Sugar, the Documentary "The Price of Sugar"
and the Need for Fair Trade & Organic Options
If you're like most people you put some sugar in your coffee or tea.
When you enjoy one of our chocolate bars the sugar complements the rich, but otherwise naturally bitter cocoa.
You don't have to eat sugar in excess for it still to be an essential part of your day.
And for untold thousands of farmers and farm workers in approximately 100 countries, including the United States, sugar is their life and livelihood. In fact, for better or worse, about 10% of the world's caloric intake comes from sugar* making it one of the most significant agricultural commodities. Consequently the quality of life in countless farming communities is dictated by how this one food is cultivated and traded.
Unfortunately, as we see with other crops like coffee, the work, risks, and rewards of growing sugar are not equitably distributed. Plus, the way sugar, especially sugar cane, is cultivated sometimes takes an unnecessary ecological toil, exhausting the soil and polluting neighboring wetlands.
It is for these reasons we use only organic, fairly traded sugar for our products. Further we are glad to support the distribution of a powerful new documentary, The Price of Sugar, by Bill Haney, and narrated by Paul Newman.
The documentary captures the ongoing struggles of thousands of migrant Haitian laborers who work the vast sugar plantations of the Dominican Republic, but who are both trapped and exploited on these plantations. Fighting for these laborers is a Spanish priest, Christopher Hartley, who has helped to organize some this hemisphere's poorest people in their fight for their human rights.
Because much of the sugar grown on these plantations comes to the United States, and because the Dominican government has been reluctant to act, we in this country have a distinct obligation to do what we can.
Host A Screening
A good start is to organize a screening of The Price of Sugar for your community, school or place of worship. To arrange a screening contact New Yorker Films at 1-877-247-6200 or send an e-mail to nontheatrical@newyorkerfilms.com. 100% of the producer's proceeds from screenings in faith communities will be donated to the non-profit health organization Infante Sano which works to improve the health and well being of Haitian and Dominican mothers and their newborns in the Dominican Republic.
Switch To Fair Trade Sugar
Your place of worship, restaurant or café can choose to switch to organic, Fair Trade sugar like that we import from democratic, small-farmer co-operatives in Paraguay and Costa Rica.
Places of worship should inquire with our Interfaith Program about how they may order single-serve organic, Fair Trade sugar packets, as well Fair Trade coffee, tea, and chocolate.
Businesses interested in our single-serving sugar packets, or other products should contact our customer service team at 774-776-7333 or orders@equalexchange.coop
Speak Up
Uncommon Productions has listed various actions on the documentary's Take Action webpage, including writing to your representative in Congress. As the U.S. is the only importer of Dominican sugar our trade rules can have a big impact on conditions on these plantations.
*In 2001 global sugar production was 147 million tons, which, assuming a population of 6 billion, equals 240 calories per person per day. The USDA assumes a typical, healthy adult diet to equal 2000 to 2500 calories per day.
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