Carol Bjelland, a member of the fair trade committee at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, CA is a shining example of an organizer who has taken the church community’s commitment to choosing ethically sourced products to another level. We were so impressed by Carol’s description of the pandemic-adapted activities they did last year and we wanted to share them with the wider EE community.
Carol writes,
“We had great fun doing our virtual coffee & chocolate tasting on a Sunday afternoon. We had Ascension members & friends of Ascension participate. The Congo Coffee Project coffee was a huge hit. One of our tasters said it was smooth like Morgan Freeman’s voice. Ethiopian and Bird of Paradise coffees were fan favorites too. We’re adding to our list of fair traders on a regular basis – we’re now over 40 regular purchasers.
We’re doing our Adult Ed class using some of the presentation slides you shared with us. Ascension really loves Equal Exchange Coffee & Chocolate! During Covid, in-person sales events transitioned to preordering opportunities 4-5 times this year.
For the October 2020 preordering window, we played a little guessing game that we called, “Do You Know Beans? Coffee & Cacao Beans, That is!” We asked people to guess how much coffee and chocolate (in all forms) Ascension’s fair traders ordered in October. We published the weights of all of the various coffee & chocolate products. We learned we have some very serious coffee & chocolate lovers….38 lbs of chocolate and 63 lbs of coffee were ordered in this window alone. The best guessers received prizes of Equal Exchange’s chocolate, tea or snacks.
We’re so very thankful for the farmers who grow the great coffee & cacao beans that we get to enjoy!“
Way to go, Carol and team! What an inspirational bunch. It’s no surprise that Ascension Lutheran Church was in the top 5% of the thousands of Equal Exchange’s faith-based supporters around the country based on fair trade purchases in 2020.
If you’d like to share your story with the Equal Exchange community, please reach out to us at interfaithreps@equalexchange.coop or submit your details here.
In the fair trade world, farmers form the backbone of the supply chain and are essential partners for the businesses with whom they work. However, in discussions about farming, well-intentioned speakers on the receiving end of the supply chain tend to fit farmers into boxes, conjuring an image of “The Farmer” as a middle-aged (and in the U.S., white) male. This stereotype becomes a powerful representative for a diverse group, which actually includes all genders, ages, and races. Perpetuating the stereotype of the male farmer not only leads to generalizations, but also prevents the experiences of others from being shared and accepted.
The stereotype of farmers as men does not mean that women are less likely to do farmwork. Women have long participated in farming activities, and the FAO estimates that 43% of farmers globally are women (likely more, due to underreporting). However, a 2019 survey of U.S. farmers showed that women are less likely to call themselves farmers than men are, as they may take on tasks less associated with fieldwork, such as animal care, family management, and quality control. Professor Monica M. White attributes this tendency of gendering the farmer with capital ownership — white men are often the owners and operators of capital (farmland) to which other groups have been denied access. Those denied groups’ responsibilities, though essential to the successful operation of a family farm, are distanced from the farm and the capital it represents. Even women participating in fieldwork shied away from calling themselves farmers: women surveyed in the northeastern U.S. reported falling into the role of “farmer’s wife,” a descriptor they adopt even when doing field work and making important decisions about the farm.
Even less is published on the experience of women in banana-producing countries, especially from the perspectives of the women farmers, themselves. The Equal Exchange banana team recently spoke with banana farmer Cecilia Manzanillas, of AsoGuabo cooperative in Ecuador, to hear her experiences and perspectives on farming and the key role that women farmers play.
Having grown up in a farming family in Ecuador, Cecilia took over one hectare from her father in 2004, and became a member of the Asociación de Pequeños Productores El Guabo (AsoGuabo). She used her degree in business administration to run a successful farm business, and took on leadership roles on the Board of Directors of both AsoGuabo and the parish of Tenguel. Noting the care and mentorship from others along the way, Cecilia highlighted the importance of her family, who consistently supported and respected her personal decisions. Her father not only shared his knowledge about farming, business, and land stewardship, but also encouraged her to pursue what she was passionate about.
Cecilia noted that in Tenguel, women’s roles have changed over time:
[Before] the man would be involved in working in the field and running the actual agriculture, and women would have been in the house, or either doing the shopping, or watching kids, or doing the cooking. So now, that’s not the case anymore, women are also involved in fieldwork and agriculture directly.
Women are not only involved in fieldwork; they also take on roles in the community of Tenguel. In its early days, AsoGuabo had a female farmer as its president who paved the way for more female banana farmers to join as members of the co-op. Now, 40% of members of most community organizations in Tenguel are women, and five women serve on AsoGuabo’s Board of Directors. Tenguel’s inclusive community, which women have been shaping and reshaping over the years, has fostered the growth of a women’s collective. The collective extends opportunities to entrepreneurial women, while organizations like AsoGuabo invest time and resources in the professional development of their female members. Cecilia’s passion for accessibility and community development even led her to take an AsoGuabo-sponsored trip to the Dominican Republic, to meet members of CONACADO cooperative and exchange ideas about programming and women’s leadership.
Women, Farming, and Empowerment
Cecilia’s advocacy for individual support and investment is not unfamiliar, but is rarely echoed in literature about women and farming. As I have left the farming world for a job in an office, and as I have researched this piece, it has been intriguing to hear armchair agriculturalists’ perspectives on what life is like for farmers, and women farmers in particular. How do they know what farmers need? Whose perspectives have informed what they say? And how, without hearing everyone’s perspective, have nonfarmers decided that it is their job to empower women in farming? Cecilia’s voice, and the voices of all farmers, are essential for dispelling myths and generalizations that tend to be propagated by those with less experience, who have the privilege of speaking on their behalf.
While fair trade as a movement works to build solidarity with producers and artisans, the power dynamics inherent in development and empowerment continue to call for a critical look at whose voices are heard. While landownership and gender roles present barriers to women farmers, talking about women as less empowered in some contexts risks taking away some of the power that they have on the ground, power that may not fit into the global North’s boxes. Women hold essential roles on family farms through the skills they have acquired, and have used these skills to claim local leadership roles. Agriculture continues to evolve, and these skills have often propelled women to develop entrepreneurial innovations for their farms as economies of tourism and “boutique” agriculture gain prominence.
Cecilia brought the issue to the foreground, pointing to inclusivity and investment in individuals as a foundation for equitable farms, organizations, and communities. Noting that historically, women in her area had been reluctant to take on leadership roles in her parish, she highlighted how the inclusive nature of her co-op was a platform for her to both invest in herself and use her leadership skills to give back to the community. As a leader, she sees not only the growth of her crops as a priority, but also the growth of people in her community:
Women, but also people in general, need to grow, that’s something that’s very important for oneself, you need to be able to learn and then to teach what you’ve learned, and have that be a constant exchange. And taking steps forward is something that’s a very beautiful thing, and going from being a producer to being part of a Board of Directors, and having people validate you as someone who has taken that step of growth is something that makes you feel very big.
Refusing to acknowledge gender as a barrier to her own career, Cecilia emphasized that when families and communities invest in and support individuals, those individuals will both flourish and continue the cycle by giving back to the communities who supported them.
Discussing fair trade, Cecilia reframed power dynamics at play, noting that the weekly income offered by fair trade partnerships was an opportunity for her to operate her farm more sustainably. Cecilia and members of her co-op saw the opportunity inherent in the fair trade model, and took that opportunity to market a premium product, and in turn invest in their communities. She emphasized how women can become agents of change:
“women are valuable, we are intuitive, we are entrepreneurs, we are economists. We don’t need to study the economy to be economists, we are financial in every aspect of what we do in our lives.”
Through innovation and engagement, in bananas, agriculture, and beyond, women are an essential part of the Equal Exchange supply chain, and are innovators of the future of food.
References
Brasier, K. J., C. E. Sachs, N. E. Kiernan, A. Trauger, and M. E. Barbercheck. 2014. Capturing the multiple and shifting identities of farm women in the Northeastern United States. Rural Sociology 79 (3):283–309. doi:10.1111/ruso.12040.
FAO. 2020. Women in Agriculture. United Nations. http://www.fao.org/reduce-rural-poverty/our-work/women-in-agriculture/en/
Frank, D. 2005. Bananeras: Women Transforming the Banana Unions of Latin America. Cambridge: South End Press.
Hochschild, A. R. 1989. The Second Shift. New York: Viking. Print.
Kimmel, M. 2011. The Gendered Society. 4th Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.
Kurtiş, T., G. Adams, S. Estrada-Villalta. 2016. Decolonizing Empowerment: Implications for Sustainable Well-Being. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. DOI: 10.1111/asap.
Leslie, I. S., J. Wypler & M. M. Bell. 2019. Relational Agriculture: Gender, Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming, Society & Natural Resources, 32:8, 853-874, DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2019.1610626
Rosenberg, G. N. 2016. A classroom in the barnyard: Reproducing heterosexuality in interwar American 4-H. In Queering the countryside: New frontiers in rural queer studies, ed. M. L. Gray, C. R. Johnson, and B. J. Gilley, 88–106. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Seuneke, P., and B. B. Bock. 2015. Exploring the roles of women in the development of multifunctional entrepreneurship on family farms: an entrepreneurial learning approach. Wageningen University. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2015.07.001
White, M. M. 2018. Freedom farmers: Agricultural resistance and the black freedom movement. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Offering fairly traded and organic coffee, tea, chocolate and cocoa to your community provides an opportunity to buy meaningful, high quality gifts and can even add some additional income for your own group’s special projects and programs.
Small-scale farmers around the world need your support. During COVID-19, farmers have been having a harder time staying healthy, continuing to do the work of planting and harvesting their crops, and feeding their families. Now is the right time to remind your group why fair trade matters. You don’t need to wait, you can still plan a successful and contact-free sale now. Follow these steps to make your fair trade sale a reality despite these socially-distanced times.
Choose the selection of products you’ll offer
Here are our most popular products that sell well because they make great gifts:
Because Equal Exchange products aren’t sold on consignment, starting small with your product offerings allows you to take pre-orders, fill a full case requirement, and get free shipping. It also reduces the chance that you’ll have any leftover products. When deciding what your product pricing will be, look at the unit cost per item in the case and just round up to the nearest dollar (for example, $7 for a 12oz bag of coffee or $3 for a chocolate bar).
If you’d like this sale to be a fundraiser, marking up the products a bit more will help you reach your fundraising goals. In many retail stores, 12oz bags of Equal Exchange coffee are sold for around $9, tea for $5, olive oil for $15, cocoa for $8 and chocolate bars for $4.
To view all of our product options, pricing and case sizes, check out our full wholesale case price list.
Promote your sale
Edit this template for holiday e-bulletins or newsletters to promote your sale at a virtual service, on social media, or in an email blast. Let people know which products you have for sale, the cost, how to order with you, and the deadline to order. For payment, a person to person payment app like Venmo or PayPal works well, or you can accept checks. Decide if you will offer delivery or if you will set a date for curbside pick-up in a central location. Your announcement flyer might look something like this:
Order from Equal Exchange
Now that you have collected the congregation’s pre-orders, round up to the wholesale case pack quantity for all products. Order online or call the order in to our Customer Service team at 774-776-7366. There is no minimum order, but you can earn free shipping on orders of $135 or more. Pay by credit card or, if you want to establish credit terms with Equal Exchange, we will invoice you after you sign the agreement form. We will ship your entire order to one location, but it can be a home address.
How far ahead should you order? We recommend leaving 10 business days for your order to arrive, but check with our team at 774-776-7366 for a personalized shipping estimate depending on your location.
Unpack and distribute Once the bulk order arrives, parcel out individual orders into their own bag. You can have a contact-free curbside pickup at a central location like the church or synagogue parking lot. Or, if you have the ability to deliver the orders locally, let people know when you will drop them off. If people have not paid yet, collect payment.
Your community and small farmers around the world will appreciate the effort you’ve put in to make this fair sale happen during a very challenging time for many.
Have questions? Call 774-776-7366 or email us at interfaithreps@equalexchange.coop. We’re ready to help you plan.
We’re excited to announce the start of a new initiative to support fellow independent food businesses in New England and around the country. For those who have followed us over the past several years, you know that the threat to small companies posed by massive consolidation in the food industry is something we have written and spoken about at length. Our Citizen-Consumer network has taken various actions around this issue. Now, we are taking concrete steps to go beyond our own products and collaborate with other independent, mission-driven brands.
Consolidation in the food system was already a problem, but the devastation of COVID-19 has accelerated the already-growing trend. For example, Amazon’s food sales more than tripled in the second quarter compared to the same period last year as consumers seek online alternatives to actually setting foot inside supermarkets for their weekly food needs. The U.S. economy seems poised for an asymmetrical recovery, with different sectors recovering at different rates. Big businesses are thriving, yet many independent companies have had to shut their doors forever. These small businesses are the ones that put people first, the ones that are responsive to their community. At Equal Exchange, we want to adhere to our fundamental values. That’s why we’re now making available for sale online a wider range of grocery staples that we hope will meet many of your needs while putting more food dollars to work.
In addition, COVID-19 has adversely impacted Equal Exchange’s sales. Think about even just one sector – places of worship, which have been largely closed down for much of the past year. The discouragement of large gatherings has challenged these institutions in many ways, of course, but one big effect is the restriction on traditional fellowship hours and weekly sales of Equal Exchange products. Church coffee sales alone are down more than 70,000 lbs compared to this point last year. We are hopeful that by making available even more everyday staples from independent food makers, more groups and individuals like you will see Equal Exchange as a go-to source for food, and in the process, help us build an alternative distribution system that is controlled by people, rather than big corporations.
This new initiative has brought us into contact with many interesting independent food businesses who have resisted market pressure to sell or merge and are finding ways to keep getting great products to their customers. We are pleased to share that some of the top-selling products of these companies are now available on our website. While we knew the folks behind some of these businesses before, many are new to us. As you explore the menu of new products, you will find different compelling aspects to each. From worker ownership to fair trade sourcing to sustainable agriculture to deep community roots, each presents great products and reasons to be in solidarity with Equal Exchange. We expect to continue expanding these offerings in the months and years ahead as we all build this alternative distribution network, together.
One final note on what you will find when you explore these new products. Consistent with the change we made with our own products last April, we are offering these products in larger quantities (cases or multipacks) in the hopes that our community network will continue to organize and order together — whether with friends, family, neighbors, or other community networks. We hope folks will share in volume which enables us to get these products to you in a way that is sustainable for us and our partnering brands. As always, we’re eager to help you think about the most fun and simple ways to share these purchases with others. Recruiting even just one or two other households can make for a successful way to engage in your community food system while supporting the kind of businesses we all want to see succeed. Join us!
In 2019, Dr. Denis Mukwege won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with survivors of sexual assault in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He’s a powerful voice for accountability and justice to help his country move forward from decades of conflict. His calls for peace have resulted in numerous death threats—threats that have become more serious and frequent this fall.
Dr. Mukwege, a gynecologist, advocates for an end to the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war around the world. In DRC, militia groups commit rape to destroy communities and assert power. Women, men, and children who are survivors face stigma and often lack access to medical care and after-care services. Dr. Mukwege and his staff at Panzi Hospital address this by using a holistic healing model that allows survivors to rebuild their lives. Through the Congo Coffee Project, Equal Exchange partners with SOPACDI, a Congolese coffee-farming cooperative, to raise money for Panzi and its associated clinics.
Learn about our Congo Coffee Project here.
As part of his advocacy, Dr. Mukwege has pushed for the implementation of the recommendations of the Mapping Report, published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In 2005, the discovery of mass graves in DRC led OHCHR to conduct research. They eventually documented 617 incidents of violence. These incidents may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes that could constitute genocide.
Though the report suggested that mechanisms of transitional justice should be implemented, its recommendations haven’t yet been put in place. A decade has passed since the Mapping Report was published, and Dr. Mukwege’s calls for peace and justice put him and his family at risk. For several weeks in fall of 2020, he’s been the target of an intimidation campaign on social media and offline. He’s received death threats directed at him and at his loved ones.
Survivors of sexual violence in DRC (many of whom were treated by Dr. Mukwege) initiated a petition addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have endorsed the petition — and Equal Exchange has signed it. Together, we call for the United Nations to work with the government of DRC to take action by implementing transitional justice mechanisms. This could include an International Criminal Tribunal (similar to those convened for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia). Or, it might take the form of “specialized mixed chambers,” establishing a national Congolese court to prosecute these crimes alongside members of the international justice community. International participation will prevent political interference and corruption, and ensure that staff have the relevant skills and experience to prosecute these severe and complicated cases.
You can join Dr. Mukwege’s fight for justice by signing the petition. Visit the Panzi Foundation to read more about the Mapping Project and the threats to Dr. Mukwege’s safety.
We’re grateful to all the U.S. coffee drinkers who have backed the Congo Coffee Project since it began in 2011. Our partners at the SOPACDI cooperative in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who grow fine coffee for the project, have worked to establish financial security for members of their community and increase the participation of women. And one dollar from every bag of fair trade coffee purchased through the project goes to the Panzi Foundation. Thanks to U.S. supporters, we’ve raised over $100,000! 2019 was our biggest fundraising year yet, bringing in $17,792. The money we raise together now goes to a clinic located in the region where SOPACDI is located, which offers general medical services and stigma-free treatment for those injured by sexual violence.
Like the rest of the world, DRC is dealing with the public health and economic repercussions of COVID-19, so your support is especially important right now. You can contribute by shopping for Congo Coffee Project coffee for yourself or a friend.
Equal Exchange is proud to partner with the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC). For 37 years, the organization has been committed to Palestinian farmers, cooperatives, and community groups in the West Bank and Gaza. PARC continues to inspire us during the pandemic with its long-range vision and its hands-on effectiveness.
Life in the West Bank and Gaza is arduous for Palestinian farmers due to the arid climate — and the day-to-day restrictions that are part of the reality of Israeli occupation. Crops must be cultivated in the parched, sandy earth, which over the past decades has become more difficult given climate change-induced drought. Much of the water used for irrigation comes from Israel and has daily caps. On some days — often unexpectedly — the water is shut off for hours or doesn’t flow through the pipes at all. In addition, the Israeli government restricts the water that’s collected in Palestinian wells or is captured during rainfall.
The occupation causes other hardships for Palestinian farmers. It is cumbersome and costly to export their products through Israeli ports, and numerous inspections are required at checkpoints along the way. The wall between Israel and the West Bank separates a number of olive farmers from their trees and presents serious challenges for pruning and harvesting.
This past February, the Israeli government threatened to curtail the shipment of West Bank products through the Israeli ports of Haifa and Ashdod, but several weeks of negotiations kept the ports open. There is no guarantee that the Israeli government won’t attempt to close the ports again at some time in the future. PARC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which provides invaluable assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and helps address shortfalls and challenges that may arise for farmers. At the start of the pandemic, PARC used its resources to address sudden hardships, such as the loss of jobs and the lack of food, that affected farm families and the general population.
Back in March, when the outbreak of COVID-19 started in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Authority (PA) declared a state of emergency, and a two-week lockdown began. Given the severity of the situation, the lockdown was extended for another month. This paralyzed all aspects of life in the West Bank, and it particularly affected vulnerable low-income communities and households.
PARC focused its efforts on assisting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by enacting a comprehensive plan. First, it provided food to marginalized groups. Next it distributed a range of inputs, such as seeds and plants, to its farmer cooperatives; it also assisted groups in marketing and distributing their produce. Finally, PARC helped reduce the spread of the virus by educating West Bank farmers on ways to protect themselves from COVID-19.
During the past six months, PARC has served as a lifeline for farmers, producers, and the general population in the West Bank and Gaza. Below is a partial list of PARC aid campaigns that it organized, together with farmer cooperatives, to provide assistance to vulnerable families during the pandemic.
In the West Bank:
In Gaza:
PARC was established by visionary leaders in 1983, ten years before the Ministry of Agriculture in the West Bank was formed by the Oslo Accords; it’s viewed by many as the original Palestinian Department of Agriculture. From its inception, PARC’s mission has been to create strategies that allow Palestinian farmers to succeed at growing crops and developing products, while providing jobs for farmers and sustenance for families. It embraces broad objectives for agricultural economic development in the West Bank and Gaza.
Back in 1983, PARC worked with hundreds of farmers. Today, it works with thousands. It administers a wide range of projects on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis. There are 41 producer cooperatives that grow and process olives (for oil), dates, maftoul (couscous), almonds, and other products. PARC provides technical assistance for producers in areas such as fertilization, harvesting of crops, water enhancement systems, storage facilities, and quality control testing of agricultural products. In addition, PARC puts a specific emphasis on assisting women and youth through various programs. It has helped to build a range of community-based organizations and cooperatives based upon principles of democractic participation, transparency, and accountability.
And after weeks of waiting this past spring, we’re pleased to announce that the new 2020 shipment of West Bank organic extra-virgin olive oil is available for purchase. The last olive harvest was bountiful and we’re thrilled to have a good supply of the robust extra-virgin organic olive oil in stock. You can shop for it here.
We also carry delicious super jumbo Medjool dates. Learn more about these PARC products here.
Thank you to everyone who supports Palestinian farmers by purchasing PARC products. You join us in showing solidarity to this alternative supply chain every time you do.
Mexico is the world’s top exporter of avocados (Produce Blue Book, 2019). Geographic proximity to the U.S., climate and environmental conditions, and ease of restrictions with the implementation of NAFTA all contribute to Mexico’s bustling avocado trade. In the midst of this volatile and growing market, small avocado producers are often at the mercy of market fluctuations and left with little control over pricing for their fruit.
Equal Exchange has made it its mission to establish an alternative avocado supply chain–one that prioritizes small-scale producers. To this end, Equal Exchange has partnered with three democratically organized cooperatives in Mexico, and one in Peru. All contribute to establishing a yearlong fair trade and organic avocado program in the United States.
This alternative supply chain allows farmers more negotiating power and access to a greater pool of resources. A main component of the Fairtrade International program is a fair trade premium paid directly to small-scale farmers on top of the negotiated fruit price. In avocados, this payment is per pound of avocados sold (Fairtrade America). The cooperative elects how to spend the money, and funds can be allocated towards operational costs of the co-op or local community initiatives such as those that aid children’s hospitals or reforestation efforts.
Farmer cooperatives increasingly recognize that production through industrialized agriculture methods has placed pressure on the natural environment, and have elected to weave environmental sustainability into their missions, vision, and goals. One such initiative is Las Mujeres Polinizadoras de Tingambato, a women’s apiculturist cooperative that was established by Equal Exchange’s partner cooperative, PROFOSMI. The initiative seeks to offer entrepreneurial skills to economically disadvantaged women through beekeeping. PROFOSMI used fair trade premium dollars to offset the cost of materials and technical training, and the women soon had the tools they needed to become an autonomous and independent cooperative.
Not only are there tangible environmental benefits from maintaining local apiaries in producer farms, but this initiative is also of economic benefit for the local community in that it prioritizes the work of women. Members sell both honey and bees and distribute the profits equally. This initiative allows members access to financial independence and an opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills while building stronger support systems and networks within their communities. Belia, a member of the beekeeping cooperative, affirms that this is the only all-women beekeeping cooperative in the Tingambato region.
The women integrate all three pillars of sustainability within their community – economic, social, and environmental. Rafael, a member of PROFOSMI, shares that he sees the women are more passionate about the environmental benefits of beekeeping as opposed to the economic outcomes. Rafael has some of the cooperatives hives on his farm. Pointing to the reciprocity of pollinators and his avocado farm, he states, “I also benefit from the bees they are farming.” He says their work gives him hope.
At a conference in Morelia in 2017, the group’s environmental stewardship was recognized by Fundación Reto Ecológico A.C, a local environmental agency, on World Environment Day (Reto Ecologico, 2017). They presented their accomplishments in the region of Tingambato in front of Consejo Forestal, the state forestry council and a mostly male audience. Their efforts were received with praise and admiration.
Both Rafael and Belia remember what their region was like prior to the industrialization of the avocado industry. Rafael, a board member of PROFOSMI, was not always an organic farmer. He made the switch after his four-year-old son was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s-Lymphoma associated with continuous exposure to agrochemical spraying at the next-door farm. This experience motivated Rafael to opt for organic production, and since he has been a strong advocate for organic farming, challenging family members and friends to make the switch.
It’s through this lens that PROFOSMI was formed. With the motivation of building a more just and sustainable supply chain, small farmer avocado cooperatives effect change in their local communities. Through the fair trade model, they are able to avoid intermediaries that dig into the producer’s profits. This difference allows farmers sovereignty over the use of funds for their needs, from localized environmental initiatives to operational investments.
One member of Las Mujeres Polinizadoras states, “We have learned about the role and importance of our labor for the environment and bees. Our work continues permanently.” Despite experiencing a difficult first year with low honey production and low sales, the women were motivated to continue to work. Their perseverance and dedication to stewarding environmental change is an example for all who are motivated to effect change from conventional agricultural systems.
When you own the land you farm, you decide what to plant, when to harvest, and which maintenance methods to use. More importantly, you’re the one who controls your own livelihood. For Black farmers in the United States, land ownership is tied to freedom. But systematic racial discrimination has pushed many out of agriculture. Equal Exchange’s partners at New Communities, who supply our fair trade pecans, know the power of land — and these challenges — firsthand. They farm in southwest Georgia, in one of the poorest parts of the state. Over the organization’s fifty year history, these tenacious farmers have experienced more than their share of hardship and prejudice. Yet today, they are still farming and looking to the future.
Shirley Sherrod, Vice President for Development at New Communities Inc., as well as former USDA Georgia State Director for Rural Development, says that coming out of slavery, Black people knew that owning land was important “to help lift the family out of poverty.” By 1910, Black people owned more that 14 million acres of land. Black farmers in the South played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. Their relative wealth meant they could bail protesters out of jail. And, as independent businesspeople, they could take action without worrying about what the boss would think.
But holding on to their acreage and turning a profit has proved to be an uphill battle. Black farmers in America encountered – and still encounter — bias in countless ways, from institutions and from individual neighbors alike. Sherrod told us that farmers she knew weren’t able to depend on fair grading for crops like peanuts. Many processors wouldn’t work with them and buyers might offer artificially low prices. White dominance at all levels of government in the South meant that Black farmers’ interests were not protected. They faced discrimination from the banking system. They had a hard time accessing loans and credit. In consequence, they learned to rely on each other.
New Communities, established in 1969, put cooperative values into action from the start. Shirley Sherrod says that she and the founders realized they needed to build something of their own in order to “use the skills they had to make life better.” Her husband, Charles Sherrod (who was also a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) went to Israel with seven others to study the kibbutz model. They then designed New Communities as America’s first community land trust, and it was owned and operated by Black farmers. At almost 6,000 acres, it was the largest parcel of land owned by Black people in the whole country.
The farmers there raised hogs and grew staples like peanuts, soy and corn. They were some of the first in the area to cultivate Muscadine grapes. In addition to devoting land to crops, the founders planned for a real community that would someday include villages, industry and schools.
The Office of Economic Opportunity promised New Communities money and gave them a planning grant. But protests from white neighbors convinced the governor at the time, Lester Maddox, to veto federal money that might benefit their project. The local opposition they faced was constant. Once, Shirley Sherrod says, someone sabotaged their liquid fertilizer delivery, and they didn’t find out until the crops came up.
The farmers persevered. By the early ‘70s, they were selling watermelons to Safeway. But in the middle of the decade, drought hit the area. Like many of their white neighbors, New Communities applied to the Farmer’s Home Administration for an emergency loan. Sherrod remembers someone at the agency telling them straight out: “You’ll get one here over my dead body.”
Unlike the applications of other farmers, theirs was denied. Multiple years with continuing drought was too much, and by 1985, New Communities was in foreclosure. The new owner used digging equipment to push all existing buildings into giant holes, as if he wanted to get rid of every trace of what New Communities had built.
Sherrod turned her energy to working on the problem of Black land loss and on organizing agricultural cooperatives for Georgia farmers. She worked through supply chain challenges to help Black growers sell pecans to Ben & Jerry’s and watermelons to Northern grocery stores via Red Tomato, a company run by Michael Rozyne, one of the original founders of Equal Exchange.
The farmers had to learn new cultivation skills to grow smaller seedless melons. On the day the five tractor trailers arrived to transport the first shipment, Sherrod found it almost too stressful to watch the pick-up. The farmers didn’t have a loading dock and were hauling fruit from the field. But they got the trucks loaded and made that project work.
New Communities’ owners weren’t the only ones who had lost their land. In 1920, there were 925,000 Black-owned farms in the US, but by 1975, only 45,000 remained. Today, just 1% of rural land is owned by Black Americans. Black land loss is a recent phenomenon; much of it happened within the span of memory of people alive today. Sherrod identified the USDA as the main culprit.
In 1997, Black farmers filed a class action suit against the USDA, Pigford v. Glickman. They alleged that the agency’s allocation of farm loans and aid between 1981 and 1996 was unfair. The USDA admitted to having discriminated against Black farmers and settled, agreeing to a payout of $1.2 billion in the first phase and over a billion in the second phase. “I was so busy helping farmers gather the information they needed for their claims to go to the lawyer,” Sherrod says. “I almost forgot about our loss.” New Communities filed its own claim in 1999. The hearings, appeals and reviews went on for a full decade. Finally, in 2009, New Communities was awarded $12 million.
Some of the original founders had scattered over the years, but Sherrod and others got busy finding land in the area of Albany, Georgia. They located an amazing property just outside the city limits: Cypress Pond Plantation, 1,638 acres once owned by the largest slaveholder and richest man in Georgia. He had owned nine plantations in total, but kept the largest number of enslaved people at Cypress Pond. “I had some problems with that, initially,” Sherrod admitted, “but I got past it, because I started thinking, what a statement for our people, that this property can go from a slaveowner to descendants of slaves.”
At one point, most of the land had been planted with pecan trees, but when New Communities took over, only 85 acres of pecans remained. Sherrod recalls, “When I looked at the trees, all the leaves were gone and I didn’t think anything was there.” Luckily, they found some outside support — Hilton Segler, a white man who was an expert on pecan production and helped any way he could. Segler trained one of New Communities’ people on site, passing on his knowledge. “We planted an additional 115 acres to make it 200 acres,” Sherrod says. “We have young trees that are really, really producing.”
Sherrod contacted Rozyne, and he connected her to Equal Exchange. And Segler was able to line up a pecan processor, so they could begin selling nuts. Today, farmers at New Communities are growing satsuma oranges and Muscadine grapes for market. And this year, they’re growing 30 acres of vegetables to help deal with food insecurity in the local area. But pecans remain their major crop. Last year, Equal Exchange bought all of their pecan halves and helped find a buyer for the pieces that are a result of the shelling process. Sherrod says their business is growing. “Without Equal Exchange, I am not sure of what we would have done because just like in the past, we would have been locked out of markets that actually would help bring in some income.”
Black farmers still confront bias today. Younger people who want to get into agriculture often have trouble acquiring land. “The fact is,” Sherrod says, “it’s hard to get a white farmer to sell to a Black farmer, even today, in this area.” White farmers are still the ones with all the information and political clout; she wants to see policies that create ways for Black farmers and members of other racial minorities to be more involved.
And the problems with the USDA aren’t over. After the Pigford ruling, those who had been disadvantaged in the past were supposed to get priority, but it never happened, according to Sherrod. “Farmers who were successful with their claims were supposed to get debt written off.” While the general public might think that Black farmers got paid and the prejudice they faced is now in the past, that’s not the case. Sherrod says, “We haven’t seen much different happen.”
Still, Sherrod sees Cypress Pond as the perfect place for racial healing. Though only 800 acres are suitable for farming – much smaller than the thousands of acres that the original New Communities encompassed – she says, “we can do so much more with training, which is really needed at this point.” Through the Southwest Georgia Project, they provide regular training to about 100 farmers, hoping to expand production and share knowledge. Though not everyone can farm on the actual property, Sherrod says that this work ties them together.
How does Sherrod envision the future for Black farmers and collective organizations like co-ops and land trusts? “We’re going to have to identify opportunities for finding definite markets, because our people have been taken down roads,” she says. “People aren’t crazy. They want to be able to work together. But they have to see that there’s a possibility for success.” She’s pleased to see “younger farmers beginning to come on board who don’t know all that bad history … willing to actually work together to make some exciting things happen.”
Equal Exchange was lucky enough to have Shirley Sherrod join us as honored guest and keynote speaker at our 2020 Summit. This article is heavily based on Sherrod’s address. And we’re proud to partner with the farmers of New Communities to support their efforts as a model for future change. We think more people should know their story.
Shirley Sherrod, a Georgia native, resolved to stay in the South and work for change after her father’s murder by a white farmer. She participated in the Civil Rights Movement and helped to form New Communities, Inc., the first Community Land Trust in the United States.
Shirley has a B.A. in Sociology from Albany State University and a M.A. in Community Development from Antioch University. She has received many awards for her work in civil rights and as an advocate for farmers and rural residents. Shirley serves as the Executive Director of the Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education and Vice President for Development for New Communities, Inc.
Join Equal Exchange’s organizing work and learn about events, like the upcoming 2021 Summit.
Shop for fair trade pecans.
Visit New Communities online.
Hear more of Ms. Sherrod’s story, in her own words, on an episode of The Stories Behind Our Food podcast.
Douglas, Leah. “African Americans Have Lost Untold Acres of Land Over the Last Century.” The Nation.
Newkirk II, Vann R. “The Great Land Robbery.” The Atlantic.
Pickert, Kate. “When Shirley Sherrod Was First Wronged by the USDA.” Time Magazine.
Buying clubs are a powerful way for people to support authentic fair trade. For the third entry in our Buying Clubs series, we interviewed someone who has put this idea into practice: Dan Steinbauer, the Church Sales Coordinator at Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Jericho, Vermont.
Listen to Dan’s conversation with EE’s Interfaith Manager, Susan Sklar, to hear about why food justice is important to his community, and how he converted the in-person church sales they’d been doing to a format that would work during a time of social distancing. Dan says that for his congregation, what’s important is “the love of coffee … and also the love of the people behind the coffee.”
About Dan Steinbauer: Dan joined Good Shepard in 1980 and served there as an Interim Pastor and Fair Trade Coordinator. Dan has worked as Interfaith Chaplain at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Currently, he’s semi-retired and has his own therapy private practice.
This is Part III of a series on buying clubs. Part I explains why we think Buying Clubs are a good option for groups who want to bring fair trade to their communities. Part II provides tips from successful club coordinators. If you want more information on how to start a buying club of your own, please give the Interfaith team a call. You can reach Susan at 401-644-8094 or Bethany at 508-427-5271.
In this update from Eunice Jijon Jarquin and Alyssa Melendez, learn about Equal Exchange’s fair trade avocado partnership with La Grama in Peru, and how co-op farmers are adapting to the challenges of an ongoing global pandemic.
It’s rare to find a person who doesn’t love avocados, or who hasn’t assisted in making avocados a coveted, yet accessible fruit. In 2001, the US per capita avocado consumption stood at around 2.5 lbs, or about five medium-sized avocados per person. That number tripled to 8 lbs per person in 2018 – that’s about 15 medium-sized avocados. This growing demand motivated Equal Exchange to build an alternative to the conventional avocado supply chain – one that places small farmers at the forefront and combats the need for large productions and unequal power structures.
Although around 80 percent of avocados are imported from Mexico, Peru gained recognition in 2018 as the second largest exporter to the United States (USDA ERS). In 2018, Equal Exchange partnered with La Grama to bring organic, fair trade Peruvian avocados to the United States and develop a year-round avocado program that stretched supply into May and June. La Grama is a Peruvian company that provides essential services for small-scale farmers, such as technical assistance, providing funds for certification fees, and creating access to the global market. La Grama and Equal Exchange hold similar goals of building a more sustainable and just food system that is conscious of the role of small farmers in the global marketplace.
La Grama had been working with organic avocados since 2008, and was inspired by the growing demand for fair trade produce, including bananas. Bananas are grown in a region just north of the avocado growing region in Peru. Through fair trade bananas, La Grama saw the benefits of this model for the local community. In 2017, they recognized this growing global demand as an opportunity to include small-scale organic, fair trade Peruvian avocado farmers in that market share.
Fair trade offers an alternative to the conventional avocado market, in which farmers have been subject to the whims of large plantations and intermediaries. Under these conventional standards, small-scale avocado farmers cannot compete with large-scale producers, who are able to afford a greater amount of land and water for increased production and yields. In comparison, according to the fair trade model, for every kilo of fruit sold, farmers are paid a fair trade premium in addition to the price of the fruit. The small farmer cooperative that La Grama works with was established just three years ago, and so far, the fair trade premium has served to strengthen the organization’s administration and fund technical assistance for farmers. Once the co-op is able to build a larger premium fund, it will go towards democratically selected local community projects. By prioritizing the management needs of the co-op, farmers have been able to focus on cultivating trade relations and becoming a resource pool for other farmers. Having a solid base has been essential in adapting to the new landscape that COVID-19 has shaped.
Peru is one of the worst-hit countries by COVID-19 in Latin America, and currently has the second-highest number of cases in the region. Despite the country’s lockdown, the agricultural sector has continued to operate. There are more challenges across the supply chain, including new protocols for safety precautions, social distancing, transportation, processing at the packhouse, and curfews that reduce working hours. Harvest planning has also been heavily affected by travel limitations for workers. Diego del Solar, Co-Founder of La Grama, says “Avocado farms located in relatively isolated places, where people have to travel from their hometowns to go to work there, have had big problems getting harvested on time.” These challenges have required farmers to adjust to a new normal, and La Grama is committed to supporting these farmers through this transition.
La Grama’s technical team has always been closely involved in the quality and safety of farmers and the products they produce. COVID-19 has reinforced this support: La Grama is providing training on proper hand washing techniques, providing masks, and ensuring social distancing between workers. All of these protocols had to be implemented rapidly to maintain the safety of all of the workers. Nevertheless, del Solar explained that during the first month of the lockdown, agricultural exports from Peru increased by 9% compared to the same period last year, which is largely explained by avocado exports.
The expanding year-round demand for avocados has provided an opportunity for the Peruvian avocado industry to fill in the gaps of supply. La Grama recognizes the potential for their avocado program and are working towards increasing their number of farmers and available volume. New farmers are joining the program each year, because of the various services and opportunities that La Grama offers, especially given their dedication and reliability. Several exporters have a business model of hopping from one product to another, pursuing new trends each time. La Grama chose a different strategy, de Solar sys, which is to work with the same products year after year, “deepening our knowledge and understanding of the industry, as well as our relationships with our farmers. That approach gives farmers the confidence they need to keep going forward and look at the future of avocados with optimism, and that allows us to grow consistently.”
Equal Exchange has also continued to deepen its knowledge and understanding of the industry, allowing us to double our Peruvian avocado volume this year. This is in large part due to our fresh produce team’s efforts to create the essential tools and resources to educate customers on best handling practices and sharing farmers’ stories. It takes a great deal of dedication and time to create a successful program. Both partners found each other at a crucial time in their development – Equal Exchange sought a partner who could complement our Mexican off-season, and La Grama looked to export organic, fair trade avocados to the United States. Together, both companies have proven successful in their efforts.
During these trying times, farmers continue to show their resiliency. Through the hardships of the pandemic, their efforts keep supply chains moving and keep our families fed. We are extremely grateful to have partners like La Grama, who are committed to uplifting small farmers, and we look forward to supporting their growth and mission for years to come.
