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Peru Travelers Bring the Fair Trade Message to Local Communities |
Tom Hanlon-Wilde, West Sales Manager
 Every year since 1999, the Western Sales Office of Equal Exchange has led an exchange of U.S. grocery managers and Peruvian coffee farmers. On even numbered years, our office hosts a grower to tour the Western U.S. and speak with shoppers about the importance of trading directly with small-scale, family farmers organized into democratic co-operatives. On odd numbered years, we take U.S. grocery store owners and managers to Peru to learn about our work firsthand. The trip includes a two-night, three-day homestay with a farm family.
In August 2007, we hosted a delegation to Piura, Peru, to meet members of the CEPICAFE co-op. The delegation included leaders from the grocery industry and leaders from the socially responsible investing movement, who are also investors in Equal Exchange. Upon returning, the participants in the "Class of 2007" have been very busy. Here's a glimpse at what they've been up to since returning to the United States:
- Adam Seitchik of Trillium Asset Management was the first to produce a written article after the trip. Read "Strategic View: What Fair Trade means for Alejandro and Élida Maldonado"
- Jeff Watson, the grocery manager at Lifesource Natural Foods in Salem, Ore., stayed with Juan Castillo, the current president of the Sub-Regional Committee of Producer Associations of Los Ranchos Sapse, and his wife Silvia Meza Santos. Juan farms 1.5 hectares of coffee which yield 2,000 pounds of export-grade coffee per year. Each year the store directs 1% of sales to non-profit organizations. Jeff presented his experience to his co-workers and will begin a dialogue with the community on funding one of the three projects the community identified as a priority – the Mother’s Club, the Co-op Center building, or the English-language training program at the school. Jeff also published an article in the store circular.
- Corey Mason, organizer of the WorldOne Festival and a Spanish teacher at El Cerrito High School in California, won an essay contest held at the Natural Grocery Company stores in El Cerritto and Berkeley. He also stayed with Juan and Silvia. Upon returning from the trip, Corey conducted an Equal Exchange fundraiser with his high school classes to raise money for a new hearing aid and doctor visit for Juan's teenage son, Elvis.
- Jeff Reifman, founder and owner of the collaborative social news site NewsCloud.org, stayed with CEPICAFE member Raul Muños during his two night stay. His article, "America's Supply Chain Transparency Problem", draws contrasts between Equal Exchange's business practices and those of companies whose products are being recalled due to dangerous levels of defects. Jeff also staffed the Equal Exchange booth at the Puget Consumer Co-op Fair Trade Fair in Seattle to speak with co-op members about his trip.
- Anita Jaramillo Roman and her daughter Olga Chincay hosted Laura Lawless, currently the grocery manager at the Port Townsend Food Coop, and Veronique Samson, Store Director for Mother Truckers Natural Foods in Grass Valley, Calif. Laura hosted a Community Presentation in Port Townsend that drew a 40-person audience, organized a store 1% day to raise $250 for the English-language program at the school in Sapse, and provided an interview for the store circular. Veronique has organized a similar presentation for her community in the Sierra Nevada mountains for the evening of Dec. 6.
- Liza Tedesco, the Member Outreach Coordinator for Chico Natural Foods, stayed at the home of Bonificia Lopez Sanchez and her husband Maximo Neira Santos. Their two-hectare farm yields about 2,500 pounds of coffee per year. Upon returning from her trip, Liza led the workshop "The Community of Coffee, Peru to Chico: An Opportunity for Empowerment in Fair Trade" at the This Way to Sustainability Conference III in Chico. Liza also collaborated with the local Chico Peace and Justice Center to participate in the local Women in Fair Trade meeting in October.
- Ming Chang is the bulk foods manager of a farmer-owned store that is the place to shop on the Olympic Mountain peninsula of Washington. Ming stayed with Adelia Correa Bermeo and her husband Juan Tocto Jaramillo, who farm just 3/4 of a hectare of coffee in Sapse, Peru. Ming attended the event held in nearby Port Townsend, and is currently planning a similar event for the towns of Sequim and Port Angeles, Wash.
- Jeff Milano of Madison Market in Seattle wrote a very moving article about his homestay in the co-op's newsletter and hosted a presentation and coffee tasting for the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
 The amazing effort of the folks who traveled to live and work with the farmers is making Fair Trade a local reality and a local force for change in communities in both Peru and the United States. We at Equal Exchange are flattered to be part of that change, and hope that as nine-year-old Gaby de Pilar Rojas y Melandres wrote in her welcoming song to the visitors, that the coffee farming communities of Piura do someday "get to see them once again."
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