Fair Trade Coffee
The Lutheran World Relief Coffee Project offers a fair, just and equitable marketplace for small-scale farmers around the world. Fair Trade Coffee provides: you a great cup of coffee; and Farmer’s families and communities access to clean water, health clinics and schools. Equal Exchange is a worker-owned cooperative that handles all the ordering, billing, and fulfillment of our order from the LWR coffee project. Equal Exchange also donates to LWR’s small farmer fund for products ordered through the LWR coffee project. The Small Farmer Fund supports LWR agricultural programs, providing the tools and training that small farmers need to improve their enterprises and make a better life for their families.
Fair Trade is a trading partnership that seeks greater equity in international trade. When you buy Fair Trade Coffee & Chocolate, more of the money you spend reaches the hands of the farmers and families who grew them.
Fair Trade products assure that small-scale farmers have been given a fair and dependable price for their crops on the world market. Farmers gain greater access to credit that helps in creating a more sustainable livelihood. And democratically-run organizations give farmers a stronger voice to negotiate fair prices.
Through Fair Trade, child labor and forced labor policies are followed, assuring children the opportunity to pursue education for a stronger future. Farmer associations reinvest social premiums from Fair Trade products in their communities through projects such as:
clean water systems health clinics expanding schools And Fair Trade promotes the rights and leadership of women in the community, assuring that children reap the rewards.
Fair Trade encourages more ecologically sustainable farming practices, which not only takes care of God’s creation but also ensures that the farmers’ land will be rich and fruitful for generations to come.
Fair Trade delivers delicious high quality coffee and chocolate that reflect our faith and how we live in community with all God’s children. Whether enjoyed at home, at church or as a gift for a loved one, Fair Trade is faithful stewardship for all of God’s creation.
HERE AT ST JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCH: We offer a variety of the Fair Trade products for the congregation and other community members to purchase. We price each product by rounding up to the nearest whole dollar from our cost. The Fair Trade cupboard is available at any time in the narthex with a drop box mounted on the inside lower shelf for payments on the “honor system”. For the past four years, the minimal profit has covered the cost of coffee used for church functions. We are grateful for the support of our congregation and other community members who support this worthwhile project.
For more information or to learn more about the LWR Fair Trade project you may go online to http://lwr.org/getinvolved/fairtrade