Archive for the 'Chocolate' Category

Here at CRS headquarters, we are fond of sharing that the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops passed a resolution supporting Fair Trade a couple years ago at one of their annual meetings. We were as delighted to learn from our Constituency Relations colleague Christine Smith that the National Council of Catholic Women recently also [...]

Read the entry: Another Fair Trade Resolution from Church Leaders →

UGH! I can’t believe I really wrote that! But, hey, it is part of my job to help you shop your values. I know so many of us want to be thoughtful, responsible consumers, and the upcoming holiday season can full of distractions and temptations that take us of our path. But [...]

Read the entry: Only 49 shopping days until Christmas →

Although Fair Trade is considered by some folks to be a development tool, meaning a set of principles and practices that help disadvantaged people increase incomes, invest in communities and protect the environment in sustainable ways, the fact is I don’t get to hang out with development practitioners all that much. Sure, Catholic Relief [...]

Read the entry: Fair Trade: Feel-good fad or best-kept development secret? →

Ever had that feeling when you were really tired and really excited at the same time? Your bones kinda ache but your spirit soars? That pretty much sums up how we are feeling at CRS Fair Trade these days. The Fair Trade month celebrations and activities that are happening, from a CRS [...]

Read the entry: Fair Trade Month Events continue for CRS and Partners →

CRS Fair Trade supports the work of basket weavers in northern Ghana, as well as cocoa farmers in the central region of Kumasi. We are saddened to hear some of the very regions the Raise Money Right delegation visited last month are facing unrelenting rains in West Africa that started in July. CRS [...]

Read the entry: Artisans in Ghana face floods →

As time touring CRS programs across Ghana wrapped up, our delegation got noticeably excited about meeting the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo. Although everyone was enthusiastic about all they had seen and learned in the upper west, upper east, and northern regions of Ghana, as we turned toward the Ashanti region, one person summed it [...]

Read the entry: What about the Chocolate? →

The Raise Money Right delegation is on its way to Ghana! We had a mostly uneventful trip to Amsterdam and are eager to get on our second leg to Accra, Ghana. “We” are those involved in the Fair Trade chocolate contests that CRS organized last year.
Elizabeth Cole from St. Austin’s Parish in Austin, [...]

Read the entry: Not quite Accra, but we are officially on our way! →

Chocolate is quite a daily habit for many of us in the United States. For a few years now, many advocates such as Global Exchange and the International Labor Rights Fund have called on the chocolate industry to reform its labor practices to better protect children. Reports from the US State Department, the [...]

Read the entry: Can Fair Trade Help Increase Peace in West Africa? →

The Fair Trade Federation conference last weekend brought dozens of Fair Trade companies and organizations to Washington, D.C. to focus especially on doing the work of Fair Trade. Lots of inspiration and information was passed around, including opening remarks from Fair Trade guru, Paul Myers, new Chair of the International Fair Trade Association. [...]

Read the entry: Excuse me, Your Business Practices are Showing →

A special issue of Sojourners Magazine features Trade Justice and the many ways Christians can help Make Trade Just. Noting that “Our clothes–or coffee, jeans, and virtually everything else we consume–can tell a story” the issue profiles Traidcraft, a church hall organization that is now on the London Stock Exchange, our friends at Divine [...]

Read the entry: Changing the World by Changing the Rules: Go Sojo! →