New Resource Ready for Fair Trade Month
The apostle Paul once referred to a community’s “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). Those are sentiments I can relate to as I look at the newly printed CRS Fair Trade Handbook, sitting on my desk three years after it was conceived! The vision for a resource that would provide U.S. Catholics a firm grounding in how Fair Trade relates to Catholic Social Thought was initiated by my colleague Michael Sheridan, at a time when the CRS Fair Trade program was just beginning to build momentum in advance of the Raise Money Right chocolate project joining Work of Human Hands crafts and Fair Trade coffee as a way for Catholics to act in solidarity with the poor overseas. Back in 2005, more and more advocates such as Allis Druffel in California shared with us the need for an overview of the principles and history of Fair Trade as well as tools for making Fair Trade commitments.
Joined by our regional colleagues–Simone Blanchard, Fr. Juan Molina, Sr. Arlene Flaherty, Nora Collins, and Mari Barboza–the economic justice team embarked on a process of drafting and revising, drafting and revising. We even brought in a consultant, Cecile Sorra, to help us get the best feedback possible from both theological and editorial perspectives. After all this, we think we’ve come up with a document that is in-depth and easy-to-use, inspiring and practical, attractive and appealing. The attractive part came from our CRS graphic services team, notably Bryan Prindiville, who laid out a wonderful 32-page handbook based on the guidance of CRS editorial gurus Ellen Gortler and Susan Walters. Clearly, there were lots of people involved in making one handbook happen. And there are more! Our partners at SERRV helped us obtain handmade folders from Get Paper Industries in Nepal to carry the handbook and other CRS Fair Trade resources.
Now, as Fair Trade month approaches, Katy Cantrell and I look at the handbook and wonder, “After all this, will the handbook help US Catholics promote economic justice?” “Does a representation of the conventional coffee value chain compared to the Fair Trade chain make clear how important cooperatives are to investing in communities?” “Does the chart putting ‘free’ or conventional trade side-by-side with Fair Trade prompt readers to question how consumer choices promote corporate social responsibility?” “Will a history including the role of faith in the Fair Trade movement inspire others to take their place among Fair Trade pioneers?” “Will the stories of Kuapa Kokoo and other producers illustrate how Fair Trade uplifts human dignity?”
With the October release of the handbook just a few weeks away, we’ll soon find out if our labor of love does any good! You can help us by letting us know now if you’d like a copy. Yes, beginning in October you’ll be able to order it, along with all our other resources, directly from this website. But if you want to get a head start on your Fair Trade month preparations send us your advance order with your mailing address. The handbooks are free but in the spirit of good stewardship, we are only sending one copy per person. However, we will be posting chapter summaries on the website so if you like the material you can download it and make your own copies (on recycled paper of course!). Also, once you’ve read the handbook, use the comment section of the blog to let us know what you think! And, to all of you who we’ve been promising the handbook to for three years, thanks for your patience!
Tags: fair trade, fair trade month, Resources
A wonderful site!! Our parish is sponsoring a Coffee Cafe tomorrow evening to introduce Fair Trade products and while I was preparing the handout I can upon this site. I will be anxious to receive any other information to share with our Peace and Social Justice Commission.
I have one printed copy of this booklet and would like to know how to acquire more.
Hi Connie, We do have to limit the number of copies per person but if you write to me directly explaining how you might have a public event or other need for multiple copies I can try to link you up with a regional source of info.
Thanks,
Jackie