Introduction to Fair Trade, Equal Exchange, and the ______________

Coffee Project

Partnership-specific coffee project logo here

Back in 1986, the founders of Equal Exchange saw that our food system was broken.

Disconnect between people and the source of their food

Increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Farmers in the Global South are particularly vulnerable

Why coffee, tea, and cocoa?

None of these foods can be grown in the US, so all are imported. As a result, we are particularly disconnected from the sources of these staples of our 21st-century diet and the farmers who grew them,

many of whom face real challenges.

Conventional Farming Leaves Farmers Struggling

Volatile market prices

No direct access to the international market

Difficult to obtain credit

Conventional Farming is Harmful for the Planet

Clear-cutting forests

Soil erosion

Use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers

How does Fair Trade work?

Farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price.

How does Fair Trade work?Fair Trade organizations partner with farmer

cooperatives, eliminating predatory middlemen and bringing greater benefit to the farmers.

How does Fair Trade work?Fair Trade requires ecologically sustainable

farming practices.

Who is Equal Exchange?The first fair trade coffee company in the US.

A for-profit, worker-owned cooperative

Everything we do is mission-driven and done with our farmer partnersin mind.

Faith and Fair TradeFaith groups in the United States have a long history of supporting

fair trade as a way of living out their values. • 1946 – Self Help Crafts (later Ten Thousand Villages) founded by

Mennonite Central Committee

• 1949 – SERRV founded by Church ofthe Brethren

• 1996 – Equal Exchange Interfaith Program co-founded by Equal Exchange

and Lutheran World Relief

Equal Exchange’s Interfaith Model We work in partnership with faith-based relief, development

and human rights organizations to help communities of faith learn about and promote Fair Trade by offering our products to congregations at wholesale prices.

The _________ Coffee Project Partnership mission statement/description (often online or

in partnership brochure)• Year partnership began• Number of congregations

LTD• SFF contribution (per

pound and most recent

year/in total)

Get your community involved!Serve fairly traded coffee, tea, and chocolate in your congregation

Sell fair trade products at monthly sales or holiday bazaars

Design Fair Trade fund –raising projects

Organize an educational program for adults or children

Attend a delegation with Equal Exchange

"I want to send my thanks to all of the congregations that purchase our coffee. Thanks to you, we have a seed of hope in our lives.”

~ Jose Luis Castillo Vasquez, Coffee Farmer, El Salvador