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.

Interested in Learning More about Buying Clubs?

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.