This month marks the 10th anniversary of the trip I took to Nicaragua that awoke in me a passion for Fair Trade. With the help of others in our community a new organization was born on late 2005: Fair Trade San Diego (originally San Diego Friends of Fair Trade). Over the course of the intervening years La Mesa became a Fair Trade Town and UCSD and USD became Fair Trade Universities. Pt. Loma Nazarene University and SDSU are in the process.
In 2015 we celebrate the fact that St. Paul’s Cathedral is a Fair Trade Congregation. St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church is the only other San Diego area congregation.
You can see a web page acknowledging our accomplishment by clicking on this link. Our campaign is complete with the introduction of Fair Trade teas at coffee hour. Look for herbal teas: Organic Peppermint, Organic Vanilla Rooibos, and Organic Chamomile!
We now use Kirkland Fair Trade Certified Coffee for hospitality.
More to be celebrated is the fact that as a congregation we make a statement in favor of economic justice for small farmers in the global south. Shop for great Fair Trade products at coffee hour on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month.
Carolyn Lief
