lives of people across the world."

Another advantage of the UUSC Coffee Project is that for every pound of fairly traded products purchased by UUs, Equal Exchange donates 20 cents to UUSC's Small Farmer Fund, adding up to about $18,000 annually. Through this fund, UUSC builds partnerships with Southern Alternatives and other fair trade and worker-led organizations to secure sustainable livelihoods for communities. Says Benford, "Many people think, ‘We're already using fair trade coffee, so we don't need to do any more.' But there's much more to learn about how supporting small farmers connects to economic justice."

This year, UUSC's Small Farmer Fund is supporting a new effort, Wanawake Wanaongoza Mageuzo, or Women Making Change project, in Kenya's Kakamega rainforest. This is an effort to generate women-focused livelihood options while providing food security, protecting the environment, and promoting the rights of women and girls.