For a loooong time, I've been wanting to figure out an alternative way to store the bulk coffee we brew at World Fare. However, with such tight margins all the time, we haven't been able to afford one way valve containers and I didn't want to use disposable vacuum seal methods. We've been re-using and re-using one pound bags that one of our volunteers brought in, but the zip-lock seals have been coming apart, which sort of defeats the purpose of the one-way valve bag. They've started to look pretty crummy, especially when they're held closed with paper clips.

But...TODAY I finally found a solution that I could make with items we have on hand. (Rob says he came up with it before, but I just wasn't in the right brain space to hear it then.) I took jars that we'd purchased some time ago from Global Infusion and, after cleaning them thoroughly, drilled small holes in the lids. I then cut out the one-way valves from the coffee bags we've been using and taped them inside the lids. Voila!

Thanks to this web page for the idea! (And also Rob. :)

We haven't managed to write here since the end of March. Here's a cheat sheet (for cheating, I guess?) of what's gone down in our lives since then:

• In early April, we managed the Festival of Faith & Music at Calvin College. It was incredible and we really need to write about it soon. Check out the audio on the Festival web site ...


• Shortly thereafter, we took a two week vacation and attempted to do as little as possible--which just about worked.


• *culture is not optional put in an offer to purchase an old elementary school building in Three Rivers, Michigan. We have a lot of ideas for it and we need to raise $20,000 before the end of May if the deal is going to go through. Want to donate? :)


• We're finalizing plans for a speaking tour this summer, details of which will be forthcoming on the *culture is not optional web site. Essentially, the Christian Reformed Church Office of Social Justice is giving us a grant to make our way around to Midwestern congregations to speak about approaching food faithfully.


• We celebrated World Fair Trade Day at World Fare with events on the hour, from potting workshops to film showings to a fair trade cook-off. Sparsely attended, but great fun!


• We published a few issues of catapult magazine in there, too.

Wow ... we really get to be a part of a lot of great stuff! :)

One of the things Rob and I really like to do is make connections among people and organizations who are doing good work, so we were pleasantly surprised when having lunch last week to see a CRC coffee blend with Higher Grounds in our hosts' kitchen. The CRC's Office of Social Justice is doing some amazing work to connect congregations with information and action for all-of-life shalom. We're glad *cino and World Fare may have played a small part in connecting the folks over there to our favorite Michigan fair trade coffee roaster. Way to go everyone!

Plenary Session III (10/1 at 10am): Kimberly Grimes, Made by Hand International

• Fair trade businesses are just like conventional businesses, but they care about all of the players.


• A new concept in business is the ?tri-line?, which encourages the consideration of social, economic and environmental costs (as opposed to the ?bottom line?.)


• ?Cooperation? should replace ?competition.?


• If we leave control in the hands of a few powerful corporations, we are not a democracy.



She expressed concern about a fair trade retailer talking about being in competition with another fair trade retailer, saying there?s no such thing as competition in this work because we?re all working toward the same goal. This idea was met with some criticism during the brief Q&A time. It?s an interesting question--is World Fare in competition with local churches who are selling fair trade coffee to congregants at the wholesale price through their denominations? Interfaith Coffee program? Or are we all just working toward the same goal?

Plenary Session II (10/1 at 10am): Joan Neal, Catholic Relief Services

• All members of the human family deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.


• John Paul II wrote a lot about global solidarity (commitment to the common good of all).

Nothing very new to me in this session (which is perhaps why I didn?t take as many notes as I should have). It was good to see Catholic Relief Services and Lutheran World Relief represented in an official capacity as organizers of the conference. I hope there will be more denominations and faith organizations involved next year?

Plenary Session I (10/1 at 10am): Pedro Haslam, CECOCAFEN Organization, Honduras

• There are approximately 125,000 coffee farmers in Honduras.


• Communities that don?t sell their coffee through fair trade networks are suffering because the family units break up when members are forced to seek work in the cities.


• Fair trade allows self-sufficiency.


• Fair trade farmers invest back into their communities and experience solidarity (not charity) with consumers.


• We do have the power to transform the market.

It was good to hear throughout the conference from producers and people working directly with producers. The firsthand witness offered was incredibly valuable--we need to find more ways to tell these stories.

Haslam said fair trade allows self-sufficiency which, in a way, it does because it empowers people with discretionary income that they can put toward food, education, home improvements, etc. Fair trade is very different in this sense from charity. However, there is also a dependence on people in the U.S., Europe and Canada to make principled purchasing choices. There is a fragile beauty in this symbiotic interconnectedness that is not present when buying choices are made based on cost alone, when the consumer becomes the end of the line instead of one participant in a circle of good.

Keynote Address (10/1 at 9am): Pauline Tiffen, Fair Trade Federation

?If you?re not outraged, you?re not paying attention.?

• The lie we?re being told is that the market is neutral (?free trade?) because no one controls it and therefore it is a force for good.


• Free trade doesn?t really exist because when one person wins, another person has to lose (zero sum).


• We need to focus on cultivating the relationships represented in the marketplace


• The market changes all the time--why? Economic reasons, trends, fashions, regulations/prohibitions, dumping, etc.


• The variety of products we have access to is a myth because they are controlled by so few companies (ex. the ?big 3? in chocolate of Hershey, Nestle and Cadbury)


• Even a representative from Nestle, when confronted by Tiffen, said his company was too small to make a difference.


• A business can respond to changed in the market without compromising values and mission.


• The success of fair trade in having a positive impact proves our interconnectedness and the far-reaching effects (positive or negative) or our everyday actions.


• If we are going to overcome ?the dark side of the force? (big sci-fi fan) we need to be more urgent, set goals, realize ourselves as both consumers and producers, and provide real alternatives for every product.

Tiffen was both hopeful and realistic. Unfortunately, her thoughts on the bias of the market would be perceived as mere rhetoric by those who believe the market is neutral. But I believe she?s right--the market needs guidance. The market does not exempt us from our individual responsibility.

Well, here we are in the grand ballroom of the Holiday Inn in downtown Chicago, which appropriately enough is right across the street from the monolith of consumerism, the Chicago Merchandise Mart. We're gathered with 715 fair trade advocates, consumers, store managers, students, etc. Today's schedule includes two keynote addresses and two workshop sessions, along with a gathering in the evening featuring the Chicago Afrobeat Project.

Last night's opening address was so...satisfying. It's amazing how much it resembled a worship service in an evangelical church, with songs, a "sermon", video clips, powerpoint and lots of clapping. It's interesting that the Church struggles with questions of how to get more young people involved and how to achieve a higher degree of diversity--a large portion of the people in attendance are under 30 and the attendees come from 17 different countries. I'll let you draw the conclusions.

The keynote address last night was given by Kwabena Ohemeng-Tinyase of Kuapa Kokoo, an organization of 47,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana who united to receive a fair price for their beans. The co-op is also part owner of Divine Chocolate company, which gives them a say in the processing and marketing decisions that directly affect them. The most important statment he made was that "for people in our part of the world, fair trade is the solution to poverty." This is coming from the son of a cocoa farmer who represents small-scale farmers in a developing country. We are--the Church is--obligated to listen.

Well, this morning's activities are about to start. More later...

We just received word from Lutheran World Relief that they awarded us with a full scholarship to attend the upcoming Fair Trade Futures Conference in Chicago, IL. We would not have been able to attend without their financial assistance, so we are extremely grateful for their attentiveness to Fair Trade and for establishing a scholarship fund.

We are very much looking forward to the conference--learning more about Fair Trade, meeting others who are involved with Fair Trade in various capacities and discussing the future of Fair Trade. It should be quite an interesting experience ...

last night, world fare hosted the three rivers area chamber of commerce quarterly get together, an event that provides chamber members an opportunity to fraternize and to learn more about the host business.

all things considered, everything went well. we had about 40 to 50 people here, including many who had never been in the store before. because she is the person on whom such tasks fall, kirstin gave a brief presentation about fair trade and the store. folks were very receptive to the idea, which is always exciting.

unfortunately, we (and by we i mostly mean kirstin) made far too much food, despite losing an entire loaf of bread to one of the dogs shortly before the event started (he took it off the counter at home while it cooled). the house was happy to help with the leftover hummus, though.

we also have about 50 cups of coffee left over, so if you'd like to stop by for a cup today you're more than welcome. yes, i fully realize that one-day-old coffee isn't exactly the greatest, but it's such a waste to throw it all out.