Author Archive

The View From Montevideo: Day Three
Today was the third and final day of the workshop – fast and furious, with debate in plenary, regional strategy sessions (Southern Cone, Andes and Central America/Mexico/Caribbean), Mass, and a final declaration before receiving a blessing from the Archbishop of Montevideo.  I was sad to say goodbye to the other [...]

Read the entry: Planting Seeds of Change in the Americas →

The View from Montevideo: Day Two
The sun is rising over Montevideo as I reflect on everything that has happened since the start of the Solidarity Economics workshop taking place here.  I have been very impressed with the diversity of initiatives underway throughout the region, and the rich tradition on which these efforts draw.  For Ademar Bertucci [...]

Read the entry: Beyond Fair Trade →

The View from Montevideo: Day One.
Hola!  I am writing this from Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, where I am participating in a three-day workshop on Solidarity-Based Economics.  The event was convened by the Justice and Solidarity unit of CELAM, an organization that supports the work of 22 national conferences of Catholic bishops throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.  [...]

Read the entry: Another Economy is Happening. →

An update for those of you who have been following the progress of Ethiopia’s trademark campaign on our blog or in recent issues of the CRS Fair Trader: Starbucks has signed a licensing agreement with the government of Ethiopia!  Seth Petchers manages the coffee program at Oxfam America, which led a coalition of NGOs in [...]

Read the entry: Ethiopia Wins. Starbucks Wins. Farmers Win! →

As many of you have heard by now, millions of trains in the “Thomas the Tank Engine” collection were recalled when it was discovered that many of the toys, a perennial favorite for toddlers throughout the United States — including my own — were colored with lead paint at one of the plants in China [...]

Read the entry: Sweatshops? What Sweatshops? →

Just got this note this morning from the Sisters of St. Joseph, an inspiring order of religious women based in Pennsylvania:

“The Sisters of St. Joseph are now serving Fair Trade tea and coffee in their Motherhouse Dining Room in Baden, Pa.
This effort is an extension of the sisters’ commitment to ‘build sustainable communities.’ The [...]

Read the entry: Fair Trade Joe. Go Sisters, Go! →

I drink Fair Trade coffee because…well…mostly because our partners sell coffee that is out-of-this-world good! I also drink it because it promotes economic justice and sustainable farming in coffee-growing communities overseas. Recently, however, I have come to discover that the Fair Trade principles that motivate our partners here in the United States have [...]

Read the entry: How Green is Your Fair Trade Coffee? →

As Jackie wrote in a recent post, she will be participating next weekend in the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) conference, which runs from June 1-3 at American University in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, this year’s event is a members-only affair. Since folks won’t be able to wander in and get to know the remarkable [...]

Read the entry: Celebrating FTF Values →

Just a quick note to congratulate the good folks at the Cenacle Conference and Retreat Center in Chicago on making the big move to Fair Trade coffee!  No more miserable corporate coffee for its guests — from now on it is all Just Coffee, all the time.
The center is run by the Cenacle sisters, whose [...]

Read the entry: Chicago Conference Center Goes Fair Trade! →

Because I work everyday on coffee, and because I am personally obsessed with finding out-of-this-world coffees for myself, I am generally known around CRS as “the coffee guy.” (The Baltimore Sun actually referred to me in an article a few years ago as the “CRS coffee czar.”) This means that every time coffee or [...]

Read the entry: Patron Saint of Coffee? →